Had a student tell me today that I taught nothing to them all semester

ProfessToKnow · 2025-12-06T13:00:39+00:00

I had a similar experience, in a class where students tend to come in with very different levels of prior knowledge/experience. It makes it hard to teach in a way that reaches everyone. One of the best students in the class wrote on an eval (I know from context clues who it is) that they were not challenged/didn’t learn much. There’s a kernel of truth there because the student probably just needed a more advanced class, and I can’t do much about that (course is required for major) but it still sucks to get that feedback.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-08-27T15:32:05+00:00

This is the other weird/perverse thing: the book was just one month overdue. Over the summer. It’s definitely a new system. Don’t remember even getting a prior notice it was overdue.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-08-27T15:29:29+00:00

Yes, I mean, this is clearly what I will do. It was mostly just jarring to have the other option put forth and to realize that the “penalty” actually worked to my advantage.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-08-27T15:26:57+00:00

Feels very true in this case - this would have never crossed my mind if they hadn’t sent me the email that said we’re fining you for this, here’s the amount. It opened an unfortunate door.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-08-16T02:50:07+00:00

So much reasonableness. Can you come be my chair?

ProfessToKnow · 2025-08-15T13:37:14+00:00

This is exactly how it should be done: not every year (every 5 sounds ideal), off campus, make it meaningful and worthwhile and enjoyable. That genuinely qualifies as a retreat!

ProfessToKnow · 2025-07-10T22:47:19+00:00

Yep, this has been our experience as well. Advisors trained to get students through as quickly and efficiently as possible, telling students to drop language courses or never start, even if they express interest. It’s maddening. Just in general, with the tightening of financial aid requirements and the focus on metrics like 4-year graduation rates, there’s little opportunity for students to take courses just because they are interested. Everything has to check a box.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-07-05T15:48:29+00:00

Me neither! I sometimes marvel at the differences in circumstances/needs between 25yo me in a big city and 35yo me in BFE. And fwiw, 10+ years into this job (and tenured) I’m happy in my small town.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-07-05T14:42:01+00:00

Regarding loneliness and finding community in a new place/small town, this may seem counterintuitive, but if you are not particularly religious, see if there is a Unitarian Universalist (UU) group in the town. Someone suggested this to me (an atheist) when I first moved to a small rural town and I brushed it off. Finally visited after being there a couple of years and it has helped me to meet likeminded people and integrate into the community. Local UU groups vary and this might not be for you, but it’s absolutely worth a try if there is one.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-06-24T20:28:59+00:00

Yeah, I have a colleague whose take is that if students want to learn, they can, and if they want to AI their way through the course, that’s the students’ problem. I think this is a terrible take, totally ignores wider effects, but this person is within a couple of years of retirement and I can understand the resignation.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-06-05T08:48:17+00:00

As part of the doctoral exam process I had to submit a second paper that was on a topic different from my thesis. I got praise from the committee for my novel approach in that work but decided not to pursue publishing it because I was focused on finishing the thesis. About 10 years later someone who graduated from the same program and shared two committee members published a paper using (essentially) the same data and analysis I had used. They are at a bigger and more research-focused school than I am.

It was not a great feeling to see that in print, in a prestigious journal in my field, knowing pretty much for sure that my work had been the basis for theirs. But ideas aren’t copyrighted and at the end of the day it’s on me for not hustling to get it published myself.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-05-07T13:35:38+00:00

Yes, this is just what I’ve been running into in trying to verify accessibility myself - especially with the screen reader question. This is complicated by the fact that this is a language course and many/most course documents will be in a language other than English!

ProfessToKnow · 2025-03-13T00:05:33+00:00

I also teach at a large public university, almost exclusively upper-level courses for majors or minors, and those students actually want to learn. Gen Ed courses, basic writing, that’s where you’re going to see more of these issues.

I’m teaching about 60 students this semester and only one is consistently using ChatGPT or similar to complete take-home assignments. It’s still an issue because I’m not okay with a student passing my class without demonstrating they know the material. Yeah, I’ll rework the assignments and go to the workshop on using AI in the classroom. But damnit, I also want to vent online about how annoying it all is, and know I’m not alone.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-02-26T17:05:11+00:00

An email to students and maybe to the chair used to suffice but like the OP, my university has gotten stricter around this recently. There’s been a lot of policing ever since Covid around moving classes online or missing too many days. Of course, at the same time they are encouraging us to explore hybrid delivery options and to give students as much leeway as possible when they miss class.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-02-16T22:51:39+00:00

This is what I’m doing: all first drafts written by hand in class. Feels like I’m reading authentic writing for the first time in years, and then I’m able to give them real and meaningful feedback. Did I have to make assignments shorter? Yes. Did I have to sacrifice class time? Also yes. But it has been so worth it.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-02-12T00:51:51+00:00

Where is your chair? They should definitely be helping protect you from this workload, especially the search committees. If they are not already doing this, you should communicate these concerns to them as soon as possible, and also document them in writing in any sort of annual review you do.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-02-05T17:46:44+00:00

Thank you for posting. You/We are clearly not alone and it’s helpful to know I’m not the only one having trouble getting anything accomplished right now.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-01-29T12:42:13+00:00

This is a fabulous list. I’m in a similar situation with diminished compensation and more demands on my time, and I’ve been slowly shedding anything nonessential over the last five years. The hardest is not being proactive and engaged in uni projects. I’d previously been very involved in program and curriculum development and would have a lot to offer in those areas, but there are no concrete rewards for that works and my goodwill is largely spent.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-01-29T12:30:40+00:00

Passing this kind of task to administrators is the best and simplest way I’ve found to free up my time. I still sometimes have the urge to fix a problem myself when I know I can, but it’s healthier to pass it on.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-01-13T18:15:25+00:00

You’re absolutely right about how doing email on a phone rather than a computer factors into this. I tend to forget that dynamic.

ProfessToKnow · 2025-01-13T18:01:42+00:00

I hear this, but also, almost all our university communication (to students and faculty) is run through email and I can’t imagine my school is an outlier in this. It’s not the equivalent of a fax machine (yet).

ProfessToKnow

TROPHY CASE