Comments on Facing a Student Complaint

• ADR
• Posted by Tim , Professor Law & Policy of Higher Education at Leeds Met U.K. on October 21, 2009 at 9:15am EDT

• Is there a Campus Ombud? Does the College have a mediation facility? Head it off at the pass if possible. Disputes are stressful so try and nip it in the bud.

• Posted by jim on October 21, 2009 at 9:15am EDT

• I don't get it. Why did the author refuse to let the student leave the room to answer the phone? Many of actually have a life and emergencies arise. And since when did the classroom become a jail? Why does a student even have to ask (if they are unobtrusive in leaving)? Courtesy, I guess. But only as a courtesy.

• What?
• Posted , Assistant Prof on October 21, 2009 at 9:45am EDT

• Jim, I'm guessing that you are a student. Would you like to explain why it is only "a courtesy" and that an individual can do whatever one wants in class? The sense of entitlement here worries me, but it is consistent with immature and selfish way many students behave these days. A student leaving class is a disruption and is something a professor should restrict if needed to keep the class running smoothly.

• "Courtesy"
• Posted by Boots on the Ground on October 21, 2009 at 11:00am EDT

• Joining Assistant Prof here--not only does the sense of entitlement trouble some of us--there may have been very practical reasons for the decision, such as a quiz or test. Regardless, the instructor has the helm.

  Jim, another way to consider it--better for our student to encounter the word, "No" at this point in life rather than on his or her first job.

• Posted by cindy on October 21, 2009 at 11:00am EDT

• It is a sad day indeed when a disgruntled undergraduate can ruin an adjunct's (or any teaching faculty) career merely because s/he did not like the "tone" of the message. It is high time that colleges stand more firmly behind its faculty.

• phones in class and complaints
• Posted by Judy Harris , professor at LSC-Tomball on October 21, 2009 at 11:00am EDT

• So I have two questions:

  1. Why was the phone on in the first place?

  2. If the student had "outside issues" that required having the phone on (on call for work, family crisis situations, sick children, and the like), why didn't he/she inform the instructor so that the instructor could then inform the student if a call came in that he/she was to take all possessions and go take care of what was obviously an emergency situation.

  I have in my syllabus a statement to the effect that if students have phones out/on, those students are told to leave for the day. If a student has a situation like one of the above, I must be informed, the phone must be on vibrate and in a pocket at all times, and if a call or message comes in, the student must take his/her things and leave for the day (with the presumption that it is indeed an emergency). Students also sign a "contract" agreeing to the stipulations and requirements in the syllabus. Therefore, they have nowhere to go if they are told to leave because of phone usage.

• Posted by Just a guy on October 21, 2009 at 11:00am EDT

• Perhaps Jim will explain to his boss that it is just a "courtesy" if he leaves a meeting in an office environment to answer his phone. It is disturbing that the classroom is viewed with the same wieght as watching a movie in a theater.

• Good advice
• Posted by Sue Metzner , Director of Human Resources on October 21, 2009 at 11:30am EDT

• Having worked with grievance and complaint situations frequently in my career, I would like to compliment the author on the subtance of the advice given. The author's advice that the "accused" has the right to know the specifics of the grievance, as well as cautions about retaliation and keeping one's calm (and one's mouth shut) until in a grievance meeting or hearing are all spot on. I have talked many an accused and frightened faculty/staff back from this ledge. I will save this article for future reference and sharing.

• Courtesy
• Posted by Mr. C , Adjunct Instructor - English at Glendale (AZ) Community College on October 21, 2009 at 12:00pm EDT

• It's quite rare that a student excuses themself to leave class temporarily, and having said that, my tack has always been the student as decisionmaker. The demographic of evening classes naturally favors this: most students older, more courteous via age, and themselves having paid for class time and product. My policy of actual presence in class for a specific number of minutes of the class hour also helps, addressing lateness, early departure, or any 'step down the hall,' and as such, determining a student's absence count. Happily, this mainly applies to that small percentage of "last year's HS seniors."

  Making this all clear on opening night has worked well, along with statements (as necessary) and attitude that speak to adult vs. high school environment. Those who can't seem to hack this or who don't understand the idea of minimum disruption sort themselves out quickly enough.

• Has it come to this?
• Posted by will , President at College Access Counseling on October 21, 2009 at 12:30pm EDT

• It's appalling that a teacher has to worry that a student will file a formal complaint if he or she has the wrong "tone of voice." The instructor was totally in the right to refuse the student permission to answer the phone; the phone should not have been on to begin with. But really, isn't this a question of priorities? Isn't the student saying that the class is really just an interruption of his/her day? Disgusting.

