Favorite student emails

[Langue_doc]

I need some help with email wording.  A student has asked me to record tomorrow's class.  I've told them in the past that I'll record if someone is out sick, and I've occasionally had to do this.  However, my classroom isn't well set up for it.

Now a student, who also happens to be my undergrad research student, has asked me to record tomorrow's class because he's away on personal travel.  I'll do the recording since I suspect he's not the only one traveling for Easter weekend, but I want him to understand that I'm doing this as a favor and it's not something he should feel comfortable asking me to do a lot in the future.  I drafted the text below, but Liquidspouse thinks it sounds too snippy so I haven't sent it yet.  Thoughts?

The point of recording is to accommodate people who are out sick, not to facilitate personal travel.  I'll record it if I remember, but please try not to abuse this.  Every time we have a class recorded, I'm limited to using only half the whiteboard, which hampers the experience of students who are there in person.

We are not allowed to record classes or meetings without the explicit consent of all participants. This means that you would need to get permission from the students who are present before proceeding to record your class.

I would not record classes for students who are absent. Do you have a sentence in your syllabus to the effect that students who miss class should find out from a classmate what was covered in that class? In your case recording your class for a student who has chosen to be absent would be at the expense of the students who are present.

[Liquidambar]

Hmm. Maybe class-wide, including research student, email? "Because it seems there are a number of individuals that will not be joining us for _____ session for a number of important reasons (or insert religious observance here), I have made the decision to record this class. I hope this will be helpful to you all in the moment, and unless other stars should cross in this exact manner again, it is a rare event." Ok, I got snarky in the end, but surely there is a way to convey that this accommodation has been made for a reason you deem is important in the moment, and not repeatable unless requested/granted for an equally good reason?

Thanks for the suggestion.  I like the idea of emailing the whole class so 1) they know the recording will be available and 2) I can remind everyone of my policy about recording.  Or better yet, I'll tell them that they can watch it live during class time, but I won't record it for them to watch later.  If they're away on personal travel, that still lets them keep up but without making it as convenient as I would for someone who is out sick.  (It's still annoying for those who have to watch me use half the board, but we can't have everything.)

We are not allowed to record classes or meetings without the explicit consent of all participants. This means that you would need to get permission from the students who are present before proceeding to record your class.

I would not record classes for students who are absent. Do you have a sentence in your syllabus to the effect that students who miss class should find out from a classmate what was covered in that class? In your case recording your class for a student who has chosen to be absent would be at the expense of the students who are present.

I do have a sentence like that in my syllabus, but in practice we're expected to fully accommodate students who are out due to covid or possible covid exposure.  If someone is out sick for a week or more, getting notes from a classmate isn't a great substitute.

Our policies don't require explicit permission for recording.  In any case, the classroom camera is pointed at the podium and the board.  If someone stays in their seat and doesn't say anything, they won't show up in the recording.  (It's a lecture class.)

[marshwiggle]

Now a student, who also happens to be my undergrad research student, has asked me to record tomorrow's class because he's away on personal travel.  I'll do the recording since I suspect he's not the only one traveling for Easter weekend, but I want him to understand that I'm doing this as a favor and it's not something he should feel comfortable asking me to do a lot in the future.  I drafted the text below, but Liquidspouse thinks it sounds too snippy so I haven't sent it yet.  Thoughts?

The point of recording is to accommodate people who are out sick, not to facilitate personal travel.  I'll record it if I remember, but please try not to abuse this.  Every time we have a class recorded, I'm limited to using only half the whiteboard, which hampers the experience of students who are there in person.

The most entitled students always think they're justified. Counting on their judgement as to whether the request is reasonable is like counting on the fox to only raid the henhouse when they're REALLY hungry.

[Hegemony]

I'd just go ahead and use the whole whiteboard. If a student arranged to travel when they should be in class, oh well.

