Tag: Department Politics

My professor is horrible and I’m not imagining it!

First things first, it is possible that this advice will not be helpful. Power dynamics being what they are, there is often very little you can do without experiencing repercussions. Professors who harass or otherwise abuse students have often put a lot of effort into insuring that their bad behavior is hidden from colleagues, or anyone who has enough power to disrupt their careers. This post will be about professors who truly stink, but it may not be helpful if the problem includes sexual harassment or other types of abuse beyond garden variety horrible. With that out of the way, here are some steps to take when dealing with terrible professor if withdrawing from a class is not an option.

Am I grade grubbing?

First of all, prepare yourself to hear something negative. If you can’t handle that, then you aren’t ready to go talk to your instructor yet. If you are imagining a scene where they apologize and beg your forgiveness while bestowing an A+ upon you, don’t drop in during office hours just yet. Once you’ve gotten that far, look at their feedback again. Try making changes to your writing or improving the graded work. With that complete, you can collect your original assignment and your updated assignment and stop into office hours. Show your instructor the edited work, and ask them if it fulfills the suggestions. If it does, then you know you are on the right track. If it doesn’t, ask for more feedback. Note: you should not have asked for an improved grade.

Professors, Instructors, Teaching Assistants, OH MY!

There is a hierarchy in every college and university, and you should be wary of anyone who claims otherwise. You will often hear certain majors, academic departments, groups of staff, etc., routinely spoken of in derisive terms. If you are studying business, you may find that you hear the arts or literature always mentioned as if the joke were obvious, and you might also complain about the sciences doing the same to you.