If a Professor is Anti-Greek....

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

As a professor, I agree with all of this. This is what anonymous course evaluations are for. There's no way your idenity will be revealed.

DO NOT record lectures without permission...this is explicitly forbidden in the student code of conduct on many campuses. Plus, then you'll likely lose your anonymity. If you make a big stink and out yourself, the professors in your major will label you as someone to watch out for...a loose cannon who secretly records profs and turns them in. People talk...even if they agree he's a goof, suddenly you're labeled as an upstart troublemaker.

Everyone probably already knows this guy is a goof.

I would also encourage other members of GLOs in the class to complain on course evaluations about the behavior. I would make the complaint two pronged: 1) it's a stupid insult and 2) it's a waste of time. Encourage the students after you to make the same complaints in the course evaluations. It might take a few go-rounds for him to change his behavior.

I would not raise a stink with the dean or the department chair. It just isn't worth it to charge this hill. If he's tenured, you aren't going to win and the rest of your time in your major department is going to be unpleasant.

[SydneyK]

I agree with those who have advised you not to contact the dean/department chair. That will only make for uncomfortable experiences later on down the road. Especially if this prof teaches other classes you'll be required to take.

Regarding this comment:

Originally Posted by ZetaPhi708

This class is required of the particular major, so dropping is not an option for myself, and possibly many others.

Is he the only one who teaches this particular class? If not, be sure to advise your fellow Greek students to take the class under a different instructor. If enough students actively avoid this particular professor, the department scheduler will likely notice the trend. They may not have the authority to do anything about it, of course, but when someone notices these trends, they ultimately get addressed (without the students having to put themselves on the line).

[ASTalumna06]

What class is this anyway, where the professor feels the need to constantly discuss Greek life?

I'm just curious as to what could spur these rants about the "cult-like" nature of GLOs..

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

Don't wear letters to class, study hard and get good grades.

I am sure that you figured this out, but to add on to what adpiucf advised:

1. no letters
2. no obvious colors
3. no paraphenalia
4. no symbols, crest, etc

Just lay low & get through this class without giving him any reason to be critical of you. Hopefully you will not have to take any more classes from this professor. I know this will probably irritate the heck out of you, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

[ASTalumna06]

Am I the only one who thinks the OP, rather than keep it low-key and avoid wearing letters, should instead get all the Greeks from her class together and get everyone to wear letters every day?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Am I the only one who thinks the OP, rather than keep it low-key and avoid wearing letters, should instead get all the Greeks from her class together and get everyone to wear letters every day?

Not worth it.

[WhiteRose1912]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Am I the only one who thinks the OP, rather than keep it low-key and avoid wearing letters, should instead get all the Greeks from her class together and get everyone to wear letters every day?

Nope.

[Titchou]

What about inviting him to your scholarship dinner/program/etc?

[carnation]

Sometimes it doesn't take things like wearing letters to get jerk professors to rant. I was the first undergrad woman in agriculture at my university. It was bad. At least twice weekly, professors would say or do something blatantly or meanly sexist. I could have just lain low and been quiet about it and left the mess for the next women in the major. I finally realized that someone was going to have to come out against it and that someone had to be me or else this would be going on for years with multiple professors who didn't think that women should be in ag.

Are you willing to leave the problem for the next Greeks in his class?

[Alpha O]

Originally Posted by KDCat

I would also encourage other members of GLOs in the class to complain on course evaluations about the behavior. I would make the complaint two pronged: 1) it's a stupid insult and 2) it's a waste of time. Encourage the students after you to make the same complaints in the course evaluations. It might take a few go-rounds for him to change his behavior.

Additionally, I would recommend that if the university does a senior survey about the college experience as graduation approaches, to encourage seniors to note this again in the appropriate spot within that evaluation.

I don't know how other universities work with regards to this, but I know that at my alma mater, filling out the senior survey was required and they had a spot for us to evaluate a certain number of professors. I used that space mostly for positive evaluations, but also for a negative one for a professor I encountered who was really unprofessional. I had previously noted this in the professor's course evaluation, but I figured it couldn't hurt to put it there as well, especially since one of the purposes of this type survey is to improve the college experience for future generations.

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

/hijack - tangent/

I have to disagree with this term. I know that this idea has crept into higher ed, but it is an erroneous way for students to think.

The idea that students are 'paying customers' implies that you can pay for what you want. That is to say, since students are paying, and they all want A's, then that is what they should be given - an A because they paid.

Students are paying for the opportunity to receive an education. The grade they get is the grade they earn through their efforts in the class. Not because they are 'paying customers'.

/end hijack - tangent/

I know this is a tangent, but I have to disagree with you here to a certain extent. I don't think that students are paying customers in terms of grades, but they are paying customers in terms of the type of education received.

Some students avoid professors who are thought to be weaker at teaching the material than others. Some students who seek out "easier" professors because they believe they will not have to work as hard to get a good grade. Some students pick a professor based on how that professor structures the class. Some students just don't care about these things. I do believe that in this way students certainly are paying customers.

I will also say that few of the best classes I took at college were small, graduate-level seminar classes in which the the professor took this idea further in the sense that students had some input on the topics to be discussed and possibly even other aspects of the syllabus. Obviously this idea is not practical for classes with a large student size, but I think it can work amazingly well if utilized properly.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by Kevin

It depends on what they mean by it.

From the student's perspective of "I paid for the class, therefore I should get the grade I want."

I'm referring to the student who feels entitled to have everything handed to him/her just because they want it, i.e., the Millennials and GYPSY kids. The one's who got a blue ribbon and trophy just for showing up - they didn't do anything to earn the award. They take that same attitude with them to the college classroom.

I mean the kids who played little league soccer where they didn't keep score because it would hurt the loosing team's feelings.

If they mean that they have a reasonable expectation that their professors will behave in a professional manner and maintain decorum in the classroom, in that sense, they are paying customers. I had a client, for example, who went to Southern in Baton Rouge. She had a professor there who would only show up to class when she felt like it and tell students that by having her job, she already "got hers."

It is not a privilege to be in a class with an unprofessional professor. It's a violation of the student's reasonable expectation that they'll get something worthwhile in exchange for their tuition money.

True.

[ZetaPhi708]

Thank you everyone. I will now go through and respond to any posts. This might take a while. LOL.

[ZetaPhi708]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

I would keep my mouth shut and head down until after grades are posted, then voice my opinion through the appropriate channels. You're stuck in the class this semester, right? His commentary is inappropriate, but you still need a grade.

Yes, I am in this class for the rest of the semester.

[ZetaPhi708]

Originally Posted by PersistentDST

I think waiting until after the class is done is a great idea! I would document every single time that he has gone off on a tangent about GLO's so you have a solid claim. I would also suggest getting in contact with the other Greeks in the course as well, as there is always power in numbers. I hope that being Greek is not causing him to alter anyone's grades or anything discriminatory, because that leads to a different set of problems!

As for altering grades based on their Greek affiliation, it would be hard to do as he uses Scantron forms for the test and only 1 paper. The paper is actually graded by him. Grades are posted and logged online via Blackboard.

[ZetaPhi708]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

Don't wear letters to class, study hard and get good grades. Fill out evaluations accordingly when the time comes. Do not record without consent, and don't waste your time trying to make a "case" out of this with the administration. It's really not worth it.

I don't wear my letters to class, as I'm dressed business professional due to leaving for work afterwards.

I don't really want to record on the downlow either.