Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with university and professor

How to deal with an intimidating professor?

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:03:29 -0800

My professor’s intimidating, confrontational style makes the classroom atmosphere difficult to tolerate. I can't drop the class or switch sections. What should I do? I’m in an advanced-level business class. The students are all seniors, post-bacs and graduate students, but the professor treats us as if we were a bunch of insubordinate kids in need of discipline. He doesn’t do this all the time, but it’s frequent enough that I’ve started to dread the class.

The class runs for two hours, and we are not given any breaks. If someone leaves their seat to go to the restroom, he will occasionally pause the lecture to interrogate them, ask where they’re going, or insist that they’re going to miss the best part of the lecture in the five minutes that they’re gone. Sometimes he laughs and tries to pass this sort of thing off as a joke, but very few (if any) of us find it funny.

When students ask questions, he often interrupts them or cuts them off before they’ve even finished articulating their questions. If they give an incorrect answer to a question he poses, he often chews them out for it, even if they can demonstrate verbally that they’ve read the assigned material and understood the concepts. At this point the only students who speak up voluntarily anymore seem to be the most thick-skinned ones. I’m not very thick-skinned, so I remain silent in class unless he calls on me directly. Sooner or later, though, he’ll probably put me on the spot and challenge me to explain why I’m so damn quiet all the time. (He’s already done that to another student).

He picks on people mercilessly. This week, for example, he loudly berated a student for not being able to answer the professor’s question:

Professor (pointing at student, after describing a long scenario): What’s the answer?

Student: Uh, I’m not sure. I was a bit distracted. I missed some of the details.

Professor (aggressively): WHY? Why aren’t you paying attention? What were you doing? What’s the matter? Don’t you take this class seriously?

Student (meekly): I’m sorry. I was reading something for a moment.

Professor: If you’re not going to pay attention and take this class seriously, then get the hell out of my class! Either you get on the ball, or you get your ass out of here!

Student (embarrassed): I’m sorry, Professor. I got it. I’m taking it seriously from now on.

At that point a couple of the students gave each other quizzical looks of disbelief, as if to say “What IS this, anyway? Reform school? The military?”

I felt sorry for the student he confronted, and wanted to stand up for him, but I feared that the professor would turn his wrath on me. If the professor ever does try to humiliate me like that, I doubt I’ll be able to endure it. I’ll probably just get up and walk out. I almost walked out today in protest of his treatment of a fellow student, but I knew I’d pay a high price if I did so, and I need this class to graduate.

Two weeks into the term, and already I dread going to class (which is very unusual for me; I love school, and my other classes are great). It’s a required class, and my class schedule is set in stone through my graduation date this summer, so I can’t drop it. There are no other sections available, so I can’t switch to a different instructor. I’m stuck with him until the end of the term.

What should I do? Is there anything that can be done, short of confronting him directly, to get him to ease up or treat the students more respectfully? I don’t want to confront him, because I fear he might hold it against me at grading time, or even try to humiliate me in front of the class and then claim it was “all in fun”.

Would this sort of behavior be considered harassment? He's never threatened or sexually harassed anyone, to the best of my knowledge. Should I document all the individual incidents in the classroom, and take my complaint to the university ombuds office? He's a visiting professor from another university; would this make a difference? Should I complain to the department head, and suggest that they confront him?

Advice, encouragement, suggestions, coping strategies, personal experiences – all are welcome. Thank you!

Throwaway e-mail: merciless.professor at gmail.

Two Master's Degrees... What are my options?

msposner — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:57:38 -0800

This spring I will be finished with my second Master's degree. I've been at my current job for almost three years and while I enjoy it immensely, I am wondering about other opportunities that having two graduate degrees might open up for me. Am hoping to obtain answers especially from individuals who have multiple degrees and have gone into somewhat different career paths. My first graduate degree is a M.S. in Secondary School Education. I am qualified to teach in public school (context area: Social Studies). I also am certified to teach at schools for the deaf but that is not something I want to focus on because of how such institutions are being shut down at an alarming rate.

My second graduate degree is going to be a M.S. in Professional/Rehabilitation Counseling, which I'll be obtaining in May of 2009. I'm not going to be pursuing my Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) certificate because I was recently on their advisory panel and signed a waiver stating that I promise not to take the CRC test for at least five years due to first-hand exposure to potential test questions. This is perfectly fine with me because I'm not planning on having my own independent counseling practice and I have no desire to work for any of the major insurance companies around here.

I currently work at a state agency as a vocational rehabilitation counselor and while I do enjoy this job very, very much, lately it seems as if I'm often hearing from people (respected professionals) that I should be doing something "better" and so forth.

