WWYD: My daughter's college professor is constantly cancelling class

[chloelovesdisney]

UPDATE: my daughter received an e-mail from the Associate Dean of the school yesterday. It was an email sent to all students acknowledging that they became aware of the fact that an unacceptable number of the sessions had been cancelled. They are assigning new instructors to take over teaching the balance of the semester. One professor will be teaching the Mon/Wed class, and a different professor will take over the Tues/Thurs one. He apologized on behalf of the college that this happened in the email, and I feel it was very sincere. He even left contact information for the new staff, so that students could reach out to them via phone, email or by their office location.

End of story. Thanks for letting me vent. I'm out. Happy Easter everyone.

That is great news! It sounded crazy how many classes were being canceled with no coverage.

 

[auralia]

I had a block lecture class that only met once a week for 3.5 hours. My teachers father became very ill and passed away during the semester. We had about 1/3 of our classes canceled through out the semester... it sucked grade/study wise... all of her other classes were picked up by other teachers after she missed a couple ,but no one would take ours because it was such a big block. I still got an A, and I don't blaime the teacher in this case, but I felt the college should have let people that needed to retake the class for free... of course they didn't, but I believe they should have.

 

[sk!mom]

This reminds me of parents that call their child's manager at work to complain about the kid's hours or something else. We are raising a society that is too dependent and can't act on their own or lack critical thinking skills.

I am the manager and get these types of calls all the time from moms. I even got a phone call from a mom after an interview on how I should hire her child. This is not in just my region. When my organization gets together from other parts of the state about hiring, training and other issues - this subject comes up a lot.

I have a bunch of friends that work for other companies (small business) and this has happened to them as well. Granted, I don't think the entire generation is like that, but enough of them are to notice. The point is, parents are doing way too much for their kids and it will not help them in the long run.

Isolated situation?? There have been many, many articles written about parents stepping in when they clearly should not. There was no leap made by the person you quoted. It happens, and it happens with regularity.

I'm glad you've raised your child well. I believe we are doing the same for ours - and fostering their independence and confidence in handling situations on their own has been important to us. However, that does not make me so blind as to think that scenarios like the OP's don't happen more than once.

I've read the articles and don't doubt that these situations exist but to say "we are raising a society" is a leap to me. I personally know many responsible independent young adults.

I would love to know what industry you work in and what age you're hiring. My DH has been in a position to hire young adults for many years and a call from a parent has never occurred. I just asked him. His hires would be 18 or over. Usually at least 21-22 at the youngest.

 

[pumpkinmomma]

I don't think college ever has substitute teachers unless it is for a long term thing. My older son graduated from college two years ago, and younger son is presently in his last semester of college. AFAIK, they have never had a sub when a professor canceled. I don't mean to pile on, but it's college, not high school.

That's not entirely true. It depends on the college and the department and what their policies are for cancelled classes. The college I teach at highly encourages us to find a sub if we need to cancel class. I've had a sub (fellow instructor who taught the same course) cover for me when I needed to miss class for things like funerals, jury duty, etc.

There are times when I can't find someone to cover, like if I have to cancel on short notice due to illness. If it's an infrequent occurrence, it's not an issue.

A professor frequently canceling class is a legit complaint, it's unprofessional, and the college definitely needed to step in. But those complaints need to come from the student, not a parent.

 

[patty57]

That's not entirely true. It depends on the college and the department and what their policies are for cancelled classes. The college I teach at highly encourages us to find a sub if we need to cancel class. I've had a sub (fellow instructor who taught the same course) cover for me when I needed to miss class for things like funerals, jury duty, etc.

There are times when I can't find someone to cover, like if I have to cancel on short notice due to illness. If it's an infrequent occurrence, it's not an issue.

A professor frequently canceling class is a legit complaint, it's unprofessional, and the college definitely needed to step in. But those complaints need to come from the student, not a parent.

This is interesting. I guess it does depend on the college. Both went to private liberal arts colleges, and I don't believe either had the policy your school has.

 

[DisneyOma]

Am I the only one who hopes the daughter did not just forward the email to the mom? Now mom has the contact info for the new teachers!

 

[Aliceacc]

This is interesting. I guess it does depend on the college. Both went to private liberal arts colleges, and I don't believe either had the policy your school has.

But even if they did, the odd are that you wouldn't know. Most college kids wouldn't tell mom about cancelled classes, particularly if they were more in the "typical" range than the issue in this post. So you probably wouldn't have heard if a single class had been covered by another professor.

 

[Mkrop]

That's not entirely true. It depends on the college and the department and what their policies are for cancelled classes. The college I teach at highly encourages us to find a sub if we need to cancel class. I've had a sub (fellow instructor who taught the same course) cover for me when I needed to miss class for things like funerals, jury duty, etc.

There are times when I can't find someone to cover, like if I have to cancel on short notice due to illness. If it's an infrequent occurrence, it's not an issue.

A professor frequently canceling class is a legit complaint, it's unprofessional, and the college definitely needed to step in. But those complaints need to come from the student, not a parent.

This should have been the crux of this thread, how unprofessional the prof was...BUT mom did not encourage her DD enough, and believe me I get the anxiety issues, to take action. She needed to push her DD to contact the proper people in this matter, not make a call on her own.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

I've read the articles and don't doubt that these situations exist but to say "we are raising a society" is a leap to me. I personally know many responsible independent young adults.

