Question for parents, from a professor

[Anonymous]

I don't even know. I mean, we all want our kids to have their act together and be held accountable, but leniency that is reflective of what you should get outside of college I think can really make a difference between doing well and being iced out. E.g., medical family emergencies.

[Anonymous]

HS teacher. Our district essentially made us waive all late penalties this year and for my STEM classes it's been nothing short of a disaster.

The disciplined students who would have done their homework on time in any year continued to do so, but the less disciplined ones are turning in most of their homework at the end of the quarter and are totally unprepared for tests. So most of them are cheating and are going to be in a world of hurt next year when they move on to the next class.

I can't wait to go back to strict deadlines, with lenience granted for real emergencies.

[Anonymous]

My son graduated from Grinnell and most professors used a system that I thought was very fair. Deadlines were strict and a sliding scale of 10% penalty per day for late work applied. However, most offered a 1 time/semester automatic 48 hour extension without penalty for one assignment. The student emailed to say the assignment name and they were using the one time extension. My son always saved it in case he needed it but only used it once in 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Professors should read their student's reviews on ratemyprofessor, and Reddit. It may be humbling for you to do so.

[Anonymous]

Fellow prof and parent here. I teach courses in which certain assignments need to be completed before others, so it’s not in the students’ best interest to be too lenient. I drop x number of low grades (including zeros), depending on the course. For other courses, I accept late work, but with a 10% deduction per day. In the event of a true emergency or extenuating circumstances, I will be flexible. I find that extensions for those that are suffering from chronic mental health conditions is not in their best interest, as anxiety increases as incomplete assignments accumulate.

It’s more important not to assign busy work and to make sure that learning is scaffolded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Professors should read their student's reviews on ratemyprofessor, and Reddit. It may be humbling for you to do so.

I’m the prof from the previous post. First, it’s students’. Second, that’s not a representative sample. Third, anyone can leave a review, they’re not verified. Fourth, we have our own internal evaluations which do go into our tenure and promotion files. Fifth, why should we expect that 18-22year olds would be good judges of professional competency? Popularity does not equal competence.

You probably get your news from Reddit and Facebook as well.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s good idea to give strict deadlines but then have a five day grace period. Meaning, at the beginning of the semester, each student has five days that they can use for extensions. Explain that they need to save these days for emergencies, health issues, etc. And that you will be keeping track of the days. Absent a huge emergency or a dean weighing in and telling you to give an accommodation, don’t let the kids take more than five days total.

[Anonymous]

Are the students learning? Are they engaged? Inspired? Doing things? Proactive? Then don’t worry about strictness.

[Anonymous]

We all want professors teach accountabilities. But some professors are out to get the students and punish them. Often time they end up punishing the loner who gets no help from TAs and professors themselves, but let slackers/cheaters from frat houses slip by.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for asking this. It's encouraging to see professors thinking of their students beyond their classroom.

I work in an industry that is VERY deadline driven. At one phase in our process, a missed deadline incurs a penalty of $5,000 for each HOURS materials are late (because it holds up the process of an entire production facility). Missing a deadline is NOT an option and will get you fired

That said, deadlines are met by a team of people, who are expected to communicate promptly and clearly with each other about their progress. I would MUCH rather have an employee who tells me a week before a deadline that they are behind schedule, so we can work together to fix things, rather than one that gives me no indication there is a problem then just doesn't have stuff done on deadline, causing a problem for the entire organization.

So, I'd encourage you to rewards prompt and clear communication about projects that might not be going as the student would like. I don't know what the best way to implement this would be in a grading system, but anything you can do to encourage people to work with others to avoid bigger problems down the road would be fantastic.

[Anonymous]

I teach grad school. Every assignment can be resubmitted 2x within 2 weeks following my feedback. However, if an assignment is submitted with minimal to no effort (meaning blank except for a name), there is not an opportunity for resubmission

[Anonymous]

Judging from the professionals in both private and public sector that we’ve dealt with the past three years in medical, real estate, legal, banking, and the state of MD, in the “real world” deadlines are a suggestion.

[Anonymous]

I’d rather students learn what the real world will be like. In many industries, punctuality is extremely important. On the job is not when you want to learn what punctuality is. If you’ve been allowed to turn work in whenever without penalties, you won’t do well in the real world.

[Anonymous]

What I hated most was "strict" on paper, but then giving in to the shameless who asked for no good reason

That hurts those who try their best and respect your words.

[Anonymous]

You are overthinking this.
Go with what fits your personality and students will adjust.