  Many years ago when I was teaching at a well-to-do high school in the South, a student raised her hand in the middle of class and asked to make a phone call (this was way before cell phones). When i asked why, she said she had to call her mechanic because she thought her BMW might be leaking oil. Of course I said no, and she glared at me the rest of the time. But allowing her to file a complaint? I think not. Why should a teacher have to worry every time he or she gets annoyed at some student who treats the class like an inconvenience?

• Cultural Snapshot
• Posted by Hannah , Ex-Adjunct at Many CC's on October 21, 2009 at 1:15pm EDT

• A few things about this story (and the response) amaze me. I'm assuming the writer is not an adjunct in a CA community college. When I adjuncted, colleagues who had taught superbly for 15 years suddenly found themselves without classes. CA ed code says adjuncts are "at will" and "temporary," and thus not entitled to due process or to even being told why we were being un-rehired. In many cases all it took was one student complaint in that one bad class and the adjunct is out the door. I've listented to colleagues complain about students texting and taking phone calls in class and students walking out in the middle of class, not returning after a break, not showing up 90% of the time and turning in only one third of the work and having helicopter parents go directly to the chair, dean, or college president to complain about Buffy or Skippy's "F." No matter how legititmate the instructor's actions, I could almost bet on their not returning the next semester. Meanwhile, I've wtinessed parades of students complaining to department chairs about tenured instructors directly insulting the students, making racial or mysogenistic comments, and showing up only to collect the homework and give out the next assignment without anything happening to them. Nice work if you can get it.

  As for this incident: I've had students, especially the adults in night classes, tell me in advance they may be expecting an emergency call; no problem with their leaving the room when such a call comes in. I have in my syllabus that phones are to be turned off in class,l but I noticed many day students running out ot the room once their phone vibrates that a message has come in. I suppose leaving the room is better than their taking--or making--a call in the classroom (which happens frequently in many classes) but let's get a reality check on the class dynamics here. I always told my students they are not in prison, that my understanding is that the are here because they want something from me, such as a passing grade and often knowledge they need for the next level. Tlhe conditions for getting that passing grade include no calls in class, no leaving before class is over, and consistent attendence. Chronologically and legally, most are "adults" but more and more 18-20 year old day students are acting younger and younger, with shorter attention spans (perhaps due to new media instant communication?).

  Those who pay their own tuition at CA community colleges pay less than 8 percent of whtat it actually costs to educate them. lAt the state U and private U levels, its the parents who foot much of the bill. Having taught at CC's and 4-yeas, I've observed that the students who were most serious academically--and the most courterous--were those working many hours and taking many classes to get their degree in a short amount of time. I myself had to take many classes I thought were totally "uncecessary," boring, badly taught, before I got my doctorate, but the thought never would have occured to me that the teacher or material not being exciting or thrilling at the time was my excuse to rudely leave the class to do--whatever.

  I don't know if the instructor here was "too stern" or not--but I can assert that if she was tenured instead of an adjunct, all the higher-ups this student complained to would simply laugh the complaint off. What we have here is a cultural snapshot of what's gone terribly, conterproductively wrong with the higher education system when the majority of the instructors, who are abysmally paid adjuncts with zero job security, feel like dogs who must be wagged around by the tails of immature students they are assigned to teach.

• Set clear rules & expectations
• Posted by CC English Prof , Assoc. Professor/English at An IL Community Coll on October 21, 2009 at 1:30pm EDT

• I state in my syllabus that all electronic devices must be turned off the entire time the class is in session. No texts, no calls. If a student violates that rule, I ask them to leave and, per policy, they forfeit any points for that day. I do note that, in an emergency - which, I note, I would expect to be a rare and extenuating circumstance - I would appreciate a notice of said expected call as they come into class. I have virtually no problems since the policy is explicit (the simple effectiveness of the move has surprised even me!).