For me, "better", would be to obtain employment as a researcher (researcher scientist?) or a professor at a college/university, which is actually my ultimate goal but I'm also open to acquiring other, relevant experience that might enhance myself as an educator. I'm a voracious reader and I'm always conducting research- I'd really like to go into education/rehabilitation policy if the opportunity ever presents itself.

For now, my intention is clearly to "stay put" because as I mentioned, I love my job and I enjoy working with my colleagues, however, I have my goals outside of this field and have oftentimes thought about returning to the classroom as a high school teacher.

In a nutshell, my inquiries are defined as follows:

(I) I've been told that having Master degrees in both education and counseling will make me very attractive to school systems. True?

(II) Will the fact that I do not have terminal degrees in either fields (education and counseling) hurt my chances in obtaining research-based positions and/or work as a college instructor?

(III) For someone with two Master's degrees, what are the other fields I could go into when I have specialization in both education and counseling?

(IV) Has anyone experienced negative pitfalls of having multiple graduate degrees such as frequent rejections on the basis of being overqualified?

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Caveat #1: I am profoundly deaf. This, unfortunately, creates a lot of barriers for me in the workplace. Many schools have refused to hire me because in order for me to instruct in public schools, they would have to also pay for a full-time sign language interpreter since I communicate primarily in American Sign Language. In their eyes, I'm not cost effective- I'm a budget burden. As I mentioned earlier, I do not want to work at schools for the deaf because of the lack of job security and their notoriously low salaries.

Caveat #2: I've mentioned that I love my current job. However, I am also trying to plan ahead (1-3 years) and have always been open to other opportunities.

Caveat #3: Not really looking to relocate anytime in the near/distant future. Wife loves her job and is pregnant with our first child. We also put a lot of work in our present home.

Caveat #4: I'm 27 years old.

Caveat #5: My current job is paying fully for my second graduate degree, which is really the only reason why I went back to school after I completed my first Master's.

Thanks in advance for all of your suggestions/insights.

Advice on Emailing Professors When Applying to Grad School?

davidstandaford — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:40:09 -0800

Any advice concerning email communication with professors who I'll be contacting at the various schools that I will be applying to for PhD programs in Political Science? As part of my application process I've been identifying the schools that I want to apply to and the professors at each campus that I would want to work with. I've been reading some of their recent writings so I can begin contacting them via email.

At the moment, my plan is to email them sometime soon letting them know I'm thinking of applying to their school, my planned research statement, and letting them know which of their articles I've read. I was going to include a comment about the articles I had read and ask them some question about something I'm unsure about or how their article might be in conflict with some other research.

If/when I get a response I was planning to follow up by asking to see any unpublished articles if they are working on something that also fits with my interest.

Firstly, I was wondering if anyone involved in academia has any thoughts about communicating with professors during the application process.

Also, is there some maximum number of emails that should be exchanged and at some point I would begin to annoy them, or it's ok to email back and forth for a couple of months?

Is there some number of emails I should exchange before I tell them explicitly that I am applying to their school and explicitly ask them for any help they can provide in the admissions process?

What about arranging a time to speak to them on the phone? Also good?

And finally, anything in my emails that I should be sure not to mention/include, or anything I should be sure to tell them?

[I'm focusing on email communication because, alas, I am out of the country and not able to make any more campus visits.]

Advice for starting a tenure track science job.

lalochezia — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 08:02:13 -0800

NewAcademicJobFilter: What did/should you do, to start off a new academic job at a new institution and do it right? Lab? Colleagues? Students? People to know? Actions to take? How did you leave your own institution? If you know of any links that address this issue, particularly for scientists, let me know. Also: please fwd this to science profs. that you know!

Advice wanted: I'm starting at a masters comprehensive uni as a tenure-track chemistry professor. I've started pre-ordering my lab equipment, planning my first experiments and reading the university handbook. I've got a place to live, and have essentially written 80% of my first semesters lectures and most of my first grant. I move there in 3 weeks and formally start in 10 weeks.

What did you do, or wish you did, when starting a new job as far as planning, organising, meeting people, setting up rules, finding out about the unwritten rules, the whole echt I'm-making-my-career-the-way-I want it-to-be-and-starting-it-off-right.

Also, what actions did you take or wished you took when leaving your postdoctoral/previous institution? Questions you'd asked? Alliances you'd kept? Philosophies taken or discarded?

I'm asking for advice that can range from the philosophical to the "don't forget your lab keys" . Any and all advice gratefully received.

Help me become a Fine Arts Professor, or else help me back away humbly.

flibbertigibbet — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 00:57:48 -0800

What can you tell me about excellent grad schools for the fine (visual!) arts in Eastern Canada... and about the job field for visual arts professors? I've always wanted to do art, and to teach. I've read all the other threads on "I want to become a professor", and a few things stuck:

a) you need good grads
b) you need good papers
c) you need good recommendations
d) you need to be from a top-tier school.

