[tips] Re: availability

[Marie Helweg-Larsen]

I've found those types of "customer service" requests go down once I tell the class collectively (several times throughout the semester) how these emails "sound" to me and what my answer is. So I tell them, for example, why it is rude to ask "did I miss anything today" because it assumes that class could possibly have been pointless (this is obvious to us but not to them). I also tell them that they should get the notes from a fellow student (and not ask me for my notes) because it is their responsibility to make up missed material. In larger classes I also say that they do not have to tell me that they are missing class or why (although in smaller classes I do need to know). My point is that addressing these issues collectively cuts down on those types of email and it is easier to address the class as a whole as opposed to telling a specific student that the email he/she just wrote is rude and inappropriate. Marie Bourgeois, Dr. Martin wrote: Well, it's the end of another summer term, which has gotten me thinking about course evaluations. In looking at my own and those of others, both the official ones and those on ratemyprofessor.com, I've come to believe that one of the most important dimensions for students, maybe THE most important, is one's availability to students. I believe that I get more comments, positive and negative, related to this than I do those related to my lecture style, expertise, and fairness put together. And in thinking back, I believe it's a fairly recent phenomenon. As an undergrad, I couldn't imagine assuming that one of my profs would respond in a timely manner to unsolicted, vague requests such as 'I missed class today, did I miss anything important?'- in fact, I couldn't imagine ever asking such a thing. Yet my inbox is constantly full of such requests, and if I don't respond within 24 hours (which I often don't), I believe that my course evals suffer for it. And it's ma king me wonder if I should put responding to these requests ahead of other endeavors, such as research and service. I'm feeling less like a professor and more like a customer service representative these days (and one who's not doing his job adequately). I'd be curious to hear if others are experiencing similar feelings. --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english -- **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773 Carlisle, PA 17013 Office: (717) 245-1562, Fax: (717) 245-1971 http://alpha.dickinson.edu/departments/psych/helwegm **************************************************** --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english