   

• Courtesy and Entitlements
• Posted by Darby at GMU on October 21, 2009 at 2:45pm EDT

• I am an administrator at a large public university. I am constantly amazed as how rude students of all ages and levels can be (and some faculty – how many times have you been in what might be a never-ending faculty meeting and seen your peers tapping away on their computer, grading papers – obviously not participating). While we are indeed in an environment predisposed to technical gadgets, many students lack the social skills to understand how to use them respectfully. I blame the parents – who failed to teach them that you look someone in the eye when you talk to them, you don’t chat on the phone and order coffee, sit outside an office and have fight with your boy/girlfriend, wander all over the sidewalk and run into people because you can’t be bothered to look up from your phone etc. Parents just don’t teach their children manners anymore. It’s no wonder today’s students are so clueless. There are legitimate reasons for needing to take a call during class.
  The last two years of my MS degree, my father was terminally ill and I kept a cell phone with me, on vibrate at all times. I feared that without it, my family might not be able to contact me in case his situation worsened. One night in class, I hear my phone vibrating and when I noticed it was my family calling, I tried to quietly gather my things and leave. It was clearly obvious I was leaving and I smiled sheepishly at the professor and apologized quietly. When I discovered it was not an emergency, only a family member who did not know I had class, I was relieved yet uncertain how I was to get back into class. I could not afford to miss the entire class nor did I want to disrupt things.

  Fortunately, the instructor allowed a break and I was able to return to my seat however, I had the courtesy to apologize to my instructor for the disruption and I went on to explain about my ill family member and the mix-up. My instructor was sensitive to the issue and respected how I handled it. While I think it’s a bit harsh to excuse a student for the entire class if they had to take a phone call, I do think that conveying your policy with regards to the phone early on is the key.

  Faculty should not be in fear of enforcing their rules or calling out bad behavior.

• not surprising, sadly
• Posted by CC History Adjunct on October 21, 2009 at 2:45pm EDT

• As an adjunct (and ABD grad student), I know *exactly* how the person feels. I've had students throwing spitballs, passing notes, and other assorted rude behavior, and I find myself thinking, and allowing much more bad behavior, than I would if I wasn't scared to death that I'm going to lose my adjunct position if a student complains. And with good reason, as a fellow adjunct who told a disruptive student to put his phone away was informed by the dean that he had no right to demand that the student pay attention.

  I'm all for putting restrictions on phone calls in the syllabus. I often teach at night, and yes, I have parents (and others) who might have emergencies. I ask them to keep me informed, and to sit by the door if they feel they might need to leave. That said, I also have another rule....if your phone rings in class, I answer it. Do this once, and no one fails to turn their phone off again. Funny, embarrassing, and completely effective.

• THE RECORDING
• Posted by Larry Gillis on October 21, 2009 at 6:45pm EDT

• The student should have been told that they were certainly free to leave (unless your class is at the State Prison), but that they would not be allowed to return. Your way leaves open the technical possibility of the student alleging some sort of "imprisonment".

  Insist on a recording of the hearing, and insist that the student be required to try to imitate the "tone" that you allegedly used. Any administrator who is not TOTALLY spineless will start to giggle uncontrollably.

  If you get hurt by the spineless administrator (e.g., an adverse finding of some sort), you can then ask the nexzt level of appeal to listen to the recording. They WILL giggle.

  Then, ask for assessment of attorney's fees against the student, as a sanction for wasting everyone's time. This silliness has got to stop...

