Has anyone else done this -- like officially to the department chair or a dean or whoever? I sent an official complaint to the chair of the department this guy teaches in last week. I don't really want to get into all of the details, but the prof is just bad... Then, the last straw came when he handed back HALF of the midterm exams (3 full weeks after the exam). Half. Not because only half of the class was there -- because he only had half of them graded! I've never heard of that happening. I even asked other professors (in a diff. department) about it, they said you should never hand back any exams before they are all graded, because you may have to make adjustments in how you graded, especially with essay questions. So I wrote out a big long email about all of the problems I've had with this guy & sent it off to the chair of the department. He wrote back right away to say that he had the flu but would deal with it asap... Then a couple of days ago wrote that he had contacted the guy for a meeting after thanksgiving break (we have the whole week off this week). So, now I am waiting to see what happens, if anything changes, if he realizes who complained & whether he will be an ass to me if he figures it out... Has anyone else had to do this? How did it turn out?
how could he find out it was you? did you leave a name? im sure the chair will keep you anonymous. i have never complained but would like to about my medieval history proff. i could go on and on about my complaints. i was thinking of emailing him or the department but kinda want to cool down about it so i dont send anything unreasonable. the way the course is organized is just horrible, same with the lecture style...it has NO direction. good luck with it, my unviersity is huge so i dont know how efficent a complaining email will be. but hopefully they will take it into consideration.
I'm probably just being paranoid... Tho I was visibly upset -- well, pissed off -- about not getting my test back when others got theirs. And, well, so many of these kids in there... It's a course on Intro to Islam at the University of Missouri -- a good third of the class are young Christians who are just in awe of this new way to understand Jesus (seriously, they ask more questions about how Jesus fits into Islam than they do about Islam itself!) & another third of the class are Muslims who have a great respect for this man's knowledge (several have told me how knowledgeable he is, but that doesn't make him a good teacher). So I feel like a minority for not bowing down to this guy... As for complaining, my boyfriend, who is a PhD student here, basically pressured me since early in the semester to complain. I either was too upset or too busy with other stuff, so I probably would have just let it go... Then the test thing happened... It took nearly a week to be able to write, proofread, & have my bf read over a letter before sending it! Thanks. I'm at a pretty big state university, but the department I'm dealing with is relatively small... Good luck if you wind up complaining about your bad prof!
My freshman year a large group of us filed a complaint against my geography teacher, who was just a total ass. They took our complaint very seriously, and I think that it helped that there were so many of us. It would probably help you out if you could find a few people to send letters or back you up- it would most likely make them listen to you more. Though it really isn't fair, in my experience that's how it works. We waited until the end of the semester, but before our grades were final so that he could not retaliate against us, but also so our grades could be subject to change when our complaint was received. Bottom line though- if you are having a problem with a professor, you've got to let it be known. Best of luck!
good luck! if you're worried about anonymity, you could contact the dep't chair and make sure you remain anonymous. i'm pretty sure they would normally do it anyway... but, if you're worried about it, calling might ease your mind over the extra-long weekend. i hope the end of this semester goes a lot easier for you.
im not so sure about this on a university level, but a group of us complained about a hooooorrible professor in high school and the administration took it very seriously and either asked him to resign or talked to him in such a way that he preferred leaving to staying gotta let your voice be heard! may i ask what other problems you're having with the prof?
www.ratemyprofessor.com this site is awesome. almost all of my university's profs are listed and rated by their students. its great to check out before choosing a course, just to get a general idea of what the prof is all about since they really can make or break the class. i know its kinda late for your case, but just for future refrence.
