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February 21, 2006
What do you expect from your profs?
There was an article in the NY Times today about a shift--spurred in part by technology--in the traditional professor/student dynamic. The article discussed how email has enabled students to contact their professors at all hours of the day and night, creating this feeling among professors of being always "on call."
In some cases, the requests (demands?) in the messages may be crossing a line of what is a realistic expectation of a professor (such as critiquing a long paper days before it's due) and may even carry a tone that is less than respectful, and certainly parts with the traditional deference of the past.
At Case, we boast of our low student to faculty ratio, and we put forth quotes from students who talk about having dinner at their professor's homes. We talk about how the faculty take a deep interest in their students' educations, and in their lives. And we're not alone. I was checking out the website of a large public university, where a student was quoted as saying you get the best of the large school with the intimate environment, and a chorus of students echoed that sentiment, saying how the professors know you by name and really care about you.
Has all of this created unrealistic expectations? The New York Times article referred to students as consumers. And with price tags topping $40,000 per year, it's little wonder that students would adopt a "consumer" attitude, where you look to get the most value for your dollar.
It seems that at the heart of this is a core question:
What do you expect from your professors? What is the ideal student-faculty relationship?
Posted by rrm3 at February 21, 2006 03:07 PM
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