• Posted by jim on October 22, 2009 at 5:30am EDT

• I did not want to post to this thread again but neither do I want anyone thinking that my previous post was merely for the purpose of sparking controversy. So here goes. Assistant Prof says that I seem to be saying that “an individual can do whatever one wants in class”. Unfortunately it is easy to break one’s leg by leaping to conclusions so readily. A student leaving a class may be a disruption or maybe not. It all depends on the student’s deportment in the leaving. Acceptable behavior in class is a matter, as I said, of common courtesy. Speak to neighbors seldom and in a whisper. Treat the classroom as you would any meeting of people come together to do difficult mental work in a common cause. “Whatever one wants” is very different for non-traditional students and “last year’s HS seniors”. The former know what is expected and with very few exceptions, behave as though they are paying for and getting something of value. The latter often need to be corrected for matters such as talking or laughing loudly, banging books on the table, tossing a pen to a friend etc. But in all cases, the teacher has no more power over a student leaving than the student allows. As I said, the classroom is not a jail and I am not interested in being a gate-keeper. I am not sure what “entitlement” worries Assistant Prof but if it is the student feeling that adulthood confers on a person the right to leave a room when a possible emergency arises, then the “entitlement” is no more than fair. As for the post by “Boots on the Ground” that it is better for students to encounter “no” now rather than later in life, now there’s a sense of entitlement. Students go to class to get credit for a course and possibly even to learn but no one goes to class to test permissions. It is a prerogative of adulthood, even 19-20 year old adulthood, that one must learn to say “no” all on one’s own. Judy Harris and Hannah seem to have a more adult and less controlling attitude than many of the other posters. Their attitude is that the students are “not in prison” and that if a call comes in, (on a silent or vibrating phone), the student must leave, on the presumption that it is an emergency. My experience has been that it happens possibly 4-5 times a semester and the classroom doesn’t descend into chaos when it happens. “Just a Guy” seems to think that a person in a meeting (in an office environment) is similarly “locked into the room” and may not leave. Apparently Guy hasn’t been to very many meetings in a business environment. And Guy also seems to think that I said that leaving the meeting is a courtesy. What I said was that asking to leave is a courtesy (instead of just walking out). Actually the asking is much more distracting and disruptive than just walking. As for the case described in the “Survival Guide” article, I am disturbed both that the student is not adult enough to complain about the real problem, an attempt to hold him in a room against his will and that the school is entertaining a complaint about rudeness on the part of the teacher. Since I am not anywhere near that situation I am also not aware of any extenuating circumstances, such as a history of rude and inexcusable behavior on the part of the teacher, prior discussions with the teacher about “rudeness” to paying students, a history of rudeness on the part of the student etc. The sooner we realize that schools are businesses and will behave according to a business model, the sooner we will realize that it is much more cost-effective to drop an adjunct, however underpaid, than to lose a tuition-paying student. Posters, adjuncts or not, may complain about this situation but it is here to stay.

• More flies with honey ...
• Posted by Marya on October 22, 2009 at 7:30am EDT

• Students 18 and older are old enough to enlist in military service, get married, have children, hold down a job, drive a car, be tried as an adult for criminal offenses, and so on. They are also old enough to decide whether to leave the class to take a phone call. I have found that most of my students are mortified if their phone goes off in class and apologize profusely as they desperately try to make the sound go away. I treat the incident with humor, stopping all discussion and sometimes dancing to the beat of the ringer until it stops. Or I'll say something like, "If that's for me, tell them I'm not here." We all have a chuckle and get back to work, and it typically doesn't happen again, or rarely. Lighten up.

• Business model
• Posted , Assistant Prof on October 22, 2009 at 8:45am EDT

• Jim, let's agree with your proposition that "schools are businesses" (I don't, but fine). It is common practice that businesses have a right to "refuse service" and set standards clients must meet. "No shoes, no service"--a restaurant. "No baggy pants, tennis shoes"--a bar. "Coat and tie required"--a private club. "No bringing your own food"--a movie theater. So I don't see that this changes the situation one wit. If students are my clients, and I am the businessperson running the class, then I have a right to refuse service to those whom don't respect my rules. In that case I repeat my point: a student leaving class is a disruption and something the professor should restrict if needed to keep the class running smoothly.

• Posted by Administrator on October 22, 2009 at 10:00am EDT

• Students are also paying customers, regardless of what the faculty of a dead era think. With this week's announcements of tuition and cost increases, it seems to me that some of you would get off your high horses and acknowledge this little truism:

  Without students you have no jobs.

• When did college become military school?
• Posted by John , Assistant Professor on October 22, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• I'm a little surprised by my professional colleagues' tone and attitude here myself. Since when did a college classroom require military discipline? These are adults we're teaching, with all the same rights and responsibilities as the professors themselves. Should they be respectful? Sure. Should they be glued to their seats? Of course not.

  I've never required students to ask permission to leave the room for the restroom or water or whatever other personal business they have, unless we're in the middle of an exam (and that's to prevent cheating). I do ask that they mute their phones, not talk or text in class, leave quietly with a minimum of ruckus, if they must, and return the same way. But I've never penalized them for excusing themselves. Most students in my experience don't go out of their way to draw attention to themselves or be disruptive. And yes, they do sometimes have urgent things to attend to (illness, families, sick relatives, job calls, etc.) that take precedence over my class--but at least they're making the effort to attend to both. It's arrogant to believe that a classroom is some sort of sacrosanct space where you must command all attention and obedience.

  This whole notion of "disruption" is overblown too. If you can't talk or think through a student quietly leaving the room, then you aren't really a very focused instructor. I've had students tell me before class that they might have to leave. I just instruct them to sit near the door and go quietly when they have to. No big deal. I don't need to embarrass them or scold them or do a dance when their phone accidentally goes off. I just go on with my business and let them take care of theirs.

