College related rant

Will you do my paper in Leadership and Motivation since you want to see ME graduate??

j/k

Sorry to hear that, dude. You are always going to have to deal with some assholes in the workplace. Just try to minimize the interaction with them as much as possible and do something that I never do - don't let them get to you!

 

If that kid would have kept his degree plan and course schedule on a mac, he would have NEVER had that problem....

 

That's sad. When I go to an advisor meeting, it's my responsibility to know what I'm missing and the advisors have print outs that let them know what else is needed just so when we set down to talk about what I plan on taking they can see that it is fulfilling requirements. It is sad that they blame it on you when I'm sure its written out in the book that tells requirements to graduate. Personally, I make sure I know because it is too important to trust someone else with. Advisors have multiple students to deal with so personally I make sure I'm taking what needs to be taken and don't depend on the advisor who could make a mistake as well. With something as important as graduation you'd think the students would make sure they knew what they needed.

 

Didn't you have a similar rant last year about irresponible students.

 

I feel your pain - I'm also a professor and advisor. The ultimate responsibility for course and degree plans, of course, lies with the students. We can double check what they're doing, but we're not supposed to be in charge of their lives.

Some people are spoiled babies coming into college these days (and it scares me to hear myself talking like that; I'm no more than ten years older than they are at the most). They grew up with parents who handed them everything and covered for their mistakes, and with high schools which inflated grades and gave high marks for not doing much. Now, this doesn't describe everybody, but there is a thread of this kind of irresponsibility running through our society. You especially see it on college campuses, where kids are on their own for the first time. Some of them are always bound and determined to shoot themselves in the foot.

I have a history of being way too nice to people who are trying to do that. I've given people breaks and chances that I shouldn't have. I nearly always come to regret it later, as it doesn't help; it just enables the student. Last night one student (who's nearly my age) was telling me about some others who are really good at B.S. and sucking up. In this student's opinion, the others walk all over me and I try to be nice about it. I'm sure she's right. The thing is, we're here because we really care about the students. I mean, we're certainly not here at this small school for the money... or the research prestige...

There will always be a few who blame you for what they do to themselves. You can't let it bother you, as long as the responsible ones still have a good opinion of you... "blame the teacher" is a common game, but it's just immaturity on their part. We're easy targets. Try to focus instead on the things you do right and the ones who like you. (so the rest of it doesn't drive you nuts )

 

NO JOKE. Looking at the kids today compared with when I graduated from high school (1997), I think it's crazy how they have it. On the one hand, they seem so much more spoiled, but on the other hand, they're so much more driven and focused on college.

 

What sucks is having to pay some ridiculous advising fee even when you don't need to use it.

 

hahaha...i feel ya....and i understand what advisors have to go through. No student should ever accuse an adivsor of screwing them...IMO its the professors, lol. I hate certain aspects of college, the quotas especially. Professors have to have btwn a 3.2-3.4 in UT's business school. meaning they limit number of A's and B;s which is crap....hope u dont have to have another bad student mr advisor..

 

sOOO tru 4 sur, LOL! o-0
les replac ther azzz w/ DVD n on-line skool. lol!

 

I agree most students don't care because they have their parents set things up for them, but like advisors, you can't expect all of them to be reasonable.

I've dealt with some rude advisors before, and some of those people have given up on their jobs. They give you fake smiles and pretend like you have the lowest IQ around. They roll their eyes and make backhanded comments because you're another number in another day. It sucks when you have to witness that while waiting in line knowing that you're next.

Not all advisors treat students like that, but if for those who aren't happy with the rush of students and the repetitive questions and problems we have then they should find a happier job.

 

I agree that some people shouldn't be in a job where they have to deal with students. They're in it for the prestige, the research, or some such related thing. We've all had a few of those, especially at research universities. I just wonder why they're teaching.

Maybe it's because that way they get to feel intellectually superior to the students, and the rest of the community at large. I hope not, but it probably happens. I know some people who think, just because they're professors or Ph.D.s, that their time is worth more than other people's, and that they're smarter than the masses. It's annoying. And it doesn't make them better people.

If you don't like students, and can't identify with them, don't teach...

 

There's one prof at UT who literally goes through class and does this spiel about this is the new equation you're going to be using. I'd tell you where it came from, how it came about, and what its applications are, but you all are too intellectually inferior to understand ANYTHING I have to say, so just sit there and start on your homework.

And of course, there are the professors who haven't taught in so long, they can't even go through Phsyics 301 without completely screwing up their lectures and completely confusing most of the people in the class. Hell, some of the TA's who can't speak the best English are easier to understand than some mumbling geezer who can't remember the basics.

Mulder, I seriously wish I could have you as an advisor instead of the witch of an advisor I have now. I can't tell you how much I appreciate people in your position who are actually humane to the students they see. I'm not even sure my advisor KNOWS the requirements to graduate - she relies on a computer program to print everything out, and then she just underlines and reads straight from the page. If I wanted that, I would have printed out the damn page myself! I would have loved some input on which classes to take in combination with others, instead of learning the hard way, and dropping essential classes, putting me a year behind schedule!
I literally could have graduated within the 4 years had I not taken the wrong class combination due to her silence on the matter.

THANK YOU MULDER FOR BEING AN AWESOME PERSON!

Fortunately next semester I will be taking a conference course with my advisor to give her my input on my college experience, and believe me, she's going get more than just two cents from me about the way she does business.

 

I always had good advisers. The guy at UTA was really on the ball, double checking everything for me to make sure I understood and was getting everything I needed.

But I've dealt with other college employees who weren't so good.

On a related note, my significant other was applying for jobs recently, having graduated in December with an education degree, when she gets a call from one of the schools she applied to saying the college (Texas Woman's) was saying she didn't graduate.

So she calls TWU, and they say she didn't graduate because she didn't file a degree plan, even though she had (and even though they had even sent her the diploma at this point, and the state had sent her teaching credentials). Turned out to be a clerical error (she had filed the degree plan two years before), but had one potential employer not taken the time to investigate, no telling when it would've been cleared up (and no telling if she might have missed out on a job opportunity with her university claiming she hadn't graduated).

 

in engr the classes we have to take are so laid out for us there really is little point in advising. i know the university has to make money and before tuition dereg used any fee they could but it still blows paying $100/semester to go talk to a guy for 2 minutes to have him agree with the classes you say you're going to take (and that you pretty much have to take no matter what). my advisors have always been nice and everything and will make sure you're filling the requirements but i'm on top of stuff like that so really they've never told me much.

how does advising work with other people? are the requirements for graduation spelled out somewhere for each degree and easy to tell if you're following them?

the only problem i've ever really had with the UT faculty was going to the registrar's office to print out a form saying i'm still full time (for insurance) even though i'm only taking 9 hours (i'm graduating). i had my schedule, they said they wanted proof from my department. i get it from them, they say they want it from the college. i get it from the college and they act like having a signed letter from the Engr Office wasn't good enough and almost made me do something else before i finally got pissed enough that they just gave me the letter.

 

I didn't realize there was a separate "advising fee" at some schools. Obviously a way to line the pockets of the university (I certainly don't end up seeing $100 per semester per advisee, or in fact any money at all for it). Of course, I do think it would feel better for the students if they didn't feel like they were paying for it separately. I doubt the faculty are getting any of that $$.

 

I have a C in chem. Screw you.