I would love to know what industry you work in and what age you're hiring. My DH has been in a position to hire young adults for many years and a call from a parent has never occurred. I just asked him. His hires would be 18 or over. Usually at least 21-22 at the youngest.

I counsel preteen to young adults and manage 20 people in my department. We have a hiring committee and I am on that committee. Before that I worked in child abuse. We hire between the ages of 18 and up.

 

[patty57]

But even if they did, the odd are that you wouldn't know. Most college kids wouldn't tell mom about cancelled classes, particularly if they were more in the "typical" range than the issue in this post. So you probably wouldn't have heard if a single class had been covered by another professor.

Ha ha...so true.

 

[sk!mom]

But even if they did, the odd are that you wouldn't know. Most college kids wouldn't tell mom about cancelled classes, particularly if they were more in the "typical" range than the issue in this post. So you probably wouldn't have heard if a single class had been covered by another professor.

Very true. I'm visiting DD19 at college this weekend and her first reaction when I told her of this thread was, "cancelled classes- our daily wish!" Once I filled her in a bit, she said, but they don't test you over material that hasn't been given to you. Either reading assignments, notes, or lecture. So if class was cancelled with no assignments on the syllabus then as long as you keep up with reading you should be ok. This is her 4th semester and she says that she has never had a substitute. However she said that sometimes in "Open Labs," TA's will be there rather than the listed professor.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Aren't a specific number of classroom hours required per credit hour for a college to maintain accreditation? If they are missing that many classroom hours I'd imagine that particular class isn't meeting that requirement.

 

[mefordis]

So, just to ask.....Do you find it acceptable that a professor is essentially stealing our money by not performing what we've hired him to do? How will anyone at the school know this is happening if someone doesn't speak up? The kids sure aren't going to say anything!

FWIW-My daughter has no idea I called the Dean's office and left a complaint. I won't tell her either.

Well, I'd say the college is stealing your money with the ridiculous tuition prices. Nothing to do with the professor, though.

 

[DoingDisney]

We pay out of state tuition, and my daughter's professor is constantly sending out last minute emails about cancelling class. One reason was he was called out of town, but the rest are vague. I'd say that this semester alone, 7 classes have been cancelled. The class meets two times per week. That is over 3 weeks worth of class cancelled so far, and the semester doesn't end until May!

I called the Dean's office and talked to a young girl who works there. I told her that I was unhappy with the situation and she was going to take my name and number down and have someone get back to me. I wasn't comfortable with that, because I don't want my daughter to get punished for my complaint. She said she would deliver my generic complaint to someone at a manager level.

WWYD? Would you risk giving out your info? Would you expect a refund? Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated.
We pay $20,000 a year for her to get an education. The professor isn't making up any of these cancelled days. I'm angry!

This is college ...is your daughter 18 ? If so, you should not be calling. Your "child" is an adult, they have to deal with these things themselves.

 

[pryncess527]

Aren't a specific number of classroom hours required per credit hour for a college to maintain accreditation? If they are missing that many classroom hours I'd imagine that particular class isn't meeting that requirement.

IME, the proliferation of online assignments, discussion boards, and other means of teaching has reduced the strict correlation between contact hours and credit hours.

 

[momabaarjo]

Amazing that you could call to complain in the first place and they listened to you. My DD is a freshman this year and I can't have access to anything to do with her account because she is a legal adult in their eyes...I even have to be granted permission to pay the bill. No worries though, because my daughter is always willing to share. In fact at orientation they told parents MANY times we are not dealing with you but your child. While as an educator, I find this behavior inappropriate...it is his class...heck, I bet more than 1/2 of the students dont show up anyway to the class. Glad to know the school is doing something out this, but it is time mom has her wings clipped and child learns to fly.

 

[HRHMKH]

1. She is an adult now, even if you don't think so. This is her time to grow and learn, not just academically but as a person.
2. University professors are required to do research and present that research as part of their contract. Many times they will have to travel to a conference to do so, which forces them to miss class.
3. In higher education there is a law much like HIPPA in healthcare that prevents staff/faculty from disclosing information about students.
4. If your daughter is too timid to deal with this herself, then maybe you need to reconsider her college choice.

 

[mummabear]

Education is not a consumer commodity,

But it is. It is exactly what Colleges are selling.

 

[goofy4tink]

1. She is an adult now, even if you don't think so. This is her time to grow and learn, not just academically but as a person.
2. University professors are required to do research and present that research as part of their contract. Many times they will have to travel to a conference to do so, which forces them to miss class.
3. In higher education there is a law much like HIPPA in healthcare that prevents staff/faculty from disclosing information about students.
4. If your daughter is too timid to deal with this herself, then maybe you need to reconsider her college choice.

1. Absolutely true....it's a time for growing.
2. True, but they don't do this research while teaching classes.
3. A student can sign a form that allows the college/university to speak to the parent, if need be.
4. As said in #1, this is a time for growing. My dd was timid to begin with...but as a senior in college has shown incredible growth! She deals with all sort of 'stuff' now that a few years ago wouldn't have been possible.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I went to college way too long ago. We had a professor tell us a story of when he was in college... so yea that was even further back

The university made an old professor mad about something... so the guy quit, took and destroyed all records of the class. The university ended up just assigning everybody a "C" in the class. Some people were angry, others were happy to get the C.