What can I do if I have a massive personal problem with a future student?

Question

I am a teaching assistant for undergraduate engineering classes. I will be in charge of running lab sessions, helping students, and assigning grades. I have an extreme and insurmountable personal problem with one of the students in one of my lab sections scheduled for next semester and am concerned with my ability to grade them fairly. I will be talking to the Professor of the course about the issue and would like to approach them with different options that would be beneficial for both myself and the student in question. Ultimately the question is:

What can I do if I have a massive personal problem with a student in one of my lab sections?

edit: the nature of the problem is that the student violently assaulted my girlfriend, I retroactively see why the nature of the problem is important to the answers for the question. Charges were filed and I stand by the seriousness of the accusation.

Answer 1

As mentioned by other answers, the first thing you absolutely must do is speak with your professor about this.

However, you also asked for options to present to your professor. These options depend on exactly how much you feel you will be able to do fairly. For example, if you feel you will be unable to interact with this student in a fair and appropriate manner (which, by the way, is understandable), you may need to recuse yourself entirely from your current position (as you'd be unable to do any of the required responsibilities).

Here are a few options, however, which may help avoid a complete recusal:

• Anonymous grading. This will only work if you believe you can act appropriately in regards to the other responsibilities required. And, of course, your professor's willingness/ability to implement this. Keep in mind that such a system is often not trivial (it depends heavily on the subject matter, etc.). If all assignments are handed in on paper, perhaps suggest that each student uses their university ID number. I had a class where we all chose monikers (which we reported only to the professor) to use throughout the year to use on assignments.

• Ask for or supply your own co-instructor. Keep in mind that this should NOT be a friend of yours who could similarly be biased, nor at any time should you inform the co-instructor of the circumstances. Your professor may not be interested in paying for two instructors for one section, but perhaps you could work something out with another lab instructor to split the pay 75/25 (or something similar) for the hours required, as s/he will not actually be required to do anything.

• Your university undoubtedly has a legal/HR department to whom you can speak about this. I highly recommend checking in with them, as they would potentially be more likely to step in and swap your teaching times with another lab instructor without simply letting you go (as the professor may be wont to do).

• Through a mediator, ask the student to switch to a different section. As you noted, it's important to recognize that as much as the student in question is the scumbag, you're the one with the conflict of interest here. As such, should he choose to refuse, it's ultimately your responsibility to resolve the situation.

Kudos to you for recognizing such a situation and taking the appropriate steps to avoid it. I think many would have a harder time not punishing the student for his behavior while feigning innocence.

Answer 2

the nature of the problem is that the student violently assaulted my girlfriend [...] Charges were filed and I stand by the seriousness of the accusation.

The fact that there is a criminal case involved makes this situation much more serious than just disliking someone. It doesn't matter whether you think you could behave impartially or not, the appearance of a conflict of interest is what is important, and that is most certainly present here. If the student is doing poorly, the student could accuse you of unfair treatment regardless of your behavior, and there would most likely be an investigation. It's better to avoid that possibility entirely.

You need to talk to your professor immediately. Depending on the status of the case, tell your professor that your girlfriend and the student are on opposite sides of a criminal case. This should convey the seriousness of the conflict without disclosing too many personal details. Keep in mind that there are privacy issues with saying too much about your student's personal life, in particular when it comes to criminal charges.

Work with your professor to figure out what the best solution is, whether that means switching sections with another TA, switching the student to another section, or putting in place defined procedures to prevent bias on your part (such as anonymous grading). It may be a good idea for your professor to involve an ethics adviser from the university, since the conflict of interest is so clear. Regardless of the outcome, by officially reporting this potential issue ahead of time, this will reflect positively on you in the event that the student does make any complaints.

Answer 3

Update:

With the edit of the OPs Question I have to update my answer as the content of that edit changes the situation completely.

There only option you have here is to contact the appropriate staff (most likely HR) Get your conflict of interest documents taken care of and to work out with HR what you should do next.

The fact that there is a legal situation already in play make it that much more important to get the COI documents taken care of.

Answer 4

The crux of this is if you are able to stay professional and leave your personal bias out of it. Don't feel like a bad person or unprofessional if you aren't able to in this case, that is what disclosure of conflict of interest is all about. Research your facility's conflict of interest policies and procedures. Follow the procedure to the letter. On the off chance that a professional academic organization does not have a conflict of interest policy, ask your professor how conflicts of interest are registered and handled.

Following this path provides the student with a fairer chance to education and protects you from allegations of unprofessional behavior. It is not worth risking your career on failing to disclose anything that may introduce bias.

Answer 5

Not knowing the nature of the personal problems makes it more difficult to answer, but in general this is what I would do.

First, try to swap with another teaching assistant so that you are not in the same section as the person you have a problem with. Do not tell them the name of the student when you ask if they can swap with you.

Next discuss with the professor and see if he or she can arrange a switch or use someone else. This may result in less income for you if they have to hire someone else in your place. This may be the best choice though if the relationship is truly bad such as an ex-husband who abused you.

If the situation is such that the person is someone you intensely dislike but are not afraid of, consider behaving like a professional and leaving your personal feelings at the door. You could look at things like making the projects/tests/quizzes be submitted with only a number (someone else can keep the key until you have to submit grades), so that you don't know who submitted which ones until after all the projects are graded. You could ask someone else (like the professor) to review this particular person's grade to ensure you were being fair. That could help keep the grades fair.

You will also have to help this person if help is requested. Stay at a safe distance if need be, but answer the question exactly as you would handle it for other people. The perception of being fair is increased if you can say things like, "good question" when the person asks, so that you are not the one appearing negative even if the other person behaves in a hostile manner. A little praise can go surprisingly far when trying to defuse a personality conflict.

If the person dislikes you as well, then he or she might try to make you look bad by asking difficult questions. If you dig in and learn the subject far beyond the level that is covered in the class, then you can answer these questions easily and thus look knowledgeable when the initial plan was to make you look stupid.

If the difference is political or religious, don't bring up those subjects at all unless the course material requires it (hard not to discuss religion in a course on comparative religion). If the other person brings up those subjects, deflect by pointing out those are not appropriate topics for this class.

Answer 6

Create objective criteria and not subjective. The grading part should never be "subjective" as that creates personal bias instead of true academia. If you have objective criteria for grading then there isn't an issue. Naturally the subject will depend on the approach, but there should always be a way to create a purely objective criteria grading approach.

As far as personal situation, that is personal development and emotional maturity development in dealing with difficult people and circumstances. Look at it as an opportunity to grow in emotional and inter-personal maturity so that you are able to handle the extremely difficult situations and not be concurred by them.

Edit based on clarification in question: Under the circumstances mentioned I would go for a restraining order approach and make it legally impossible for the person and me to be in the same location like that. The school would need to make special accommodations and since the charges are against the student then the penalty should be there and not on you.