8

Our class seems very disorganized. I am a graduate student in four courses this quarter. At our school this is week 3. In 3 of my courses, we received the syllabus on day 1. In one of my classes, we haven't received a syllabus yet and I am worried it will become a problem for us. We don't know what subjects we will be covering this quarter, when our midterm will be or what form it will take (our courses are remote), what we will be graded on other than the homeworks which have been assigned, or really any of the other small things which a syllabus would contain.

Every lecture we ask our professor when he will give us a syllabus. And every lecture he gives us a vague "in a couple of days" answer. Well, today we found out we will have a midterm in about 2 weeks, but he wouldn't commit to a date. I am worried that this will interfere with my other classes which are already taking up a good deal of my time, and I have no idea how to prioritize this or deal with it. I have worked in the private sector for several years and never dealt with this kind of disorganization or chaos.

I personally wrote him an email indirectly asking for a syllabus before. That didn't work. We ask him directly in every class when he will write a syllabus. That doesn't work. Several students have asked on our class discussion forum (which he is supposed to respond to). Those questions have gone unanswered.

This is tough because 1) I believe I will have at least one other class with this professor so I want to be very careful and 2) I feel like we have exhausted all of our polite options. I am considering going up the hierarchy, but I don't want to burn any bridges. What should I do?

For the record, I am attending an accredited university. Our program is listed as one of the better ones in the country for my degree, and it's not cheap either. I have high expectations, and suffice it to say, they are not being met.

Improve this question
8
  • 1
    He is a tenured professor. In fact, he's taught this course before. I suppose I could ask another professor but I don't know if that's possible without also "snitching" on him.
    – zfj3ub94rf576hc4eegm
    Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 23:57
  • 2
    Is there anyone in the department who is an “academic advisor”? I would talk to this person because they will be able to bring it up the hierarchy using a very vague statement like “my advisees mentioned in passing that...”
    – Dawn
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 1:37
  • 13
    At the beginning of the year I was teaching a course preparing new materials on the fly. I was strained doing that, managing my growing group and two small children. That was before we switched to remote, then it became unbearable, to the point that I had to cancel one of the lectures. The circumstances imposed by the COVID pandemic are not the fault of students, and it is unfair for you, but they're not the teachers' fault either. Most of us were functioning at 100% capacity before COVID. If your professor is trapped in a situation like mine, it's unlikely that complaining will fix anything.
    – Miguel
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 4:04
  • 3
    Why do you need the syllabus? Just turn up to class, study, you'll be fine. Life is messy, you don't always get all the details you'd like.
    – user2768
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 14:48
  • 1
    @Miguel is correct: most of us were already working at 100% capacity before the pandemic and before classes moved on-line, and no one is magically giving us more time to do the extra, new things needed (even if not for your particular class).
    – paul garrett
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 16:00

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

Talk to academic advising, or someone higher up in the department.

I applaud your efforts at being understanding, but keep in mind that teaching this class is his job. Students not knowing what material will be covered, or how they will be evaluated on it, is him not doing his job.

It's certainly possible this professor has other things going on in his life that are preventing him from getting these things done, but they're very fundamental pieces of the job itself, and you're already three weeks in. If he's incapable of doing this basic part, then the department should be involved, at a minimum to provide the professor with the support he needs. And unlike in the spring, when the COVID crisis and at-home learning was suddenly thrust upon us all, we have had many months to prepare for it this time. The same things that might have been excusable in April, such as scrambling to figure out how a class will work in week 3, are not excusable now.

Improve this answer
2
  • 2
    To be fair, the ground-rules set by universities have been shifting in the months between the onset of the pandemic and beginning of Fall term (in the northern hemisphere...). Still, yes, it is nearly unfathomable to me that a syllabus isn't available. Oops, but, yes, many of my colleagues didn't give out syllabuses in the best of times...
    – paul garrett
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 16:53
  • Its also true that in many universities, the powers that be have made large cuts to the staff without any reduction in the amount of jobs to be done.
    – Ian Sudbery
    Commented Oct 8, 2020 at 21:40
0

Speak with someone who is sympathetic to you and knows the university well. This could be your student union or student representative. In some countries, there are academic advisors. Maybe your school has even a different system. Ask those people what they do: maybe they know this professor and know he will never change, maybe they know if there is someone to complain to, or maybe this is even normal at your school. Those people should also know if it is useful to complain (i.e. if there is really someone who is willing to do something) or if it could potentially backfire.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .