Herb Coleman wrote:
> Paul, I think this is a good way to lead this discussion. I remember as
> an undergrad my Psych Dept. Head saying that he didn't make friends with
> his colleagues because he had to hire and fire them and he didn't make
> friends with his students because he has to grade them. This led to a
> discussion of what it means to be "friends" and objectivity.
I'm not a strong believer in this kind of objectivity anyway, but I
don't have to deal with it nearly as much as you do because we don't give
grades at my institution. We have largely criterion-referenced assessment,
which really takes care of a lot of the "fairness" issue. Some remains, of
course, and I'd never claim to be pure and objective. I most certainly
assess student work in a way that is biased by my assumptions and attitudes
about the student, which are affected by her behavior in the classroom and
elsewhere. Sorry - that's life. I do try to be aware of it, and I think the
fact that I am often surprised (both ways - by how good some work is, and by
how bad other work is) is a good sign.
Obviously dual relationships are a problem to be avoided, though just as
obviously, I think, that doesn't mean that we can't be involved in finding
solutions to some of students' nonacademic problems. As an example, the
student office worker in my departmental office is a foreign student, and
she ran into problems with the new SEVIS system and the big deadline that
just passed (for renewing student visas). She was in tears last week over
problems that looked like they'd force her to leave the United States. Since
most of our people were on vacation (could that deadline have been more
poorly timed?), I walked her around to various offices to advocate for her
with the various remaining staff. Obviously there's nothing in my job
description that suggests I need to be doing that kind of thing, but just as
obviously, I should have done it, and I'm sure that circumstances
permitting, just about all faculty would have done the same thing.
Suppose her problem instead had been with a boyfriend leaving or abusing
her? I think that's clearly on the other side of a not-so-fine line, and my
response would have been to have walked her over to the counseling center
while avoiding any direct involvement in the problem itself. I think that
people in a psychology department have a special responsibility there, as
students and others may assume that being a psychology professor makes one a
counselor as well (I'd have probably thought that when I was an
undergraduate, at least for a year or two). I don't think there's much
serious dispute about the need to avoid that kind of dual relationship
(faculty/counselor) even for qualified counselors. I remember us discussing
this last year (roughly) on TIPS.
Re. party invitations: I consider them absolutely safe IF other faculty,
staff, or administrators are also invited and attend.
Re. chance meetings in public: there's nothing you can do about that
without getting ridiculous.
Re. former students - I think "just like any other acquaintance" is a
fine policy, though I can imagine people having objections in light of the
potential for requests for letters of recommendation.
Paul Smith
Alverno College
Milwaukee
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