Well, I got an email from the chair of the department that he had set up a meeting with this prof for after thanksgiving break... I doubt that happened before class yesterday, since the guy drives in from St. Louis & was running late (the TA commented that he saw the prof walking up to the building, the office is in the same building, so he must have been coming from his car)... I haven't heard anything further from the chair, no email about how the meeting went or anything, so who knows... It's not really anything I expect him to be able to do anything about for this class, so.... No clear communication of requirements of the course -- 1. conflicting info about requirements in syllabus 2. students asked about this, but he failed to communicate his answer, if he had one (his accent is really thick, which took some getting used to, so I feel he should have made more of an effort by making up a handout or sending an email, because it was obvious from the number of questions students asked & the number of times they repeated themselves that they weren't understanding him). 3. I emailed him about this twice -- once in an email including questions about the upcoming midterm (he answered only the questions about the midterm) & once asking that he answer my other questions (like what portion of the grade the term paper is worth, since he put a grading scale on the syllabus but didn't include a paper in that scale). Then he did the thing with the tests. Then, when I finally got my test back, there was no indication of why he took points off. I didn't care so much, cuz I got a 94%, but another student was really pissed off cuz he only got an 85% & wanted to know why he lost points when he did. Basically, it's all stuff that makes me think this guy has no idea how to be a good professor, but it's not anything I would expect him to be fired for or anything. I really probably wouldn't have said anything if it weren't for the thing with handing back some tests before they were all graded.
i'm doing it tomorrow, my professor is unfair, he never returns my work some how some of it got magically erased from the computer in his class. he rarely answers my questions, i can't say that i've learned anything i was supposed to in that class this semester. when it comes down to our work he's extreemly critical and doesn't guide. and i'm not certain but i'm getting a prejudice vibe. i'm going to tell on his ass tomorrow. i'm pretty sure he's going to fail me which is totally fucked up and undeserved. I'd be sooo screwed.
Have you sat down and talked with your instructors about these problems? At the university where I work, this is the first step most students take.
Normally, I would agree. This guy drives in from St. Louis (about 2 hours, depending on whether/how much you speed). The class meets once a week for 2.5 hours. He doesn't drive in to hold office hours any other day, he generally gets to campus just in time (or a few min. late) for class, so if you don't go talk to him right after class you're SOL. The entire class asked several questions -- well, the same couple of questions over & over again, restated in hopes of getting a more clear answer -- whenever the assignments were brought up in class. I emailed the prof twice -- which I thought would be better because there would be no confusion caused by his accent, which is so thick that it took about half the semester to get used to. When the test thing came up, I went & asked whether he had just not had time to record the other grades, could I see mine, he just asked my name & said he would have my test next week. That's when I decided I would actually complain.
Well you're lucky you've got someone to complain to friend! I have a professor who is just worthless at times. Last semester he NEVER updated his gradebook until the end of the semester. Obviously that puts a damper on our ability to see our grades, now you might think; "why not just ask him for a progress report outright?" Weeeeellllll, thats because he never graded our assignments. Seriously, he handed me back a stack of tests and old assignments in the final days of class, he had JUST gotten around to them. Also, he docks points from our grade for not showing up to class, but when I drive my ass 45 minutes to class and he's not there, we don't get any extra credit points for showing up or anything, which doesn't bother me so much if I didn't have to waste all that gas because he's too lazy or uncaring to announce the fact that he will be gone on the official Teacher absentee phone line. Now I failed his class, I'll unshamefully admit that. It was 4/5ths my fault because I missed a test and forgot about it, therefore never scheduled a make-up day (we have to make those up at the end of the semester) HOWEVER, in my defense this would have been completely avoidable if he would have UPDATED HIS FUCKING GRADEBOOK as he promised he would, and as a prof should, on an annual basis. So needless to say I didn't even realize I had the test out until he finally got around to updating his gradebook after damn near an entire semester, so that F would easily have been a passing grade if he had done what he had promised. I undersand, life gets in the way, but the thing that pisses me off most is the fact that he is so unwilling to comprimise when life gets in my way, but when life gets in his way we're all supposed to take a punch to the gut and go along with it. Why haven't I complained about him? Because he's the ONLY person in that department.... therefore the only person to complain to. Needless to say if he won't listen to me when I'm talking to him face to face in class, he won't listen to me when I file a formal complaint about him. I was thinking of talking to the Dean or someone higher up, but I just don't see it going anywhere. Honestly, I try not to bash community colleges, but this one is just beyond fucked up. Every step iis nothing but a hassle, and this isn't the first time their cockfuckery has screwed me over in some way, shape, or form. Lord will I be happy when I get this horseshit degree and I can actually study something I want to.