  All that said, I think it's equally ridiculous of a student to threaten "action" against a professor based on their "tone." If you aren't old enough or mature enough to handle a disapproving tone, then you aren't ready for college, or the professional world. I'd be more upset over their draconian "policies" than their tone anyway.

• Today's 25 is the old 16
• Posted by Hannah on October 22, 2009 at 2:00pm EDT

• There's no logic to comparisons between cell phone rules in the classroom and "jail" or "the military." Or--let's go with it. We have no draft now; young "adults" voluntarily join and expect to be bossed around, big time: "Sarge, I'm an adult! I don't feel like jumping through tires today, so I'm going to make a cell call to my buddies and maybe come back tomorrow, after I party and sleep in." Or lets take a young Olympic hopeful: "Coach, I'm an adjult! You can't make me run around the track another time. I'm legally free to do what I want when I want!" I've had English 100 students complain to me: "I just can't write this essay the way you want us to. I think you should give me more choices." I say, you do have choices: You can write the paper the way you want and receive a low grade from me, you can quit my class and take it from another instructor next semester ("But it's so hard to get into Eng. 100!"), you can quit your AA pursuit altogether, or you can write it the way I'm requring, maybe learn something in the process, and start becoming an adult who will have to make all sorts of unpleasant adaptations in the personal and career world.

  Once the student is in the classroom, the instructor has a mandate to do whatever is necessary to allow students who want to learn to do so. Including requring the shutting off of all cell phones and texting devices (barring instances in which a cell phone call is expected during emergency situations. My truly adult night students did not find this concept hard to understand. But the 18-year-old of 1900 who was married, with children, with the male having a full-time job. Today 30-yr-olds still live at home, with the 18-yr-old not even considering a major or going through several before making a "final" decision at age 30. They may legally be able to fight in a war, vote, and get married, but many of these "adults" cannot refrain from causing most of the drunk driving crashes---and many cannot refrain from disrespecting the instutution of classroom learning. Sleeping in class is one thing; but running out of the room to take or text a call to a friend, especially during a group presentation is disruptive--and childish. Maybe it's helicopter parents who don't let kids take resposibility for their own actions; who knows? The point is that it's absolutley ridiculous that an "adult" who is really a bratty child with a strange sense of entitlement can jeoprardize the job of an instructor whose duty it is to make the classroom a place for learning.

• Posted by WTF on October 22, 2009 at 2:15pm EDT

• Whenever dismissive commenters like Marya use the term "lighten up," I always know there's a pandering little mouse in the room.

  Marya, imagine this phone incident happened during a test. Imagine the phone "ringing" with some loud, obnoxious music playing while the student fumbles, unsuccessfully, to "answer" it. Imagine the student answering it, in class, during that stressful test, and then chatting away about nothing.

  Were these details in the original question? Nope. But they are rather common occurrences on some campuses. So is the phenomenon of students cheating via cell phones.

  How light must one be when it comes to classroom behavior? When do we allow discourtesy to become incivility? When does a simple disruption become an obnoxious one?

  I know...A's FOR EVERYONE! Just show up, don't punch the prof (or a classmate), and hand in anything whenever!

  Ladies and gentlemen of IHE, your respectful students, capable of embarrassment when their phones accidentally go off in class, may not attend the same college or university of your peers. At some schools, students feel disrespect is the order of the day, and it can make teaching a hellish nightmare on those campuses.

  So, maybe you all need to lighten up on your criticism of your colleagues and realize that sometimes rules are put in place because they are necessary.

• Facing a Student Complaint
• Posted by Townsend Harris at http://cuny.edu on October 22, 2009 at 5:00pm EDT

• Good administrators know to shrug or roll their eyes or snicker *behind* students' backs when fielding complaints about tenured faculty. Good administrators know complaints are the occasional price of doing business. Good administrators know there's no sense wasting anything more than perfunctory time and energy on complaints about the tenured.

  Good administrators know they can always punish adjuncts -- swiftly and quietly -- between semesters. Their language is so innocuous: "we should get someone else to teach this course, that adjunct doesn't work well with our student population."

• "But what if....?"
• Posted by John , Assistang Professor on October 22, 2009 at 5:45pm EDT

• I notice that a lot of these complaints about student "disruptions" seem to begin with "What if..." statements. What if there's a test going on? What if it's really loud and obnoxious? What if they're just chatting with friends?

