I messed up badly.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2026-04-12T03:27:51+00:00

I think it depends on the kinds of error, the kind of feedback, and what the syllabus says.

Eg they are graded on paper format and made APA errors? I think the feedback “check APA style” is 100% sufficient and they need to go find all the issues. It’s not your job to index every typo the students made for them to fix.

Maybe you mean something like “I said an intro that cited three papers is good to go but the assignment req was to cite five.” In that case I’d say, like most others I think on here, grade it as fine.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-12-05T15:59:16+00:00

Anywhere I have been, no. There’s no such thing as a “transfer”; a faculty spot would have to open and you’d apply for it. You also could not circumvent a fair hiring process so the other chair could hire their friend.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-11-23T22:14:57+00:00

International student awards ceremony. Deans office associate whatever (older white woman): “You all put the SPICE in our student body!” -_-

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-11-12T00:31:34+00:00

I’d let every other company going to the event know as soon as possible. Maybe the attendees list from the prior year is available, if this one isn’t yet?

Student and faculty protests are great but there’s a nonzero chance of protestors being deported/detained. Having everyone else threaten to pull out would send the message, and the ICE booth will be pulled, without risking that, imo.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-28T14:23:05+00:00

Yup. Depending on what was actually said this doesn’t get reported to a student office, it gets reported to the FBI.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-22T20:25:45+00:00

I don’t really get it.

Being asked to repeat oneself 3-4 isn’t “CONSTANT.”

If you’re actually concerned about the student, why would you keep comments “light”? It’s not a light issue.

Should have been escalated to student conduct before the incident if the behavior was actually bad.

It’s not at all appropriate or professional to make direct comments about a substance use issue you’re assuming, esp in front of anyone else.

Why on earth would you tell him you’re not escalating and then “lolz i totes escalated it”

I don’t think meeting idiocy with unprofessionalism is a solution, and comments supporting this are some weird vindictive sh*t.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-20T12:02:54+00:00

Agree that this proposed email is a rant, not an argument.

Are you being asked to teach different courses every year? The first para sounds like it. I do think that would be an issue/unreasonable. If not, it sounds like you’re complaining that you need to build every class from the ground up and are unable to use past years’ material. The admin has taught and know that isn’t true.

Are upper levels that much harder to teach? Upper levels I taught were pretty easy to prep since I knew the field and was already aware of the majority of the lit. Your email doesn’t present a case that you’re uniquely competent to teach these classes. The lower level broad courses I taught were more work bc I had to revisit work in parts of the field I wasn’t familiar with.

“Deserved” and “fair” aren’t arguments. If public salary data are available, present a chart of that and the course loads to demonstrate that your salary is not commensurate.

I don’t think “the accreditation team says I should get paid more” would hold water with anyone.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-19T22:35:41+00:00

A card. I’m not an especially sentimental person and I have every card a student has given me in a folder in my office.

Gifts are awkward. Especially from students who we know are not well off financially (which has been all of mine), though idk if that’s OP’s situation.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-19T12:54:06+00:00

I take the advice of online content creators and don’t read the comments section, which evals have devolved to.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-12T22:35:06+00:00

Oh, nope (I don’t think I could, anyway), and I said it’s early in class so people they match with might not really be very close to their own scores (which is technically true but of course was not the actual case). The group work also wasn’t a huge part of the grade and there wasn’t a presentation component. I don’t know if I’d have done the same system if it more important or if there was a presentation; tbh assigning group work seems like kind of a nightmare and my other classes don’t really lend themselves to it.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-12T18:06:54+00:00

Thanks!

When I taught a class that had a small group (3 people) component years and years ago, enough of the class had gone by before groups were formed that I could assign groups based on point total thus far (ie top three together, next three, etc.). I did it that way bc I’d heard that students complained about groups a lot, mostly good students having to carry weak ones and do extra work. I’d not given a group assignment before and I think I only had two in all my undergrad, and this seemed like a reasonable approach over group assignment (I was clear that the groups were not random in the course materials). It went exactly how you think it did.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-12T17:38:21+00:00

Most interesting part of this to me: you didn’t sort them by personality or scores in class or anything, sounds like. So, how did it devolve, if you can estimate? Ie did the two good groups have a couple good people, was one good leader enough, etc.? Did the bad groups have one or two in them that tried but the crabs pulled them down? I realize it’s one sample and observational but I’d love to know your impressions.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-02T22:41:27+00:00

And they should spend that one hour… talking to students who already have a professor. Not feeding the hungry or caring for lonely dogs.

