Prof wants to add more class??
 

My linear algebra professor wants to add a weekly class on Fridays, 4-5pm. We already meet every M/W/F for 50 minutes. She had mentioned something along these lines like a month ago, but I thought it was just a review session, or a one time thing. After class last week, it seems she wants to have another class every week.

This professor is probably the worst prof I have had. She is hard to understand, doesn't teach the right things, and manages her classroom time just horrendously (probably why she needs to add another class). I am almost positive that adding mandatory class (well maybe not mandatory, but just as important as the regularly scheduled class) is not something she can do, but do not know what my best course of action is.

I think I missed the first class day that she announced this, and for some reason the people that were at class that day didn't object and instead they figured out what day would work best for everyone. When I came in to class on Friday, she just announced when the first extra class would be.

I could tell her the time doesn't work for me, but I think she'll just tell me to get notes from a classmate. Talking to some dean is my other option, but I don't know who would be best to go to. If possible, I would like to find a solution that has the nice property of making it so this professor does not do anymore teaching.

Re: Prof wants to add more class??
 

go to a higher up in the math dept

Re: Prof wants to add more class??
 

so to recap

1. you missed the first class where she mentioned this possibility.

2. you could tell her you have a conflict and just get the classnotes.

so what is the problem?

i have a class this semester that was put in the course catalog as 2-3:15 and when we got there, he said the class is actually going to be 2-3:50. from what i remember in college, professors can basically do whatever they want except hold mandatory classes during study week (of course they could just call them review sessions).


if you have a problem with how she teaches, write a letter to the dean AFTER the semester. it's too late for anything to happen this semester and you'll just look like a brat.

if she doesn't teach anything during class, then who cares if there is this extra class you're missing? just deal with it.

Re: Prof wants to add more class??
 

[ QUOTE ]
so to recap

1. you missed the first class where she mentioned this possibility.

2. you could tell her you have a conflict and just get the classnotes.

so what is the problem?

i have a class this semester that was put in the course catalog as 2-3:15 and when we got there, he said the class is actually going to be 2-3:50. from what i remember in college, professors can basically do whatever they want except hold mandatory classes during study week (of course they could just call them review sessions).


if you have a problem with how she teaches, write a letter to the dean AFTER the semester. it's too late for anything to happen this semester and you'll just look like a brat.

if she doesn't teach anything during class, then who cares if there is this extra class you're missing? just deal with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very much disagree. No one in the class will be pleased with this, and the prof will likely back down if enough of you speak up.

Re: Prof wants to add more class??
 

if she tells you to 'get the notes from someone else', do that, right?

sounds like [censored], for sure..

something along the lines of, 'i'm sorry, but i have to work those hours (or any other excuse you can think of) every friday, and i don't want to fall behind because i'm missing now mandatory classes. i was absent the day you discussed this, and now i feel like i'll be behind the eight ball the rest of the semester. i'd like to figure out a course of action with you, but if this is already set in stone, i think i'll have to talk to the math chairperson to further explore my options here..'

*shrug*

thing is, if you really did have a job and just weren't trying to get a headstart on getting drunk for the weekend, you'd be screwed, and i'd start to raise the possibility that she shouldn't be able to test you on anything learned in that 'extra class'..

report back, i'm interested to see how this plays out..

Re: Prof wants to add more class??
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
so to recap

1. you missed the first class where she mentioned this possibility.

2. you could tell her you have a conflict and just get the classnotes.

so what is the problem?

i have a class this semester that was put in the course catalog as 2-3:15 and when we got there, he said the class is actually going to be 2-3:50. from what i remember in college, professors can basically do whatever they want except hold mandatory classes during study week (of course they could just call them review sessions).


if you have a problem with how she teaches, write a letter to the dean AFTER the semester. it's too late for anything to happen this semester and you'll just look like a brat.

if she doesn't teach anything during class, then who cares if there is this extra class you're missing? just deal with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very much disagree. No one in the class will be pleased with this, and the prof will likely back down if enough of you speak up.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd agree, but this line in the OP

[ QUOTE ]
I think I missed the first class day that she announced this, and for some reason the people that were at class that day didn't object and instead they figured out what day would work best for everyone.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not as if this was sprung up last second. It seems that during the first class the professor said, "We are scheduled to meet MWF, however, there is a lot of content we need to get to, so towards the end of the semester it is likely that we need to add a fourth weekly class. What day/time works best for everyone?"

If this is the case, it seems completely reasonable, since she brought it up during the first class. Nobody complained then, so to complain now would be dumb, since she could say "You've known this was going to happen since day 1."

Re: Prof wants to add more class??
 

Typically, if it's not in the syllabus/catalog/etc, she can't do this. You should speak with the dept head/chair. If it is in the syllabus, you're screwed.

Re: Prof wants to add more class??
 

Ok, I was not very clear. When I said "I think I missed the first class day that she announced this", I did not mean the first day of the semester. I meant 4 days ago, Wednesday (which, from the way she was talking about it on Friday, was the first day that she mentioned adding another class).

This is not something I have known about since day 1, and is not at all part of the syllabus.

Re: Prof wants to add more class??
 

ganjasaurus rex, you should do an "ask me" thread in here, im sure there are a lot of things people in this forum would like to know about the other side of their academic lives.

Re: Prof wants to add more class??
 

tabako,

changes things imo. it definitely puts you in a bad position that the rest of your class didn't say anything.

professors are convinced that their subject is the most important thing in the world and rather than simply cut down what they cover, they add more classes. students don't give a [censored].

it would be a lot stronger if you actually had a time commitment, because then you could go to the dean with this.