  What if none of this is true? What if it's not a test situation in which special rules apply? What if it's just a student slipping out to avoid being loud and disruptive? What if they're talking about something important? How would you even know?

  Nothing is more ridiculous to me than the freshman who raises her hand and with great anxiety asks, "Can I go to the bathroom?" Of course you can go to the bathroom! What are we in elementary school? Does an adult have to give another adult permission to pee or do anything else they feel is necessary? Nonsense. I've never asked the chair of my department permission to step out of a meeting if I needed to do so--I just say excuse me, and try to be unobtrusive.
  
  Ask your students to do the same and they usually will. Tell them to sit in their seats and be mice, and you'll soon have them going out of their way to "disrupt" your ridiculous rituals.

  Instead of instituting these absurd "zero tolerance" policies that make no distinctions between students and brand them all with one big "kids of this generation" label, why not simply adopt reasonable expectations and explain them clearly to the adults in your class at the beginning of the quarter? Stop acting like little tyrants with more authority than you actually have, and let students decide for themselves whether or not they need to step out. All the "slippery slope" theories that I've heard from educators over the years have never convinced me that having flexible rules in any way encourages "disruptive behavior." On the contrary, my own experience shows that treating people like grown-ups more often than not encourages them to act that way.

• Posted by jim on October 22, 2009 at 10:45pm EDT

• Thank you John!!!
  You said it better than I did.

• Posted by Marya on October 23, 2009 at 8:15am EDT

• "...treating people like grown-ups more often than not encourages them to act that way."

  Absolutely. I would generalize that by saying that treating people with respect usually encourages respectful treatment in return.

  However, I think that some of us, myself included, have allowed ourselves to be distracted by cell-phone and classroom-management issues while ignoring the genuinely serious problem of the differential treatment of adjuncts vs. tenured faculty with regard to student complaints, as Townsend Harris reminds us. It is indeed very easy to get rid of an adjunct, simply by not re-hiring the next semester. It is for that reason that I make absolutely certain that whenever I do have a student issue, I involve my department head as early as possible to discuss the matter. From his perspective, I believe he appreciates being kept informed and therefore more prepared in case the student or his/her parents make an end run to a dean. This translates into support for my efforts to manage the situation. For myself, I appreciate having an objective eye on those efforts and some guidance as needed.

  I offer this because in my full-time (non-academic) job I am a division head in my company and also appreciate my staff coming to me with client problems early on so that I can be prepared for eventualities.

• Students Sense Fear
• Posted by Hannah , Ex-Adjunct on October 23, 2009 at 4:00pm EDT

• I"ve noticed that many of my tenured colleagues felt free to be as "stern"--even downright mean and insulting-- as they liked, without fearing students complaining. It wasn't so much the bullet proof shield of tenure itself but how this shield gave tenureds the confidence to direct the class as they please. The students sense this absolute confidence and rarely think of challenging the teacher or acting up in class. When I was an adjunct, I noticed how lack of a quark of job security created an anxiety and hesitation on my own part and the part of my peers. The students sensed this and, without directly being told their instructor could be un-rehired upon the whisper of a complaint, they knew they could disrupt the clas and be disrespectful and bratty without any consequence to them. Some departments will almost always take the adjunct's side when a student complaint about instructor "mean-ness" and strictness comes in, but in many colleges, chairs don't even know who the adjuncts are, so the faceless become so easy, with the state ed code's blessing, to "get rid of the problem." More than two thirds of instructors in community colleges are anxious adjuncts so that in a sense, stingy taxpayers not wanting to pay more to give ALL faculty decent pay and job security, help enlarge the lack of respect for instructors started by these students' parents.

• Cell phone
• Posted by Julie on October 26, 2009 at 5:15am EDT

• When I was in my first semester of evening classes, I also was substitute teaching. There was no way to predict when that call would come in, and if such a call isn't answered, the sub gets skipped. (I suppose I should have invested in a phone with vibrate only.) Twice during that semester, I got calls for work. I quietly said "Excuse me" and stepped out. (I always tried to sit as close as possible to the door.)
  One professor was irate at this, and the other shrugged it off. Did I take a work assignment solely to annoy anybody or be rude? No.

