"College Student Will Full Time Job Criticizes Professor"

[Antiphon1]

Oh, man, this is just so messed up on so many different levels. The student is not asking for a reasonable accommodation.  The student is asking for special consideration because the student signed up for a class knowing that she would have significant issue meeting the requirements of. the course.  Now, in my world, that means she knew what she was getting into and still asked for special consideration for a circumstance of her own choice not an emergency. Don't make your poor choices my emergency.  Oh, and just because you don't like the class rules doesn't mean the rules don't apply to you.  Adult up.  Do what you need to do to get the result you want, but don't throw a fit on the internet because someone told you no.

[jerseyjay]

I still think it is impossible to determine whether the student and the professor are being reasonable. I can picture a scenario in which the student is being completely reasonable and the professor is not; one in which the professor is reasonable; and one in which nobody is in the right.

For example: the class is a M/W class at 3pm. The student has asked her manager to have the time off. The office hours are at 11am-noon on Monday, which is during the student's work hours. She asked the professor if they could talk after class, or meet on Zoom instead, and the professor refused. The professor said that the paper had to be turned in on Friday at noon in the department, and the student asked if there is some other way to turn it in and the professor refused. In this case, I think the student would be justified to complain.

Or: The class is the same time and the professor is an adjunct who commutes from an hour away. The office hour is after class. The student has never shown up to the office hours or reached out to the professor. The student received a B on an earlier paper, which she considers a bad grade. The final paper is due by the last day of the semester (Friday) at noon in the professor's mailbox, although the professor will accept it earlier. (The professor is planning to leave town at 7pm on Friday and wants all the papers by that time in order to grade them.) In the reading period between the last day of classes and the due date of the paper, the student, who has not been to any office hours, suddenly demands that the professor meet her at some other time. She demands to turn in the paper Friday at 5pm. The professor says she can turn it in earlier if she wants and the student says that's unfair.

In general, I think that professors should try to accommodate the fact that students have lives, e.g. work lives and family lives and illness and stuff. It is true that some schools have more students like this and some have less. I don't think it is reasonable to say, this is a residential college so you have to choose between work and school. But at the same time students have to be reasonable in their requests and ask them with enough anticipation.
I have seen both scenarios in my time as a professor and student.

[marshwiggle]

In general, I think that professors should try to accommodate the fact that students have lives, e.g. work lives and family lives and illness and stuff. It is true that some schools have more students like this and some have less. I don't think it is reasonable to say, this is a residential college so you have to choose between work and school. But at the same time students have to be reasonable in their requests and ask them with enough anticipation.
I have seen both scenarios in my time as a professor and student.

Why is the fact that professors have lives less important?
If the instructor is clear from the beginning of the course as to their requirements and their availability, and they abide by that, then they should not be expected to go out of the way to accommodate students who have been aware of those parameters and chose to go ahead when other things (like employment) prevented them being able to live within them.

There's a reason students are considered "full-time" or "part-time". If a student needs a course that will conflict with work, then the student is going to have to make a choice. Some 25 year old "manager" who schedules work hours should not make it necessary for an instructor to jump through hoops.

[Caracal]

In general, I think that professors should try to accommodate the fact that students have lives, e.g. work lives and family lives and illness and stuff. It is true that some schools have more students like this and some have less. I don't think it is reasonable to say, this is a residential college so you have to choose between work and school. But at the same time students have to be reasonable in their requests and ask them with enough anticipation.
I have seen both scenarios in my time as a professor and student.

Why is the fact that professors have lives less important?
If the instructor is clear from the beginning of the course as to their requirements and their availability, and they abide by that, then they should not be expected to go out of the way to accommodate students who have been aware of those parameters and chose to go ahead when other things (like employment) prevented them being able to live within them.

There's a reason students are considered "full-time" or "part-time". If a student needs a course that will conflict with work, then the student is going to have to make a choice. Some 25 year old "manager" who schedules work hours should not make it necessary for an instructor to jump through hoops.

Jersey is right that it all depends on the details, but as a general proposition, the whole system wouldn't work very well if students needed to choose classes and, make their schedules so that they could come to limited office hours outside of class. Now, sure, there are limits. If a student can only meet from 5-8 pm on Tuesday evening, I'm not required to accommodate that and the student has to deal with the ramifications of their schedule. But, it's equally unreasonable for me to just announce that I can only meet from 3-5 on Tuesday and Thursday and if that doesn't work for you, then you should take another class if you'd like feedback on your papers.

[jerseyjay]

In general, I think that professors should try to accommodate the fact that students have lives, e.g. work lives and family lives and illness and stuff. It is true that some schools have more students like this and some have less. I don't think it is reasonable to say, this is a residential college so you have to choose between work and school. But at the same time students have to be reasonable in their requests and ask them with enough anticipation.
I have seen both scenarios in my time as a professor and student.

Why is the fact that professors have lives less important?

I do think that professors should try to accommodate students' lives. I do not think that professors' lives are less important, and I did not write that.

The thing about respect is that it generally works both ways. So when I have to adjust my teaching to accommodate something that happens in my life, my students are less likely to object if I also cut them some slack when something happens in their lives.

I am a full-time tenured professor. I am on campus 12-hours (don't ask) on Monday, 6 hours on Tuesday, and half a day Wednesday. I teach on Zoom on Thursday. My office hours are at specific times on Monday and Tuesday. If a student wants to see me  sometime on Monday when I am not teaching and not in a meeting, I will usually oblige, even if it is not my official office hours. Because it is petty otherwise.

Students' lives do tend to be less stable than mine. To the extent that I can accommodate a student without ripping up my schedule, I will. I tend not to call students on Friday (that's the day I use to go to the library and work). Except for Monday (when I have a late class), I do not reply to emails at night or on the weekend. I do not give my students my cell phone number. I will not bend over backwards to meet weird schedule requests. But if I can accommodate a student with not too much effort, I will.

As I indicated earlier, I understand that for an adjunct professor, the calculus is different. I would not expect an adjunct to bend over backwards to accommodate students, although I would ask for some flexibility. In my experience, though, adjuncts are often the most accommodating--perhaps because they understand better that things can just pop up.

I should note that I do not teach at a residential R-1. I teach at an open admissions commuter school. All of my students work, and most of them have children or parents they are taking care of. Some have commutes of more than an hour.

[kaysixteen]

Hmmmm... how much flexibility do you reasonably think you may expect from an adjunct professor, who may well have to dash off campus asap to head to McDs to augment the salary you have generously offered to him?  I get that the average undergrad may have no notion of what it means to be an adjunct professor, but it probably ain't properly up to said adjunct to educate the kids on those realities.

[Caracal]

Hmmmm... how much flexibility do you reasonably think you may expect from an adjunct professor, who may well have to dash off campus asap to head to McDs to augment the salary you have generously offered to him?  I get that the average undergrad may have no notion of what it means to be an adjunct professor, but it probably ain't properly up to said adjunct to educate the kids on those realities.

Flexibility, like the constitution, isn't a suicide pact. If I can accommodate students with relatively minor disruptions to my life and schedule, I'll do it. If those disruptions would be major or involve breaking other commitments, I won't do it. If this hypothetical adjunct doesn't have any time outside of a few office hours to meet with students, they are not required to drive themself into the ground to find some way to accommodate students. If your time outside of regular office hours is extremely limited, it might also make sense to leave a little bit of time at the end of class before major assignments or tests so that students could come up and talk to you...