two phone calls, two emails to a prof. no response yet...

[Squatch]

though i have gotten message read receipts from his email system. i can't take a midterm since i have a broken hand, and need to coordinate a makeup exam.

it's kinda pissing me off that, despite my efforts to work with him on rescheduling the exam, he won't give me the courtesy of a return phone call or email, though i know he's read both of my messages. i'm a good student who's met all of his expectations and have paid a lot of money for this course, and so i expect him to respond to me in rapid fashion.

[jpgray]

1. Look up his schedule, and head him off before or after his next class

You have to hunt these people down. Professors are truly the most dangerous game. :D

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Dangerous and elusive - but not with the right bait: a microbrew six pack

Pop open a beer or two anywhere in range of a professor's ears, and the sonsabitches will come running.

Trust me.

[Squatch]

4. can't. i'm at home on vicodin

and can't drive the 15 miles to campus

[jpgray]

8. Cab + walk + cab home

Or friend dropoff + shorter walk + friend drivehome. If it's for a midterm it's pretty important stuff to deal with before the event.

[Shine]

2. Good luck with that, squatch. Bummer about your broken hand.

How'd that happen?

[Squatch]

5. refrigerator vs 5th metacarpal

[Shine]

6. Were you trying to get a beer out, or something?

:beer:

I guess you could call that a "sports injury" of sorts.

I assume it's your writing hand? Hang in there. Are you in a cast?

I've never broken a bone in my life. (knock on wood...)

[Squatch]

7. yeah. writing hand. all fingers black and blue

[Shine]

10. Poor guy.

:hug:

well, I gotta HAND it to ya, and wish you all the best.

:hide: sorry, dumb joke.

[Squatch]

11. i can still hit you with my other hand

:evilgrin:

[Shine]

14. LOL! You're funny.

:P

[DS1]

9. Call the Dept Chair, if you don't have that number, call the

school's main dispatch line and they'll get it for you. At least that way you can get something recorded by the Dept. secretary or the Chair himself. If necessary, have THEM call your Dr's office and find out that it's legit.

Midterms already? wow

[Dora]

12. I second the motion to notify the Dept. Chair.

I don't encourage asking dept support staff to call your doctor's office.

You have your receipt for your doctor/ER visit. You have the evidence of a bruised hand (get a pic if you want). No need to pre-emptively create work for already-harried office staff.

[DS1]

13. Oh, see, here there's no harrying. None at all.

Just lazy 2 hour lunches

show up at nine, work till eleven, eat till 1, work till 4, go home

rough day, I'll tell ya

( I hate my school )

[Dora]

20. Gee, you must work in one of those ivy-covered joints.

Whereas I work at a state institution that prides itself on the unnaturally and unhealthily gargantuan size of its ungraduate population. I forsee mutation.

[DS1]

23. Nope, State

A place that's full of little paranoid fiefdoms that refuse to work together because they're all so technically inept they fear being outed as such. :hi:

[Dora]

25. Ack. Gah. Hic.

So, do you have direct contact with students? I removed myself from my last student-contact position a while ago. I lack the tact it demands. I enjoy working with students, but dispensing with instruction and guidance is frustrating when most of them want you to just shut up and do it for them.

If you're dealing with studes, :yourock:

:toast:

[DS1]

27. PM in a few

don't need to disclose too much

[Maddy McCall]

22. Yes...

and, worse, having yourself labled in that department as an anal troublemaker.

[Maddy McCall]

16. Whoa. Not yet.

First of all, how much time has he given the prof to respond. One day is not adequate time.

Second of all, if he calls during the prof's office hours and talks to the prof, or if he leaves a message, he'll be covered.

Still, the syllabus will explain the process for make-ups. Bringing the chair into it won't help the student in most cases. Chairs usually side with their profs.

[DS1]

19. This is just about getting the fact that he won't be able to attend

registered with more than one person. As a backup thing.

[Maddy McCall]

21. He's got the "read receipt"

He's left messages.

Above all, the syllabus should tell him when and if make-ups are granted, and the process for making up an exam.

If he's got his doctor's excuse and he emailed the prof (which doesn't have to be acknowledged) before the exam, he's in good shape and needn't fret.