Now, substitute "papers" or "shows", and it sounds about right. But is it really like that in the Fine Arts? Do you have more fine artists scrambling for professorships, as in English or history, or moving to Berlin to practice?

I can find next-to-nothing about ranking the various MFA programs, so short of the asking professors -- which I can't do for awhile because of certain logistic issues -- I have no idea how to get to that professorship.

So.

1) Is it possible to attend a "top-tier" MFA school in Ontario and Quebec? (Yes, Concordia is good, but I have no idea how to stacks up to NSCAD for graduate studies, and I have no idea how NSCAD stacks up to Emily Carr, etc). I'd really prefer to take my MFA in Ontario or Quebec; barring that, the Maritimes are OK. Hiking out to BC isn't very appetizing, but if it's necessary, so be it. Heck, my dream job is probably at Concordia itself, as I adore Montreal.

2) And even if I do attend a top-tier MFA school, am I likely to get a job teaching at a university in some way, shape or form within 3-5 years of getting my MA?

3) What other key component am I missing in this equation?

Art Teachers ... what should i do

matimer — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 16:43:03 -0800

Should college art professors have an outside career in their field of arts aside from teaching? Im a new young art teacher at a university. I went to gradschool and have had little time outside the academia world of art. Im beggining to wonder if it is important that i try to make a name for myself in the art world outside of academia. Is it necessary to be involved in the art world outside of acdemia to succeed as a teacher?

salvaging an old professional relationship ...or not

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 04:36:38 -0800

Does my flaky departure and subsequent lack of fame / distinction make corresponding a no-no with this former professional associate? A few years ago, I worked with a professor and a student group on a research project. My reliability and dedication apparently impressed the prof, and I was liked. However, once the project ended and a new one began, there was really no role for me to take. The prof said that if I could come up with an idea, they would work on it with me. Basically, I never came up with anything. The prof offered me a role on their project, but I wasn't proactive enough to find an area of it that needed my services. I stopped going, they stopped contacting me.

I've felt badly ever since, especially because I really admired this prof. I'd like to make contact now and maybe correspond from time to time, but I'm embarassed at how things ended. I'm also embarassed because I haven't achieved the fame / distinction of most of his other students. Many students wanted to work with him, and he picked me, and I feel like I "wasted" his efforts because I haven't gone on to become anything too distinguished.

So do I make contact anyway, or does my flaky departure and subsequent lack of fame make correspondence an etiquette no-no? If I do make contact, what do I say after all this time?

What can you tell me about being a PoliSci prof.?

matkline — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 17:00:14 -0800

I want to become a professor of political science. What do I need to know? Any general knowledge would be appreciated, but I have these specific questions:

1. I've always envisioned myself working abroad. Would this be possible? How?

2. How does a professor's typical day look, especially in terms of time teaching, preparing, researching, etc.?

3. What things do I need to do/grades do I need to get in Undergrad to be able to realistically pursue this goal?

4. I've heard finding work as a professor has become very difficult. Is this true? If so, will my status as an under represented minority be of any value?

What should I use for a blog in my classroom, and why?

fionab — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 15:53:47 -0800

Blogging in the classroom. I've decided to set-up a blog for my students this semester. This will be the place for their response papers, writing exercises and a few other tidbits. It needs to have access for 5-10 members, a very easy set-up, free-to-near-free pricing (although I would pay or find the dollars to fund if it was warranted), and very clear posting/linking instructions for the students. Advice on selecting a blogging system needed. What should I use?
- Blogger has a free version, with "team blog" as an option, and it looks like a Microsoft Word plug-in or something. This looks pretty attractive. What is the downside of Blogger? Privacy? Ads? The searchbar? Support?

- Moveable Type has educational pricing at $40 for my needs, but is it rather difficult to install, customize, set-up, etc.? I don't know anything beyond very basic HTML; I'm pretty techno-savvy [as in, I can do lots of stuff on computers and other gadgets but no programming] so I could follow instructions, but as the semester has already started, I don't want to put oodles of time into this. Is there a way to have it ready-to-go for me instead?

- I use TypePad for my (currently neglected) blog, so I'm familiar with their process and keys, but don't see how it would work for our class right now. Could it? With 5+ members?

- What about Drupal?

- What else should I consider? I found this old thread, but I know that the last year-and-a-half has been busy in the blogging industry and educational blogging. What do I need to know about blogging with my class? Dangers? Advice? Good grades for all who respond!

How to become a professor?

keswick — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 13:48:23 -0800

How does one become a professor (read: university level instructor)? Requirements? Length of time to meet these requirements?