I've been thinking a lot lately about the reasons why instructors (graduate students in particular) get frustrated with their students. Often these frustrations stem from a sense of entitlement that instructors get from their students--a sense of entitlement that stems from unreasonable demands on the instructor's time or a simple lack of common sense. But I've been wondering if we're being unfair. A lot of those frustrations are our own fault for not making our expectations clear from the outset, and what we gloss as "entitlement" might in fact be simple ignorance. It requires a lot of socialization to succeed in a university environment and an explicit primer on the social norms that govern that environment might be one of the most empowering tools that we can give our students. With that in mind, I've made the following handout, which I think could be a very effective teaching tool, especially for first year students in the context of a small class, like a first-year writing course.
Etiquette Guidelines for
Students Interacting with Instructors
Success in any
college course is determined by your performance on the graded material—the
exams, the papers, the other assignments—but it is also determined by the
relationship that you cultivate with your instructor. This might not seem
intuitive, but making a good impression on your instructor and cultivating a
positive relationship with them can lead to many tangible benefits. It can mean
that the instructor will be more likely to excuse an absence or provide you
with an extension on an assignment. It can make them more inclined to bump up a
borderline final grade. It can turn them into a source for a letter of
recommendation. And it can determine how harsh or lenient they are when they
evaluate the more subjective components of your grade, like essays or
participation. Cultivating a positive relationship with an instructor requires
following certain etiquette rules. Some of these may seem obvious, but they are
all important:
DISCUSSING COURSE POLICIES
DO read the
syllabus closely and consult it for answers to questions about course policies.
DON’T ask your
instructor questions about the course that are answered on the syllabus.
DO ask for
clarification about course policies or assignments as soon as possible.
DON’T wait until
right before the due date to ask questions about the assignment.
EMAIL
DO begin emails
with a salutation and end with a signoff.
DON’T misspell
your instructor’s name.
DO give your
instructors 24 hours to respond to email, not including weekends.
DON’T expect an
immediate response to a message, especially one sent late at night.
DO be the last
person to send an email during an email exchange. When arranging a meeting, it
is your responsibility to send the last email confirming the meeting time. If
you do not send the last email, your instructor might assume that the meeting
isn’t on.
OFFICE HOURS
DON'T ask
questions via email that will require a long response and DON’T ask for
feedback on written work via email.
DO use email for
short, direct questions. DO use office hours for any questions that require
extensive feedback or a back-and-forth conversation.
DO take notes
during office hours. You likely won’t remember all of the instructor’s advice.
If an instructor
offers a block of time when they are available other than their regular office
hours, DON’T assume that they will be in their office during that time. They
are offering a block of time when they could
be in their office if you make
arrangements to meet with them.
DON’T refer to a
meeting outside of the regularly scheduled office hours as “office hours.”
DON’T miss a
meeting outside of regularly scheduled office hours, except in an emergency.
DO email to
explain why you missed an appointment as soon as possible.
ABSENCES
DO email your
instructor ahead of time when you know you'll miss class for an excused absence.
DON'T assume that by emailing ahead of time, your absence is automatically excused. Ask.
DON'T assume that by emailing ahead of time, your absence is automatically excused. Ask.
DON’T email your
instructor about an absence that you know isn’t excused.
DO ask a
classmate what you missed in class when you were absent.
DON'T ask your
instructor what you missed—not in email or in office hours.
DEFINITELY DON’T
ask, “did I miss anything in class last week?” The answer is always yes.
DON’T assume
that an assignment can be turned in late because you were absent.
DO turn in your
assignment even if you are absent, or arrange for an extension.
PROFESSIONALISM
DO maintain a
professional tone with your instructor.
DON’T share
details from your personal life, unless they are affecting your performance in
class.
DON’T try to
friend your instructor on Facebook (maybe after the class is over, if you had a
positive relationship).
DON’T text or
check Facebook. Your instructor can tell.
If you are late,
DON’T interrupt a lecture or a student’s presentation by walking in.
DO wait by the
door until there is a moment when walking in won’t be distracting.
If you must
leave early, DO tell the instructor beforehand, sit near the door, and slip out
quietly.
DON’T walk out
of class in the middle of a lesson without warning.
DON’T lie to
your instructor. You’d be surprised how easy it is to get caught. Don’t say
you’re only available during a two hour window, only to arrange a meeting for a
different hour of the day. Don’t tell an instructor you uploaded an assignment to
the course website when you haven’t. Don’t kill the same grandmother twice when
explaining your absences.
_________________________________
Generally
speaking, these DOs and DON’Ts are all about empathizing with your instructors
and understanding what they value in a relationship with a student. Many
students assume that their instructors value “respect” in some abstract sense
of the term. This isn’t exactly true. For example, many people who hold Ph.D.’s
don’t particularly care if you call them “Doctor” or “Professor”; in fact, many
will ask that you call them by their first name.
The top three things that most
instructors value are:
- Their time. Think about who is teaching your course. If it’s a full professor, they’re probably in the process of writing a book or an article, or they’re engaged in some research project. If it’s a graduate student, they’re probably taking courses or writing their dissertation, and might be applying for jobs. If it’s a lecturer or adjunct professor, they’re probably teaching many courses at once and applying for jobs. In any case, teaching you is not their only responsibility. This doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy teaching you or that they don’t work hard at it, it’s just the nature of the university. So if you’re going to respect anything, respect your teacher’s time, and don’t waste it.
- Their students’ time. If an individual student isn’t paying attention during a lesson, many instructors won’t be offended, but if a student distracts other students during a lesson, they’re very likely to incur their instructor’s wrath.
- Their work. Instructors love the thing that they’re teaching about, and they work really hard at it. So, the easiest way to make a bad impression is to give your instructor a sense that you are bored or lazy. If they sense that you don’t care about the material, then they won’t care about you. On the other hand, the easiest way to make a good impression is to show some passion for the material, or at least some genuine interest. Even if it’s a required course that you aren’t particularly excited about, finding a way to show enthusiasm will go a long way.