• Work vs. Work
• Posted by Hannah , Ex-Adjunct on October 26, 2009 at 1:45pm EDT

• The above post illustrates what many may feel is a "legititmate" reason to answer a cell phone call while in class. Potential income out-ranks non-paid work done in class, right? Many of my adult night students would leave class early to "go to work" or arrive late because "the boss let me off late and traffic was bad," etc. Whenever I asked one adult student why he or she was leaving class, which often involved graded group presentations, early, the answer would often be, "Work."

  Besides the disruption to the class and whatever assignment the class was working on, the assumption that paid empoyment, which often supported a family, trumped the classroom needs critical examination. All districts I taught for said that while problems with babysitters cancelling and work getting out late, etc. happen, these are not excuses for interrupting classroom hours. The instructor is paid by the state to teach a certain amount of material that the student volunatrily signs up to learn; with some type of degree or certification as a goal. It is NOT an inflated sense of self-importance that causes the instructor to be "stern" or annoyed when the student leaves to take even a work-related phone call (there's always break-time to check phone messages), it is the assumption that what is happening in the classroom is less "important" than the supposed "given" that employment trumps the classroom each time.

  Imagine telling your boss that you have to leave work early or not take a job because your class meets on a certain day and begins at a certain time. Never happen, right? I always told my students that if there's a chance that you will not stay all the hours you need to, as designated in the department course outline, do not sign up for my class. Do not take my class under the condition that you have other things that are "more important." Decide what is "important" before regularly disrupting the class by leaving.

  Emergencies do happen, and a student may need to take a clall from or about a seriously ill or dying family member or a teen arrested for drunk driving or a house being on fire, etc. Such emergencies are acceptable excuses for you to leave your job, and similarly serious excuses should also apply to leaving the classroom. But just because you are not being paid and are paying money to take a class that you may not have wanted to take is no reason to assume that the "work" you are doing in the classroom is not as "important" as your job--or the instructor's job. Take a self-paced online course or take the course at a time when nothing else is likely to conflict, but don't sign up for a class requiring on-site, steady attendence an expect the instructor to "understand" when work or babysitting problems--or news about tonight's party--take you away from the classroom.

• The Concern
• Posted , Assistant Prof on October 26, 2009 at 2:15pm EDT

• I don't think that anyone who has defended the policy of restricting students from coming/leaving class would find very problematic one student leaving class. You have to look at things from the professor's perspective. The problem is not about individual cases. In a typical introduction class, I may have 35 students present. Should I let every student who wants to leave class do so whenever it's "important" (a job, a call, etc.)? What if three students do this per class? six? ten? Surely that would count as a disruption (even if an individual case is not). Should I check to verify that each student's call really is important and not just frivolous? Notice that if I let one student do it then fairness dictates that I let everyone. In light of this it does not seem unreasonable to put restrictions in place.

• Let em go!
• Posted by Lil Johnny on October 27, 2009 at 7:15am EDT

• Welcome to the life of an instructor. if you are too lenient, people complain. if you are too strict, people complain. No matter what, people complain. As you are finding, they often do not discuss the issue with their instructor first. They jump to somebody higher up or get very formal about it, writing a thesis on the event and how they were hurt or intimidated by it. My advice to you... don't worry about this incident. Learn from it and move on. If you are verbally aggressive towards students in the future, similar complaints will likely arise (especiallly if you are just a graduate student - teaching assistant). I would encourage you to re-examine your attitude about people answering their phones. More importantly, I would want to make you aware that preventing somebody from leaving a room... by real or perceived threat, is illegal. It's called Kidnapping. One of my co-workers lost his job for physically blocking the exit door when he was trying to discuss a heated issue with the class. Preventing people from leaving a place they do not want to be is kidnapping. You did not appear to break the law here, but the student could possibly claim that you intimidated them so much they they were afraid to leave. I doubt your administratipon or supervisor will take this complaint too seriously. Just be patient and see what happens. Take any feedback you get seriously.

• Missing the Point
• Posted by Common Sense , Managing Director - Higher Ed Practice at GBS on October 27, 2009 at 4:00pm EDT

• Seems like everyone is missing the point. If I read the initial info correctly, the student wasn't questioning the authority of the teacher, but rather the tone. Having not been there, I can't say what happened, but based on what I see from the youth (age 10-22) these days; many if not most have rarely had anyone challenge them or correct them. They are the "everyone gets a trophy" generation. I'm a winner because I participated... Sorry, life has rules, and competition, and authority figures. Eventually, someone is going to scold you or pull rank on you, so you better get use to the "tone".

