College professors who cancel classes before Thanksgiving - RANT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am with you on this one. DD is freshman and every single one of her classes was cancelled on M,T, & W. They think they are doing a favor for the out of state kids, but they are not. I rebooked a new flight at a $200 change fee plus the flight cost almost $100 more to fly her home last Friday so she did not have to sit in largely empty dorm for 5 days with nothing to do.

+1. Same at an in-state university. nonrefundable tickets for later dates, so had to scramble at last minute when professors cancelled to make arrangements not in sync with the university calendar. So now child can return earlier but by then all the train seats were taken. We ended up driving down and back because everything else was booked.

I don't understand this. When my professors did this when I was in College, I always found friends, activities, or homework to do until my originally scheduled departure time.

I mean, who are these kids who can't occupy their time without a two-hour scheduled class? I'm seriously confused

me too!! I keep reading the post again thinking I missed something. So bizarre! If this is an issue I cannot imagine how insanely stupid the rest of these peoples lives will be.

Yeah. I’m still trying to understand the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know, students can decide to not show up and let the chips fall where they may.

Not to show up where?

I'm a bit perplexed by some of the posts:

"lying to the parents to stay a bit longer at school" - why would my kid lie when he could easily say "Mom, I'd like to stay a day before heading home" and I would say "sure thing"? I have no doubt that my son keeps a good chunk of his life private; why would I make him lie about silly stuff.

"find something to amuse themselves for a day" - of course my kid could do that quite happily (and he did), but he actually wanted to come home before midday on Thursday.

"worried about kids who can't..." - who is worried?

Really, this is a post about scheduling and how annoying it is when ones time and money is not respected.

This is a bit extreme. If a kid wants to come home a day or two early, by all means, buy tickets for Tuesday morning. Really, that is not out of the ordinary. Your kid is fully capable of telling the professor ahead of time that they will be missing class on 11/20 (tell them in September) and no professor who is reasonable and in their right mind will care. In fact, given how many kids don't announce their planned absences at all...or do so via email at midnight the day before...your kid will look like a freaking allstar for missing class responsibly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is a professor at UMd. Teachervone vlass this semester that is on Tues and Thurs evenings at 7.

He planned on teaching but university shut down dorms at 7 pm. Rather than asking kids to bring luggage etc to class, and try to leave from there at 830, he cancelled.

They shut down the dorms for Thanksgiving and kicked everyone out? Is every student there within driving distance?

I was wondering the same thing. Do the colleges actually kick the kids out for a 4 day weekend?

My college kept dorms open for Thanksgiving and Easter, but there was no meal service. This sucked if you had no family to go home to or you lived too far away/lacked the funds to travel. Res Life always made sure international students were hosted by local students or professors, but as a poor kid, I had to smuggle food out every year before Good Friday.

These days, Uber Eats and other delivery services are shuttling food to college dorms every day. No one is up a creek without food over a break anymore.

It is nice to have money.

I guess PP missed that part. People completely miss the impact on kids without means. They need to keep the dorms open, and if they close dining they need to leave box meals. I used to make mac and cheese on a hot pot. I had to walk to a convenience store because grocery stores were too far from campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know, students can decide to not show up and let the chips fall where they may.

Not to show up where?

I'm a bit perplexed by some of the posts:

"lying to the parents to stay a bit longer at school" - why would my kid lie when he could easily say "Mom, I'd like to stay a day before heading home" and I would say "sure thing"? I have no doubt that my son keeps a good chunk of his life private; why would I make him lie about silly stuff.

"find something to amuse themselves for a day" - of course my kid could do that quite happily (and he did), but he actually wanted to come home before midday on Thursday.

"worried about kids who can't..." - who is worried?

Really, this is a post about scheduling and how annoying it is when ones time and money is not respected.

This is a bit extreme. If a kid wants to come home a day or two early, by all means, buy tickets for Tuesday morning. Really, that is not out of the ordinary. Your kid is fully capable of telling the professor ahead of time that they will be missing class on 11/20 (tell them in September) and no professor who is reasonable and in their right mind will care. In fact, given how many kids don't announce their planned absences at all...or do so via email at midnight the day before...your kid will look like a freaking allstar for missing class responsibly.

Er, no. Skipping class because you want to go home early is not “missing class responsibly”, it’s just skipping class and letting the professor know in advance that you prioritize going home over attending class. You will still be marked absent, which may lower your grade, depending on how many other absences you have had.