[EdnaMode]

I received this one this morning from a student who isn't anywhere close to passing. Coming late to class because you were being tutored for that class? I don't get it. How about you leave the tutoring session early to get to class on time?

Good morning Dr. Mode,

The reason for this email is because I will be late to tomorrow's lecture. With where all my grades stand right now, I realized that I needed to get a tutor to get help with my assignments. The only time that I could get was 11:30pm -12:30pm. I will be 10 minutes late since the start of lecture is at 12:20pm. I just wanted to let you know about this. I have read what we will be covering during lecture class and understand what I will miss.

Best,

Stu

[Puget]

I'd just go ahead and use the whole whiteboard. If a student arranged to travel when they should be in class, oh well.

Yep, if I got that email I would reply with a link to our university travel policy, which is currently "don't travel" and tell them they can get notes from someone. Even in normal times I don't accommodate non-emergency travel, unless it is for a university-sanctioned reason (e.g., sports, with official letter), in the case of graduating students for grad school and job interviews, or in the case of grad students for conferences. That is all clearly stated in the syllabus and consistent with university policy.

[Caracal]

I'd just go ahead and use the whole whiteboard. If a student arranged to travel when they should be in class, oh well.

Yep, if I got that email I would reply with a link to our university travel policy, which is currently "don't travel" and tell them they can get notes from someone.

That seems a bit harsh. We don't really know the circumstances. The student might well be visiting family who are fully vaccinated. That's not dangerous as long as they are taking appropriate precautions. Fine to tell them to get notes, but no reason to judge the student.

[Parasaurolophus]

I received this one this morning from a student who isn't anywhere close to passing. Coming late to class because you were being tutored for that class? I don't get it. How about you leave the tutoring session early to get to class on time?

Good morning Dr. Mode,

The reason for this email is because I will be late to tomorrow's lecture. With where all my grades stand right now, I realized that I needed to get a tutor to get help with my assignments. The only time that I could get was 11:30pm -12:30pm. I will be 10 minutes late since the start of lecture is at 12:20pm. I just wanted to let you know about this. I have read what we will be covering during lecture class and understand what I will miss.

Best,

Stu

So the class is at 23h00?

[the_geneticist]

I received this one this morning from a student who isn't anywhere close to passing. Coming late to class because you were being tutored for that class? I don't get it. How about you leave the tutoring session early to get to class on time?

Good morning Dr. Mode,

The reason for this email is because I will be late to tomorrow's lecture. With where all my grades stand right now, I realized that I needed to get a tutor to get help with my assignments. The only time that I could get was 11:30pm -12:30pm. I will be 10 minutes late since the start of lecture is at 12:20pm. I just wanted to let you know about this. I have read what we will be covering during lecture class and understand what I will miss.

Best,

Stu

Given that email, I'm not certain the student knows how to tell time.  Either that or they have signed up for 13 hours of tutoring and have gone entirely nocturnal.

[EdnaMode]

I received this one this morning from a student who isn't anywhere close to passing. Coming late to class because you were being tutored for that class? I don't get it. How about you leave the tutoring session early to get to class on time?

Good morning Dr. Mode,

The reason for this email is because I will be late to tomorrow's lecture. With where all my grades stand right now, I realized that I needed to get a tutor to get help with my assignments. The only time that I could get was 11:30pm -12:30pm. I will be 10 minutes late since the start of lecture is at 12:20pm. I just wanted to let you know about this. I have read what we will be covering during lecture class and understand what I will miss.

Best,

Stu

Given that email, I'm not certain the student knows how to tell time.  Either that or they have signed up for 13 hours of tutoring and have gone entirely nocturnal.

The inability to tell time is only one of Stu's many, many problems. Actually, I just ignored the time and figured they meant 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Our lecture does start at 12:20 PM. Now if it were at 12:20 AM I may have better attendance. I can't count the number of emails I receive that are sent in the wee hours of the morning and they often start with "Sorry to send this message so late/early" as if I would be awake and reading messages at 3 AM. **shrug**

[Puget]

I'd just go ahead and use the whole whiteboard. If a student arranged to travel when they should be in class, oh well.