• Welcome to the entitlement generation
• Posted by Murphy on October 27, 2009 at 6:30pm EDT

• I've been teaching in various adjunct positions for almost ten years, and it's shocking the way technology has eroded adult-level conduct in classrooms. I have no problem with a student who needs to take an important phone call -- there are times when this is the case, although they are pretty rare. Today's students think that anything and everything is an major crisis/emergency, so it's a tough call. The biggest problem I have is with students who text in class. Sometimes they are blatant about it, oftentimes not, but it has become a constant problem in all of my classes. I'm in my 30s (and not totally out of it technology-wise), but I'm appalled by how rude these students are -- the same students who would have a heart attack if I were to sit and text while they were giving a student presentation or something along those lines. They demand (by law and threat) respect, but have absolutely none for their professors. The entitlement generation is here and here to stay, and if you don't like it, they're going to file formal complaints and get you fired. We are Burger King employees to them. No question about it. The respect thing is irksome because I put hours and hours into preparing lectures, coming up with new ideas to spark classroom discussion, trying to get students active and engaged in the process, trying to connect the issues in ways that I hope are meaningful to them, trying to draw them out. I bleed for my classes. Their response -- virtually spitting in my face. The texting thing is completely out of control and nearly impossible to stop. Laptops add another element to it -- you can mandate that phones be turned off, but what about laptops? I'm 99% sure that academia is not for me -- primarily because the students are basically vicious animals who will cry and wail and threaten you if they don't get it their way, right now. I only see it as getting worse. The state of higher education is truly sad -- as a society we no longer value education for the sake of education. I had a student comment this year that said that there was "absolutely no incentive to read." In other words, I didn't give them pop quizzes over the reading material or make it part of their direct grade. How about reading because it might make you a smarter, more enlightened, educated person? How about reading because you might read something that could change your entire outlook on life? How about reading for the pleasure of exploring new ideas? None of this matters to students today, many of whom have never cracked a book for the simple pleasure that reading brings. I'm so frustrated and disgusted with the attitudes of today's students. I genuinely hate some of them. I didn't spend years and years getting a PhD just to be threatened by some student who can't even see the value in reading a book, and thinks I should be fired because they aren't allowed to text in class.

• Missed Thought
• Posted by Bear , Student Retention on October 28, 2009 at 4:45pm EDT

• Since comments still seem to be flowing in on this article, I'll point out one thought that has been missed. This was not an issue before cell phones. I last taught in 2001. In nine years as a student in the classroom and seven or eight years as an instructor of various ranks, I really don't recall many instances of students needing to leave class for any reason. There was the time that I raised my hand toward the end of a grad seminar to respond to a question and said that I wanted to give a quick answer since time was almost up, I needed to pee, and I didn't want one of the longwinded students to answer.

• I signed a contract.
• Posted by DFS on October 29, 2009 at 11:00am EDT

• This contract holds me to the standard that I would maintain a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning and contemplation.

  My syllabi state this. My students have no recourse. In fact, they rely on it. They expect me to enforce this, and I do. I will not tolerate anyone's phone vibrating. I stop the class to pinpoint the violator of my sullabus. If I don't succeed quickly in finding out who's device is making the noise, I inform my class that they have all lost, individually, 5 points from the next test. Peer pressure is awesome!

  The hardest thing I have overcome in learning to teach is to maintain my composure when dealing with the Assholes in our Presence. Once I controlled my emotions, it was merely procedure in telling someone "Good-bye."

  I still watch their hands, though, as they leave my course.

• Posted by SNBHC on December 8, 2009 at 1:36pm EST

• I agree phones should be turned off, or left silent during class(some people in college happen to have children), but what's seemed to be forgotten is whether the student is 18 or 88-they are adults, and should be spoken to as such. I am a student, in my 30's, with 5 children at home when I'm in class, and my phone is left ON-but on vibrate for emergencies. I would not step out to take a call unless it was an emergency, and if that was the case, I have every right as an adult, and a paying student to step out briefly to take that call without being humiliated or talked to like a child by any instructor. In the end, we pay to attend college there, and instructors are getting paid to teach-not parent. If students are acting disruptively or causing trouble-then there is campus PD/security, etc. for those cases, but instructors simply belittling and using autocratic "I'm better than you and the instructor is always right" mentality is obsurd. That is precisely why students are able to file complaints in the first place, to get these types of instructors off their high horses.No one is better than anyone, and respect should be the first priority for a good learning experience. It pays off for everyone in the end.