Favorite student emails

[smallcleanrat]

Is anyone else seeing a lot of the phrase "the state of the world" in requests from students?

I keep seeing things like:

"Due to the state of the world I would like to ask for an extension."
Or
"I would like to switch from letter grades to pass/fail due to the effect the state of the world has had on me."

I don't know if their emails are vague to maintain their own privacy or if they want me to fill in the blanks with my imagination. They don't have to give an excuse at all. They were given a list of criteria to be granted these things and having a valid personal reason for the request is not one of them.

I'm not surprised students are referring to the pandemic to explain the need for some consideration, I was just struck by how many people used the same exact wording.

[the_geneticist]

I am seeing some of that from my students as well. I'd express my sympathy and redirect them.

Dear student,
Thank you for your email.  I'm sorry to hear that you are having trouble.  Please refer to the syllabus for the policy on [extensions, late work, absences, etc].
Best,
Dr. [yourname]

[dr_codex]

Is anyone else seeing a lot of the phrase "the state of the world" in requests from students?

I keep seeing things like:

"Due to the state of the world I would like to ask for an extension."
Or
"I would like to switch from letter grades to pass/fail due to the effect the state of the world has had on me."

I don't know if their emails are vague to maintain their own privacy or if they want me to fill in the blanks with my imagination. They don't have to give an excuse at all. They were given a list of criteria to be granted these things and having a valid personal reason for the request is not one of them.

I'm not surprised students are referring to the pandemic to explain the need for some consideration, I was just struck by how many people used the same exact wording.

Not just from students. Colleagues and administrators, too.

[onthefringe]

I am seeing that too. But I view it partially as a reaction to the fact that it's all just a bit much. It's not just the pandemic at this point. It's also economic effects, political terror, activism, racial issues etc.  "The state of the world" is like the email equivalent of waving your hand around and saying "you know, all this". And the students who do give me details just make me sad about what they are going through with the changes to their education, loss of jobs, illnesses, increases in substance abuse, street harassment and (waves vaguely around) all this.

Some colleagues and I have a virtual jar where we drop in a dollar every time we use specific words like "unprecedented". We are going to have such a happy hour when this is all over.

[Aster]

"Because of the coronavirus pandemic" prefaces multiple statements on all of my course syllabi and all of my LMS materials.

[apl68]

Is anyone else seeing a lot of the phrase "the state of the world" in requests from students?

I keep seeing things like:

"Due to the state of the world I would like to ask for an extension."
Or
"I would like to switch from letter grades to pass/fail due to the effect the state of the world has had on me."

I don't know if their emails are vague to maintain their own privacy or if they want me to fill in the blanks with my imagination. They don't have to give an excuse at all. They were given a list of criteria to be granted these things and having a valid personal reason for the request is not one of them.

I'm not surprised students are referring to the pandemic to explain the need for some consideration, I was just struck by how many people used the same exact wording.

Not just from students. Colleagues and administrators, too.

Sounds like a good candidate for the "Trendy Words I Do Not Like" thread.

[cathwen]

I have a student who had a good reason for missing the last quiz.  I don't allow make-ups, but I do drop the two lowest quiz grades to allow for situations such as that .  He wrote a panicked note asking for a make-up, and I had to deny his request, pointing to the published course policy document.  Then I also pointed out that since he hadn't missed any work so far, the zero on the quiz would not count.  He wrote back with, "You're the very best, Prof. Cathwen!  Thank you!"  All I was doing was applying the policy as I would to any student, but it still made me smile.

[polly_mer]

We had a very late start to our Fall.  Got this one today:

Good morning, I had emailed my counselor regarding the waitlist situation that [Dr. Geneticist] has told me that's going on with your class. I understand that the class is full, but there is one week left before enrollment officially closes, and it's urgent that I stay on the waitlist and at least enroll this quarter. I'm scheduled to graduate this fall and this class with the lab is the only one that can fulfill the requirement. I hope you can understand my situation. My counselor will also contact you to see if there can be a resolution.

Please let me know soon, thank you.
Wants to Graduate

Followed quickly by this one:

I've already talked to my counselor, and he's willing to see if we can work something out in this situation. I still want to try for enrollment.

This was AFTER I'd already emailed the student to say the class was full.

Dear Wants to Graduate,
As stated in my previous emails, Basketweaving 101 is completely full.  There are no seats available.  You will have to talk with your advisor about how to fulfill your graduation requirements.
Dr. Geneticist

What I wanted to say is "The class is full.  Stop asking.  Also, Dr. Geneticist is ME!  Who did you think has been emailing you?!"

I always wondered how it was that someone got to be a graduating senior without taking a required intro course and then after all those chances, it was somehow my fault for that required course already being full. 

Were there not a minimum of 7 other chances to take this required course?

Are not seniors allowed to register first to ensure they get the courses they need?

Why were these folks always writing to be on a wait list the first or second week of classes instead of making their case the day registration opened and they found themselves locked out, which is usually at least a month, before classes start?

All those questions can be addressed by "failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part".  I was much more sympathetic to getting aced out every term and being a senior who contacted me immediately on the first day of registration upon again being locked out.  I believe that happened twice and we made it work because we had literal months to get it sorted out.