Yep, if I got that email I would reply with a link to our university travel policy, which is currently "don't travel" and tell them they can get notes from someone.

That seems a bit harsh. We don't really know the circumstances. The student might well be visiting family who are fully vaccinated. That's not dangerous as long as they are taking appropriate precautions. Fine to tell them to get notes, but no reason to judge the student.

My judgement doesn't matter-- the university policy is they can't travel out of state unless they get emergency clearance from the dean of students. And no, I don't think it is harsh to judge students for traveling recreationally *during times there are classes*. They can go visit their family during break, not during the semester.

[the_geneticist]

It's week 2 of Spring and I've had 2 emails today saying basically:

Hi [firstname],
I didn't know classes had started.  Did I miss anything?  Oh, and my internet is bad.
Clueless student

So, you missed my "welcome to class email", announcements from me, announcements from your TA, reminders about missing work from the LMS, and at least a week of class. 
As for what you should do: 1. get somewhere with reliable internet!  All of your classes are online.  The campus can send you a hotspot, the libraries are open, etc.  Plus, it's your 3rd quarter of all online classes. 
2.  Drop this class.  Historically, students who start out this behind do not pass. 

[Caracal]

I'd just go ahead and use the whole whiteboard. If a student arranged to travel when they should be in class, oh well.

Yep, if I got that email I would reply with a link to our university travel policy, which is currently "don't travel" and tell them they can get notes from someone.

That seems a bit harsh. We don't really know the circumstances. The student might well be visiting family who are fully vaccinated. That's not dangerous as long as they are taking appropriate precautions. Fine to tell them to get notes, but no reason to judge the student.

My judgement doesn't matter-- the university policy is they can't travel out of state unless they get emergency clearance from the dean of students. And no, I don't think it is harsh to judge students for traveling recreationally *during times there are classes*. They can go visit their family during break, not during the semester.

Its a long tough semester. Worth cutting students a break. Not your policy, but I also have a hard time really seeing the logic of prohibiting out of state travel. Driving four hours doesn't really carry more of an exposure risk than driving two...

[mamselle]

It's not where they go, or how long it takes, it's who they visit (and how many of them, and how many are unmasked, etc.) which can't be monitored while an individual is out of state.

They bring the risk back with them, is the potential issue.

For schools trying to maintain some kind of sanity, this is not harsh, it's a simple necessity.

Have you ever visited someone in an ICU on universal precautions?

No, probably not, because only absolutely necessary individuals are allowed in, and they have to de-mask and de-gown, and wash up before leaving the area, to prevent iatrogenic contamination. (From personal experience as a unit coordinator often assigned to the ICU/CCU: I had to post the signs, so I know what they said...and replenish the mask/gown/soap rack right outside the room in the attached lav...so I know they were used).

We're all, still, really on universal precautions. Or we should be.

Sorry, the whole selfish, entitled "I don't wanna wear a mask or refrain from seeing my friends because it's considerate of others" is what's taking us so long to get back to any kind of "normalcy" (Hoover's oh-so-apt neologism) within the next year.

Sorry, /rant over.

M.

[downer]

It's week 2 of Spring and I've had 2 emails today saying basically:

Hi [firstname],
I didn't know classes had started.  Did I miss anything?  Oh, and my internet is bad.
Clueless student

So, you missed my "welcome to class email", announcements from me, announcements from your TA, reminders about missing work from the LMS, and at least a week of class. 
As for what you should do: 1. get somewhere with reliable internet!  All of your classes are online.  The campus can send you a hotspot, the libraries are open, etc.  Plus, it's your 3rd quarter of all online classes. 
2.  Drop this class.  Historically, students who start out this behind do not pass.

I fear that some of my late-start students have not got this far yet. Or maybe the general tenor of my messages to the class so far has made it clear that it isn't even them worth trying this.