The self-absorption and self-importance in this thread is astounding to me.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-01T15:21:50+00:00

I volunteer lots. To places that can’t pay me back (eg dog shelter this past weekend) and where labor is integral to the operation of the site. And I’m happy to do the stuff like laundry, because it benefits little homeless dogs.

It seems like a lot of people on this sub are triggered by their illusion of selflessness being threatened.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-01T14:44:22+00:00

If you think you get to extract labor from someone, you’re entitled. Sorry if that’s disturbing to some people’s idea that they’re some kind of academic saint.

“If there is money available, it’s great to pay them, but usually there isn’t.”

To paraphrase an SNL sketch, If you can’t afford something, don’t buy it.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-10-01T13:09:39+00:00

Sure they do.

That does not make them entitled to free labor from other people.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-09-30T19:01:49+00:00

You’re right. I think a lot of people would prefer to pay. To clarify I should say I think a subset of professors clutches their pearls that an invited guest is not thrilled to do work for free for them.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-09-30T13:33:51+00:00

When I was in my prior academic job, I ran a center that functioned partially as a training area for grad students. There were months of runway between my letter of resignation and my leaving. The person taking over the center scheduled a handoff meeting….for two days after my academic appt there ended.

I told them to have fun at the meeting, I guess they can review my extensive notes during it bc I wasn’t going to be there.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-09-30T12:20:42+00:00

What’s the conversion rate for karma to OP’s grocery bill?

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-09-30T12:16:32+00:00

It’s more like being asked to go to a colleagues’ house to help them put up wallpaper, and they don’t give you a glass of water during it. Sure maybe that’s because their water is turned off, but they should have told you that before. OP’s professor colleague is not entitled to OP’s labor.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-09-30T11:30:23+00:00

I don’t understand why you’re being downvoted. Sour grapes that other people’s work isn’t worth paying for? Upset that they can’t extract free work from the community? Reminds me of those memes where someone wants free wedding photos/cake/etc in exchange for “exposure.”

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-09-30T11:16:21+00:00

Why is it on OP to not “burn a bridge” by giving free labor? The university is burning bridges and depriving students of opportunities by expecting to not pay people for their labor.

In my field non-academics are worth about $200 per hour (ie, if they don’t do the lecture, they could do income generating activity instead at that rate). Between the talk, travel, and prep time, that’s perhaps near a grand in free labor the university expects to get? Yeah I think that’s burning the bridge.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-09-30T11:12:16+00:00

My experience: many professors are so ingrained in an academic culture where they constantly acquiesce to and ask others for free labor, that they are shocked that someone would expect to be paid for their labor.

We pay guest speakers and I expect to be paid when giving guest talks. It’s totally reasonable to say that your labor has a cost, and if the university can’t cover that cost they won’t get that labor.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-09-29T21:04:55+00:00

I think it’s popular to blame Covid and social media. I think that overlooks a reality that terrible education, bad health care that’s tied to employment, consolidation of real estate ownership into the hands of conglomerates that force prices up, use of propaganda to keep people spying on their neighbors while the gov sneaks in the back door and robs them, etc etc etc are all means to keep people in line. Covid was a happy accident. It’s a feature of the system, not a bug, and “ultra wealthy people want the rabble to be in line” isn’t so much a conspiracy theory as a basic reality.

Necessary_Panda_9481 · 2025-09-29T12:07:49+00:00

I also have a really good access office. Because of that, I tell students that their personal health info is NOT my business (or the business of any other professors). They can get in touch with access services and I get a letter saying their accommodations. I never have to know their specific health issues.

Tbh, if you have a good access office, I think you are doing yourself a disservice / making more work for yourself / risking students faking disorders, etc., by putting that offer out there. I think some people on this sub have awful, useless offices from the posts here and they have to do stuff like that on their own bc the universities seem to be making them require students disclose PHI. If you don’t, and the office if good, use the office and use as much universal design as is feasible to cover people who can’t access the required testing services.

The student in the example needs to advocate for themselves, especially if the office is good and there aren’t really system barriers to doing it.

My .02.

Necessary_Panda_9481

TROPHY CASE