[mythbuster]

Polly the situation that you describe was common at the large land grant university where I did m graduate training.  The enrollment cap for the Bio 1 was entirely dictated by the number of weekly discussion sections that could be held in the two classrooms designated for that purpose.  This is primarily an inter-department politics issue.
    As a result, we had wait-lists of 50+ every quarter for a lecture of 350.  What ended up happening is that students found ways to get waived into the next course in the sequence. This often happened by convincing the advisor to put through the override based on earning a 4 on the AP exam or some such. Then the student can get the courses they need for their major, as most of the other courses had enrollment limits set appropriately to demand. So they forget about skipping the intro until they apply to graduate and have an outstanding course requirement of Bio 1! So I had many senior bio majors in Bio 1, which of course further exacerbated the issue of Freshpeeps not being able to get in. It also did horrible things to the grade distribution in Bio 1.
   Right before I departed, they built a new building and more rooms were designated for Bio 1 discussion sections. Hopefully, it has helped to resolve the issue.

[marshwiggle]

Polly the situation that you describe was common at the large land grant university where I did m graduate training.  The enrollment cap for the Bio 1 was entirely dictated by the number of weekly discussion sections that could be held in the two classrooms designated for that purpose.  This is primarily an inter-department politics issue.
    As a result, we had wait-lists of 50+ every quarter for a lecture of 350.  What ended up happening is that students found ways to get waived into the next course in the sequence.

In this case Bio 1 was a "pseudo-prerequisite". If people have a reasonable change at passing the next course in the sequence without it, it's not really a valid prerequisite.

[FishProf]

In this case Bio 1 was a "pseudo-prerequisite". If people have a reasonable change at passing the next course in the sequence without it, it's not really a valid prerequisite.

That doesn't necessarily follow.  If someone who got a 4 an the AP Bio can muddle through, that doesn't mean BIO 1 wasn't a real prerequisite.  It just means it isn't the only way to meet satisfy the function of the prerequisite.

[downer]

Am I the only one who would prefer students don't start out with "I hope you are well" or some other pleasantry? I know that I'm an irritable grouch, so it is probably just me.

[marshwiggle]

In this case Bio 1 was a "pseudo-prerequisite". If people have a reasonable change at passing the next course in the sequence without it, it's not really a valid prerequisite.

That doesn't necessarily follow.  If someone who got a 4 an the AP Bio can muddle through, that doesn't mean BIO 1 wasn't a real prerequisite.  It just means it isn't the only way to meet satisfy the function of the prerequisite.

But in that case, if there is a reasonably common situation, (such as that), which results in the course being "waived", it should be treated like some sort of transfer instead. There's no logical reason to say "You don't need to take the prerequisite in order to do the next course in the sequence, but you need to take it for our hoop-jumping."

[the_geneticist]

We had a very late start to our Fall.  Got this one today:

Good morning, I had emailed my counselor regarding the waitlist situation that [Dr. Geneticist] has told me that's going on with your class. I understand that the class is full, but there is one week left before enrollment officially closes, and it's urgent that I stay on the waitlist and at least enroll this quarter. I'm scheduled to graduate this fall and this class with the lab is the only one that can fulfill the requirement. I hope you can understand my situation. My counselor will also contact you to see if there can be a resolution.

Please let me know soon, thank you.
Wants to Graduate

Followed quickly by this one:

I've already talked to my counselor, and he's willing to see if we can work something out in this situation. I still want to try for enrollment.

This was AFTER I'd already emailed the student to say the class was full.

Dear Wants to Graduate,
As stated in my previous emails, Basketweaving 101 is completely full.  There are no seats available.  You will have to talk with your advisor about how to fulfill your graduation requirements.
Dr. Geneticist

What I wanted to say is "The class is full.  Stop asking.  Also, Dr. Geneticist is ME!  Who did you think has been emailing you?!"

I always wondered how it was that someone got to be a graduating senior without taking a required intro course and then after all those chances, it was somehow my fault for that required course already being full. 

Were there not a minimum of 7 other chances to take this required course?

Are not seniors allowed to register first to ensure they get the courses they need?

Why were these folks always writing to be on a wait list the first or second week of classes instead of making their case the day registration opened and they found themselves locked out, which is usually at least a month, before classes start?

All those questions can be addressed by "failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part".  I was much more sympathetic to getting aced out every term and being a senior who contacted me immediately on the first day of registration upon again being locked out.  I believe that happened twice and we made it work because we had literal months to get it sorted out.

The kicker is that we are on the quarter system so they have at least 12 chances to register for a required class, even more if you count summers.  And this class is offered 2X a year and every summer.  And yes, seniors get to register first! 
I'm so glad that my current job does not including advising students with registration issues!  I always hated the "you need to take X to graduate.  Why didn't you take it as planned last term?" conversations.  Or "You still need to get credit for X.  I know you took the class.  But you need to pass the class to get credit.  Taking the class and failing doesn't count."

[FishProf]

In this case Bio 1 was a "pseudo-prerequisite". If people have a reasonable change at passing the next course in the sequence without it, it's not really a valid prerequisite.

That doesn't necessarily follow.  If someone who got a 4 an the AP Bio can muddle through, that doesn't mean BIO 1 wasn't a real prerequisite.  It just means it isn't the only way to meet satisfy the function of the prerequisite.

But in that case, if there is a reasonably common situation, (such as that), which results in the course being "waived", it should be treated like some sort of transfer instead. There's no logical reason to say "You don't need to take the prerequisite in order to do the next course in the sequence, but you need to take it for our hoop-jumping."

Perhaps (although this is a bit of moving the goalposts).   There may still be a credit issue for the major.