[Anonymous]

You guys. A university wouldn't shut down all food services everywhere. Ours just closes most of the dorm cafeterias but keeps some open. Your kid may need to walk across campus to the open cafeteria. Also, our university does close some dorms during long breaks, but students who need to can arrange to stay elsewhere on campus. We have a lot of foreign students who cannot afford to travel over the holidays, and the university knows this.

Your child's university knows that some kids will need to eat with their meal plans over the break. Your kid just needs to find out where to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is a professor at UMd. Teachervone vlass this semester that is on Tues and Thurs evenings at 7.

He planned on teaching but university shut down dorms at 7 pm. Rather than asking kids to bring luggage etc to class, and try to leave from there at 830, he cancelled.

They shut down the dorms for Thanksgiving and kicked everyone out? Is every student there within driving distance?

I was wondering the same thing. Do the colleges actually kick the kids out for a 4 day weekend?

My college kept dorms open for Thanksgiving and Easter, but there was no meal service. This sucked if you had no family to go home to or you lived too far away/lacked the funds to travel. Res Life always made sure international students were hosted by local students or professors, but as a poor kid, I had to smuggle food out every year before Good Friday.

These days, Uber Eats and other delivery services are shuttling food to college dorms every day. No one is up a creek without food over a break anymore.

It is nice to have money.

I guess PP missed that part. People completely miss the impact on kids without means. They need to keep the dorms open, and if they close dining they need to leave box meals. I used to make mac and cheese on a hot pot. I had to walk to a convenience store because grocery stores were too far from campus.

And I used to make ramen as a poor college student. Plenty of us went to college on very strict budges and worked our way through.

PP pointed out that colleges make arrangements for group dinners with faculty. Sounds like a lot more hand-holding that we were used to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is a professor at UMd. Teachervone vlass this semester that is on Tues and Thurs evenings at 7.

He planned on teaching but university shut down dorms at 7 pm. Rather than asking kids to bring luggage etc to class, and try to leave from there at 830, he cancelled.

They shut down the dorms for Thanksgiving and kicked everyone out? Is every student there within driving distance?

I was wondering the same thing. Do the colleges actually kick the kids out for a 4 day weekend?

My college kept dorms open for Thanksgiving and Easter, but there was no meal service. This sucked if you had no family to go home to or you lived too far away/lacked the funds to travel. Res Life always made sure international students were hosted by local students or professors, but as a poor kid, I had to smuggle food out every year before Good Friday.

These days, Uber Eats and other delivery services are shuttling food to college dorms every day. No one is up a creek without food over a break anymore.

It is nice to have money.

I guess PP missed that part. People completely miss the impact on kids without means. They need to keep the dorms open, and if they close dining they need to leave box meals. I used to make mac and cheese on a hot pot. I had to walk to a convenience store because grocery stores were too far from campus.

And I used to make ramen as a poor college student. Plenty of us went to college on very strict budges and worked our way through.

PP pointed out that colleges make arrangements for group dinners with faculty. Sounds like a lot more hand-holding that we were used to.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think someone should have to eat ramen 2-3 times a day for 4 days over a holiday because their dorm’s cafeteria closes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think someone should have to eat ramen 2-3 times a day for 4 days over a holiday because their dorm’s cafeteria closes.

What school closed all the cafeterias for the break? You sound like you are speaking about a specific case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think someone should have to eat ramen 2-3 times a day for 4 days over a holiday because their dorm’s cafeteria closes.

What school closed all the cafeterias for the break? You sound like you are speaking about a specific case.

I am not that poster, but my son's school closed the cafeterias until tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Ok, so your child came home at the exact same time as was planned except instead of attending class for the last hours at school, he had free time to do whatever he wanted. I’m not seeing why this is a problem.

[Anonymous]

I still haven't learned which school has professors who re-teach material if kids don't show up to class! Please tell me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think someone should have to eat ramen 2-3 times a day for 4 days over a holiday because their dorm’s cafeteria closes.

What school closed all the cafeterias for the break? You sound like you are speaking about a specific case.

I am not that poster, but my son's school closed the cafeterias until tomorrow.

What school? It's an anonymous forum and people post from all over the country. No one is going to track you down.

I really want to know who does this to students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still haven't learned which school has professors who re-teach material if kids don't show up to class! Please tell me.

I think it's the same school that shuts everything down with not a morsel to eat for the entire Thanksgiving break. It exists between exaggeration and hyperbole.

[Anonymous]

My child goes to a small school in PA, and they shut down the one dining hall down entirely over break.

Go ahead and don't believe me if you think I need to provide proof. But you have to ask yourself, why would I spend my Saturday lying to you about that on DCUM?