2008 Woodie Awards
SCC faculty are not making the grade
LaTasha Monique
Issue date: 11/28/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
How many times have you cruised by your instructor's office during the posted hours only to find the office empty? Well, according to a recent Tempest survey, this is a common problem on campus.
Tempest reporters surveyed Solano Community College's faculty offices for a month in response to a "general memo" sent out by interim vice president of academic affairs Kathy Rosengren. The memo, according to Rosengren, was intended to "increase faculty presence on campus."
Faculty contracts bind SCC members to put in a minimum of five office hours where they would be available to students and nine other hours in which they fulfill their collegial obligations for every 15-hour workweek.
However, reporters found that this is not always the case for many faculty members. What reporters did note was that many faculty members had no office hours posted at all, and others who eventually did post hours, posted them as late as the first week of November.
SCC student Charles Phish, a computer science major, feels that faculty presence is not only important but sometimes plays a pivotal role in a student's failure or success. Attempting to get help from his developmental English instructor, Phish recalls making countless trips to an empty office and awaiting unreturned messages.
"She was never there," said Phish. "I feel like her being there would've given me a little more insight on the homework assignments. I failed the class; I felt like I was playing a guessing game."
A psychology student, who chooses to remain anonymous in fear of retaliation, feels that her full-time instructor is never available to her despite the fact she comes during the times listed on the syllabus. "The one time I was able to catch her, she was walking around on campus," said the student.
Even then, the student said the teacher was not much help. "She told me she didn't have time to see me and that I need to ask these questions in class so that I don't waste both of our time. She said she usually spends her office hours grading papers and doing other important stuff; like I ain't important."
Tempest reporters surveyed Solano Community College's faculty offices for a month in response to a "general memo" sent out by interim vice president of academic affairs Kathy Rosengren. The memo, according to Rosengren, was intended to "increase faculty presence on campus."
Faculty contracts bind SCC members to put in a minimum of five office hours where they would be available to students and nine other hours in which they fulfill their collegial obligations for every 15-hour workweek.
However, reporters found that this is not always the case for many faculty members. What reporters did note was that many faculty members had no office hours posted at all, and others who eventually did post hours, posted them as late as the first week of November.
SCC student Charles Phish, a computer science major, feels that faculty presence is not only important but sometimes plays a pivotal role in a student's failure or success. Attempting to get help from his developmental English instructor, Phish recalls making countless trips to an empty office and awaiting unreturned messages.
"She was never there," said Phish. "I feel like her being there would've given me a little more insight on the homework assignments. I failed the class; I felt like I was playing a guessing game."
A psychology student, who chooses to remain anonymous in fear of retaliation, feels that her full-time instructor is never available to her despite the fact she comes during the times listed on the syllabus. "The one time I was able to catch her, she was walking around on campus," said the student.
Even then, the student said the teacher was not much help. "She told me she didn't have time to see me and that I need to ask these questions in class so that I don't waste both of our time. She said she usually spends her office hours grading papers and doing other important stuff; like I ain't important."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
shelley lopes
posted 12/12/07 @ 4:13 PM NA
im sorry i wasnt reachable to add my two cents. Im having the same problem with a english instructor, whose always defensive when i talk with her and she graded one of my essays with a no grade, when i approached her about the situation she told me i needed to be in english 370, and i asked her for her help and she told me she didnt have time. (Continued…)
Post a Comment