fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3558 ]

[ SECRET POST #3558 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3558 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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08. [SPOILERS for Great British Bake Off]

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09. [SPOILERS for Dark Matter]

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I am in a difficult spot where I feel like myself and a few other of my classmates are being bullied during class. It ranges from the teacher refusing to answer questions when I ask her something to shaming students at the front of the class for not participating to her standards to tell me to "get out of my comfort zone" when I asked her why none of us have desks to write on, even though we're all writing majors or minors in her class. When I was sick the first class and told her I could only stay for half the class before my doctor appointment, she told me not to bother staying at all. When I returned the next week she said, "Wow, you look different when you're not sick. Try being present for class more." She has also told me the seat I've picked for myself in her classroom seems "wrong" to her, and she wants to move me to a new seat...even though I picked it because my anxiety/PTSD is only quiet when I can sit where I see the exit.

I could go on because she has said and done a lot more in the first month of school (total: 4 classes, 16 hrs), but I don't have the time or energy to relive everything right now. I just don't know what to do. Do I speak speak with the director? He's very friendly and open to student input. Do I wait and see if she mellows out? I am getting to the point where I am anxious about going to class on a Friday, and the class isn't until Wednesday. I'm at a loss, and am currently trying not to start spiraling.

Personally I'd report her, but I'd do it with someone else. I had an issue with a law school professor. Actually our whole class had issues, but me and one other girl got the worst of it, so we went and reported him together along with our TA. He got talked to and mellowed out a bit and wasn't asked back the next year.

There is a classmate of mine that might do that with me, but I am worried speaking out will affect my grade/the way I am treated for the rest of the semester, which goes until December 17th.

I don't know what your school is like, but his supervisor assured us she wouldn't let his feelings towards us affect our evaluations. He'd already made very personal comments on the other person's midterm evaluations that were clearly not acceptable.

Maybe make sure the report will be anonymous? I honestly imagine that it would be, anyway.

If you have an advisor, I might talk to him or her first. Otherwise, yes, talk to the director, or even the dean of that department. (And I imagine this is also what your advisor will tell you, but he or she may have suggestions as to how you might approach the conversation.) In my experience, they are generally good about understanding their students' needs.

(Also, maybe you can get some of the other students to go with you? That way it isn't just one person.)

I like the idea of talking to my advisor. They might know more about how the process works before I go to the "head honcho," so to speak. I'm gonna ask a classmate of mine if she would speak up with me.

Yes, this. Start with an advisor.

I second getting other students to speak up with you. It will be way harder to dismiss or deny that way.

Speak up to whoever happens to be in charge of HR for the department. Sometimes that's a chair or an assistant chair. Other times there's a dedicated advisor or student relations person. Usually any good university website will tell you exactly who to talk to about problems with faculty.

This isn't something you should wait on. This sort of behaviour tends to get worse, not better, and it's not something any good university should tolerate.

I had a professor I definitely wish I'd reported. He was a bit of a Michael Scott type - as in, I don't think he was intentionally hurtful, just caught up in trying to be "in touch" and unaware of the situation he'd put his students in. So I felt bad reporting him because I knew he meant well. But now I realize he made what should've been a great class a terrible experience, and really, he made a lot of students very uncomfortable. (And you have to wonder how much he actually meant well, and how much he just knew if he acted like the fun guy, he could get away with the not so fun stuff.)

First, take it up with your advisor. Especially if they're the department head or the like.

Second, make sure that at the very least the reports can remain anonymous--and whether they can or can't...report in a group.

I absolutely would report her. Go to her higher-up and also talk about it with someone who is likely to be in your court. Ask for advice on who the best person to go to is on your campus.

You don't deserve to be treated like that, and it's clearly negatively affecting your education. Speak up!

I hope it gets better, anon.

The time to report a professor is after you've graduated and got a job. You do it before then and within six months you'll be gone and they will still be teaching. Seen it far too many times. It is way easier to get rid of a student than a professor, so guess how schools like to solve their problems? See your doctor and get medicated to deal with your anxiety and just deal with it. It isn't the way of the moral high ground, but it is the way you survive without getting removed from the school as a troublemaker.

maybe if they're tenured, but if not then reporting professors definitely works if you get enough people to complain about them even if it's just on professor evaluations at the end of a semester. I know a lot of people in academia and whether or not they get asked to continue lecturing at a university is majorly influenced by evaluations, so if a bunch of students absolutely hate them and have genuine complaints, then there's a pretty good chance that they'll be out of a job.

If they're tenured, then short of actually assaulting a student they're not going anywhere. If they're junior faculty, the kind of complaints being outlined here are possibly enough to get them shuffled around the department, assuming that someone doesn't like them, and might keep them away from tenure long enough that they get let go in a few years for underperforming. Adjuncts probably won't be asked back, unless the course is something highly specialized. Creative writing instructors are a dime a dozen. Pediatric phlebotomy instructors are a little harder to find and will be given a lot more leeway.

I'm sorry, but the minor slights being described in OP's post just aren't enough for major action to be taken. The only thing that might do it is if the professor forces them to move even though changing seats will trigger a panic attack, but that only works if they've told the professor that and it happens anyway. Based on the original post, it doesn't sound like they've shared that tidbit. The school probably has an office of disability services -- OP should involve them if the prof doesn't seem inclined to listen to reason. And if this is an elective course, OP needs to drop it and take something taught by a more nurturing professor.

LOL, I am "medicated." Thanks. And I'm a 4.0 student. I'm not going to get kicked out for voicing an opinion.

Heard that one before too.

na

wtf kind of school did you go to? I've seen plenty of terrible professors get told to hit the bricks, especially if they're adjunct. hell, those poor bastards don't even have to be terrible to get canned; adjuncts get treated like shit regardless.

When did you go to school, in the 80s? Or do you go to some super strict private university? Cause trust me, most public universities wouldn't do that just for fear of the lawsuit.

What class is this?

Look to see what kind of resources your school has for support. I wouldn't report to the department chair (departments can have weird politics): go higher than that. You could talk to the dean of students, dean of the college, or an advisor. If you have connections with people in the counseling center, you could talk to them--that's confidential, and they'd likely be able to help you find the right channels to report this. If your school has ombudsmen, that could be an option as well.

Another option: simply go to the adult/staff member you trust most, and talk to them. Whether that's the program director, another professor, an advisor, or whoever, they will likely have the "lay of the land" and be able to help you out here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #3558 ]

Reporting a professor?

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