SparkPeople advertisers help keep the site free! Learn more
    SOARINGPHOENIX   61,528
SparkPoints 		60,000-79,999 SparkPoints
 
 
Disgusted with a professor

Saturday, March 09, 2013

I believe the psychology professor made herself unavailable to me on purpose since I tried contacting her and my emails came back. She also is intentionally flunking me. Since I never had this problem before with one. Say what you will but something stinks to high heaven about this mess. I do not like her attitude either. I never had trouble contacting a professor until now.
SHARE
  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

MARJIMAC63 3/10/2013 12:54PM

    cariola is absolutely right!
If your email is coming back to you with text like "the mailbox for "cjung1@yourschool.edu is full and not accepting messages", then every piece of email to cjung1 is getting bounced back to the sender. The secretary for the department is a good source of info. Usually he/she will nod knowingly about the email, giving you a chance to ask about the best way to contact your prof. Where I work, we still have about 10 profs who simply won't use email. Last thing--check your syllabus for the prof's preferred email address. Your univ wants faculty to use the school email, but some ask you to use their Hotmail or Gmail address.

On the bright side, the email creates a paper trail. Before you talk to the department chair, you have to show that you have made reasonable efforts to contact the prof. Email is one way to do this, and after you go to office hours and don't find the prof in his/her office, politely ask the department secretary if he/she has seen the prof, each and every time you go.
Clutching your syllabus, pointing to the hours listed, and saying "Gosh, it's her office hours right now. Am I reading this wrong?" are completely optional but strongly encouraged as part of building your case that you have tried to see the prof outside of class.

For all college students reading this--some profs are very good at resolving individual issues (bad grade, missed day, etc) with students immediately before or after class. For other profs, being rushed by a pack of students at the start/finish of class is their pet peeve. Try to be perceptive about your prof, your issue, and plan according.

Comment edited on: 3/10/2013 12:56:10 PM

Report Inappropriate Comment
MAPLECANDY3 3/10/2013 10:23AM

    Dont jump to conclusions, you dont know WHY she isnt contacting you. She may be sick, computer crashed, family emergency, busy with work etc. Its not neccessarily about you. Does s/he have office hours? How many weeks has she not been responding to you?

Report Inappropriate Comment
MAGGIEVAN 3/10/2013 4:27AM

    Just go over her head.

Report Inappropriate Comment
JANTWO 3/10/2013 12:43AM

    Fight for your rights as a student.

Report Inappropriate Comment
AIRMANSWIFE21 3/9/2013 10:29PM

    I've never had that happen to me (I really hate being a teacher's pet...) but I've had friends who've gone through that and it was some kind of mess! It's a real shame when the person whom you practically pay to educate you decides out of their own selfish preference that they will do no such thing... I hope everything works out for you, dear! Many prayers!

Report Inappropriate Comment
LADYVOLSFAN1954 3/9/2013 9:43PM

    Hope things work out. These days you just never know what a professor expects from you. Good luck.

Report Inappropriate Comment
MINNIE 3/9/2013 8:48PM

    i once chose to take a course pass/fail because i suspected the prof didn't like me. she gave me a D but it did not hurt my average. can you do that or withdraw?
the safest thing is to make sure you get good grades. if the professor does not grade you fairly at the end in spite of good scores, you can appeal the grade.

has the professor spent any time with you already?

i think these days email has replaced office hours. are you sure you are using the correct email adress? look it up on the web again.

Comment edited on: 3/9/2013 9:03:29 PM

Report Inappropriate Comment
CARIOLA 3/9/2013 8:29PM

    I'm a professor. Let me say first that there may be reasons why your emails are coming back aside from her putting you on a list. I often do not get emails from students who send them from off-campus email addresses; they get caught in the university spam filter. Sometimes a professor's mailbox is at capacity, and ALL emails get bounced (although she should be clearing it regularly so that doesn't happen). And some professors firmly believe that evenings and weekends are their family time, and they close their mailboxes. Have you tried seeing her during her office hours? If there is a complicated issue here, she may feel it would be better resolved face-to-face than in an email.

That said, if you have a legitimate case, go to the department chair. I don't know of any university where professors are not required to hold regular office hours, so if she hasn't been available, the chair will speak with her. She/he may also help to resolve whatever has been going on. I've never run across a student I wanted to intentionally flunk, nor have I known any of my colleagues to do so--but sometimes I know it feels that way to students who are struggling. (Of course, I HAVE had students that for various reasons rub me the wrong way, but I would NEVER put my professional integrity in jeopardy by grading them unfairly.) A professor who doesn't grade fairly and objectively could be subject to a reprimand, or worse. I have asked the chair to read student papers when they have complained that the grade was unfair to see if I was on target; you might ask the department chair to do this.

As someone said, it may not be too late to withdraw from the class. My university will not allow a student to take an Incomplete unless it is for an unexpected emergency, usually health related. Does your university have a Learning Center that offers tutoring? Get whatever help you can to get through this course with a decent grade. But if you really feel you have evidence of bias, you can file a Grade Appeal at the end of the semester.

Hope it all works out for you.

Comment edited on: 3/9/2013 8:41:31 PM

Report Inappropriate Comment
WOUBBIE 3/9/2013 8:15PM

    What was the reason the email provider gave for the emails to come back? Maybe her inbox was full.

Report Inappropriate Comment
JOYOUS1917 3/9/2013 7:50PM

    When I went to college, I ended up with every single letter grade they thought up. And yet, I still graduated and went on with the career. You can always redo a class and replace the grade, expensive but a way around the problem. Another way is to take an incomplete but then you would have to deal with the same professor. It may be too late to withdraw from the class...but this is an option.
I wish you well on your endeavors.

Report Inappropriate Comment
STILLWATERSSB 3/9/2013 7:49PM

    I had a teacher do that to me once. Don't know why but she just didn't like me. Hoping things work out for you!

Report Inappropriate Comment

Add Your Comment to the Blog Post


Log in to post a comment.