[Maddy McCall]

15. Can you type your exam? I allow my students to type if they need to.

When did you first contact your prof? Did you try to call him during office hours? That's when most profs are available to talk to students.

What does your syllabus say on make-up exams?

[Ravenseye]

17. I don't know how long it's been but relax

Many professors don't like students these days bombarding them with emails left and right and expecting immediate answers. There is a level of respect that should be leveled towards them, at least that many expect. Remember this is a field where ten years ago you could pretty much only reach them during 'office hours' which might be fleeting, or before or after class. OR by calling the department secretary and leaving a message and hoping...

Just because you got the read receipt don't get all hopped up. For all you know he got 20 of those emails, and 40 more asking about the midterm questions, and 30 more asking whether a certain book was going to be on the test. Etc. If he's a good professor he will get back to you and you'll be able to rescehdule.

Just don't necessarily expect a professor to always respond immediately. My 2 cents.

[Maddy McCall]

18. Yes.

And, again, I say refer to the syllabus, which should present the process on make-ups.


The day before and day of exams, I always find my inbox filled with excuses why students can't take exams. Some I allow to make up. Some I don't. If the student has a doctor's excuse dated BEFORE the exam, it's highly likely that I'll allow the student to make up the exam. Most profs work on the same principle.

[kiraboo]

26. And you're dead right.

My husband is a professor of the old school i.e. before email. He rarely reads it and even more rarely responds. He thinks it's bad enough that students show up at his office between office hours etc. etc. He tells students that he doesn't like to communicate with them through email but it has little effect.

[IntravenousDemilo]

28. Wow, perhaps I'm VERY old fashioned,

but when I email someone, anyone, I expect a prompt reply -- that is, within two business days, and preferably by the end of the same day. And when I telephone people, unless I specifically ask to leave a voicemail, and unless the person is physically not in the building, I want to speak to the person I'm calling.

"Hello, I'd like to speak to Mr X."

"Who shall I say is calling?"

"Someone who wants to talk to Mr X is calling, someone who feels Mr X is someone worth talking to."

And if I ask a question on March 1, I obviously don't want it answered on March 15, or I'd ask it on March 15, wouldn't I?

[Squatch]

29. Exactly. This is a business school...

and the professor isnt being very business-like.

[Dora]

30. Not old-fashioned. You think you're more important than Mr. X does.

Guess what: I answer the phone for Mr. X.

It's my job to ask you who you are, and to find out why you're calling. That's why I get paid the big bucks, baby. If you don't want to tell me, then Mr. X will not talk to you. Trust me.

"Unless the person is physically not in the building, I want to speak to the person I'm calling." :rofl:

And if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. It's Mr. X who determines whom he will or will not talk with. You can be as pleasant or cranky with me as you want, but if Mr. X isn't taking calls, then he isn't taking calls.

[IntravenousDemilo]

31. Fine, if Mr X doesn't like customers, he doesn't need to have any.

So if I call in and you answer the phone for Mr X, and I tell you why I'm calling, then I shall expect to be put through forthwith. I will not be vetted.

[Dora]

32. Well, you're arguing about a telephone call in a different context.

In this thread, we're discussing a telephone call to a professor and/or the chair of an academic department.

We are not discussing a potential customer calling a potential provider of service or product.

But again, in any case, Mr. X determines if he will speak on the phone or not. You will be vetted whether you like it or not. You have the choice to withhold your business if you so wish, and Mr. X may come to regret (or not) taking your call.

[IntravenousDemilo]

33. Still, whenever I've had one of these non-encounters, the overwhelming

feeling, the foremost thought in my head, the burning question in my heart for the person who decided I wasn't worth talking to is, "Well, just who in the fuck do you think you are, anyway?"

Repercussions of various sorts often follow, and these are limited in scope only by my imaginaton and by physics.

Today is Alexander Graham Bell's birthday. It's also my birthday and, that being the case, I believe that telephones were invented first and foremost for people to take my calls and those of people also born on March 3.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. I believe they have to accomodate you

This seems like it would be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

They have to let you take an oral exam or something.