The Mail

[OneMoreYear]

I agree it's a problematic practice for a variety of reasons that others have identified.

I also wonder if your students knew they needed to do this when they registered for your class or at least at the 1st day of class, so they could make decisions about whether to take your section of the course with this requirement.  If it wasn't clear that they would need to mail the document until the last day of class, then I think that is an issue (perhaps it was clear in your syllabus, your post just described the last day of class).

[waterboy]

So, I'm confused. Would everyone be as up in arms if the OP required a print copy in their office mailbox? Are we objecting to hard copy printing? Mailing? Or both?

[Langue_doc]

So, I'm confused. Would everyone be as up in arms if the OP required a print copy in their office mailbox? Are we objecting to hard copy printing? Mailing? Or both?

It's an online class. I've had students from other states in my online classes.

[kiana]

So, I'm confused. Would everyone be as up in arms if the OP required a print copy in their office mailbox? Are we objecting to hard copy printing? Mailing? Or both?

During normal times they could print on campus. Not sure about OP's campus, but ours is completely closed and students do not have access to printing right now.

Even if the campus is open, fully online students may not have access to the campus facilities.

[Caracal]

So, I'm confused. Would everyone be as up in arms if the OP required a print copy in their office mailbox? Are we objecting to hard copy printing? Mailing? Or both?

During normal times they could print on campus. Not sure about OP's campus, but ours is completely closed and students do not have access to printing right now.

Even if the campus is open, fully online students may not have access to the campus facilities.

And even if they do, they might be concerned about using them depending on their health and vaccination status.

[cathwen]

So, I'm confused. Would everyone be as up in arms if the OP required a print copy in their office mailbox? Are we objecting to hard copy printing? Mailing? Or both?

It's an online class. I've had students from other states in my online classes.

Not to mention other countries.  In the past, I've had students on special programs logging in from Australia, Costa Rica, France, Italy, Spain...

But a decent printer is really cheap.  I agree that you should just get yourself to the nearest Staples/Costco/whatever and buy one. 

[Cheerful]

This semester all my classes, including this one, are online.
...

Because I prefer to read long papers in print, and because I don't have a printer at home, I require the students to print out and mail me a copy of the paper as well as upload a copy to Blackboard. The hard copy does not have to arrive by a certain date, just be postmarked b a certain date (today).
...
Is it a strange demand to ask them to send me a copy?

Yes, strange demand.  You need to get your own home office printer. Unfortunately, printers, paper, and ink cost $$$.  Maybe your u will provide a stipend?  My u is not helpful on this.

I also prefer to read long papers in print.  When classes are in-person/hybrid, I require print copies.  Students hate that (oh well).  Many don't have printers at home -- just as you do not.

When teaching fully-online in the 21st century, it's my responsibility to deal with paper reading technology, not the students'.  It's not reasonable to expect students to mail copies.  The USPS mail service these days is nothing like it used to be, very slow in many cases, particularly for mail across states.  Can take a week or more (direct experience in past 6 months).  Expecting an international student to mail a print copy is obviously also unreasonable.

[Biologist_]

Because I prefer to read long papers in print, and because I don't have a printer at home, I require the students to print out and mail me a copy of the paper as well as upload a copy to Blackboard. ... So far I have had four papers arrive.

Setting aside my general agreement that the OP shouldn't require students to mail a hard copy of the paper under the present circumstances...

Many of the comments in the "Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!" thread and elsewhere suggest that the OP would have gotten much better results by offering a trivial amount of extra credit for sending a hard copy on time instead of requiring it.

[jerseyjay]

I have to admit that I am somewhat taken aback by the reactions. And to be honest, I do not find the arguments convincing (except that I should buy a printer; that I agree with). 

For the record, the syllabus (which was available on the first day of class and was mailed in January to all students who were registered for the class) states clearly that they would have to mail the paper. And I stated this repeatedly.

Also, I also stated that for students who were outside of the metropolitan area that I would not require this. (As it turned out, all of my students are within 40 miles, but in my other classes I do have students all over the place.) I also stated that students who do not have printers could upload the paper via Blackboard.

I also do not make them turn all the work--including the rough drafts--for the semester in via the mail.

While the point about getting a printer is well taken, I am also somewhat mystified by the outrage that I am forcing my students to take huge expenses. I mean, this class had no assigned textbook, and since the students did not have to commute to each class, they are probably saving $15 per session in gas, tolls, and parking. An envelope, at most, costs $1 and postage, if the paper is heavier than average, $2.

Of course I am mailing them back the final papers with comments. Between envelope and postage I expect to spend less than $30.
I am sure I learned something by posting this, but I am still not sure what I learned.

For what it is worth, I actually do believe people should probably know how to ride a horse. But I definitely do believe that people should know how to send something through the mail. It is not in my learning objectives, but neither is using the elevator, but I expect them to be able to get to the classroom (when we meet on campus).

[Wahoo Redux]

But I'm a little afraid of horses...

A friend of mine in grad school was bitten on the face by a horse and wandered around in shock until a kindly elderly couple found her by the highway.

[Larimar]

What happens when someone's work inevitably gets lost in the mail? And I mean truly lost, not a fake excuse. For instance, the student sends you a legible photo of a receipt from the post office?

[mamselle]

Mail in and from the south is taking up to two weeks to places that used to be three days or four at most.

This is by observation of six folks I've been working with since January--we're trying to get changes in a bank account with office folks located in AZ and FL, between our folks in GA and MD, and others in NC and TN.

I'm guessing the destroyed, parts-taken-out, thrown-out sorting machines--sabotaged by the replacement postmaster general at the end of the previous regime, quite possibly acting under orders to disrupt mail-in voting in the south--have not been fixed.

Things have been (still) backed up (or thrown out) when local sorters got overwhelmed.

So you're potentially asking folks to use a badly broken system just for your convenience.

Really? I think not.

M.

[fishbrains]

It's weird that you expect students to have access to a printer when you don't, and it's weird that you add so many extra steps to what should be a fairly easy process for an online course (just have students upload the essays into the LMS, and print them off yourself if you want to).

You can do the mail thing, but it's a clear violation of the KISS principle.

To be helpful, my CC has allowed us to take our office printers home (our office printers aren't on any network--they are just hard-wired to our office desktops). It's worth asking about.

[kaysixteen]

Remarkable that anyone should suggest that it is the professor's responsibility to print out hard-copy papers for entitled students.   I insist on hard-copies, because I red-ink the snot out of them.   And because I am the professor.

[ergative]

Remarkable that anyone should suggest that it is the professor's responsibility to print out hard-copy papers for entitled students.   I insist on hard-copies, because I red-ink the snot out of them.   And because I am the professor.

Requiring hard copies is fine, if the university provides the resources to make that happen. Multiple people have agreed that there's no problem with hard copies when the libraries and computer printing labs are open. But when classes are online, those resources are not available. The post office loses mail. Getting tracking costs something like $5-$10. FedEx overnight express costs on the order of $20-50.

We are not arguing, I think (or at least I am not), about the principle of requiring hard copies. That's fine. We're arguing about the principle of requiring hard copies, sent through a third party, for an online class, during a pandemic.