Well, what should be a joyous week of packing anticipating adopting our two children from China next week has turned into a homework nightmare. I informed my instructors at the beginning of class that we had an adoption pending and that it could happen any time in the winter months. We were not sure exactly when we would get our travel, but that it would be around Thanksgiving. In fact, I emailed my instructors starting 11-6 when we were almost certain that we would get our travel approval towards the mid-end of November. I have two instructors that do not reply. WHY? This is so mind boggling to me, I just cannot wrap my head around it. I am online student…keyword ONLINE. What would you expect the normal form of communication to be?? Umm…yes, EMAIL! Due to being a nontraditional student, I had to take courses online in order to do them around my schedule. I am mommy, wife, volunteer, etc. and etc. I do my homework in any hour I can fit it in, day or night, and then email my instructors for further clarification or with any questions. Is it such a ridiculous notion to actually expect them to email me back?? Am I not getting something? Here is an example of a string of emails from one of my professors, starting with mine email of 11-16:
Dear (his name):
I have emailed you on:
11/6, 11/7, 11/9, 11/13 and 11/14 and I have not received any replies. As mentioned in my latter emails, I received my travel itinerary from my adoption agency and I am leaving for China next Tuesday to complete an adoption and will not be back in the U.S. until 12/9. Unfortunately, I have no control over my travel dates. The Peoples Republic Of China made my appointments starting next week and sent my schedule to me Monday. I was in shock, actually, that I have to leave so soon. In that vein, as you can probably ascertain, I am anxious about turning in all work before I leave.
These are the questions that I have for you:
1) Moodle was not working properly on 11/6. Some students were not able to upload their Chapter Review. I sent you the error message in an email along with my Chapter Review. I was not able to upload anything for my other classes either. After multiple attempts, I gave up. The next day, it uploaded fine. I emailed you my chapter review since it would upload so that you would consider it received on time. Did you receive it?
2) I would like to write my final paper on Three Myths About International Adoption . Would you please let me know if this is acceptable to you. I am trying to get everything turned in before leaving for China in six days.
3) There are three Discussion Board grades where I do not have a grade (Discussion Boards on 09/25, Week 8 and Week 9; as well as all other grades from 9/25 to present) I note that in one of your posts you stated that if we do not have a grade, then the Discussion Board post is not showing up in your gradebook. On all three of those dates, I can see my original post and comments on other students’ posts. Would you please check? I will be out of town during the calculation of our final grades and I want to make sure that we discuss any grading issues before I go.
4) What assignments will be due the week of Thanksgiving, the week after and the first week of December? I am wanting to find out if I can work ahead and turn everything in before I leave. If this is acceptable, please forward the work to me and I will make sure it is completed before leaving.
Thank you in advance for answering my questions. I have enjoyed your class.
Andrea Warren
I did not receive an answer to that email and on 11/17 (yesterday). So, I looked at the syllabus again to see if he had any office hours or such, and noticed that he listed his cell phone. So, at 8:00 a.m., I sent him a text apologizing for the early contact, letting him know that I emailed him and asked him to please check his box and answer my email so I can get the homework completed.
He texted me back stating that he answered my email to check my box. This was his answer:
Ms. Warren,
I apologize for not responding to your emails. As I explained previously, it is often easier to reach me by telephone than by email, as you found out this morning. Your topic is fine. Please be sure to include three sources to support your argument. As for the late assignments, I will accept them. There are no assignments for the Thanksgiving break other than completing your paper. If you have any other questions, please feel free to call me.
I went and looked at Moodle, nowhere, not on his syllabus or anywhere in our assignments does he state to call him instead of email him. I was confused and wondered if maybe he had a similar conversation with another student and was mistaking me for them. He never told me, or posted anywhere that we should call him instead of email him. Also, you will note, he did not answer Question 3 or 4. So, since he said if you have any other questions, please feel free to call me, I picked my phone up and sent a text saying: Thank you for the information. Question 3 and 4 were not answered. To which he responded: “I will let you know later, I am currently at my other job”. Ok, so he really did not mean if you have any more questions call me. So, since he did not answer Question 3 and 4, I replied to his email just as reminder to answer when he was finished with his regular job (apparently students are his side job and we are not as important). I apologized for not knowing that he preferred us to call him and also reminded him about my other questions:
Dear (his name),
I am sorry. I do not remember you telling me to reach you via telephone. Since I am online student, I assumed email was an acceptable and the best form of communication to my professors. It also documents our conversations. I do not generally call my professors as most of the online professors generally work and are not happy with me calling them during the day and, when I need assistance in the evening hours, at 9 or 10 pm, they do not appreciate a call then either. Thus the emails. So, you can answer at a convenient time.
You have not answered these questions:
3) There are three Discussion Board grades where I do not have a grade (Discussion Boards on 09/25, Week 8 and Week 9; as well as all other grades from 9/25 to present) I note that in one of your posts you stated that if we do not have a grade, then the Discussion Board post is not showing up in your gradebook. On all three of those dates, I can see my original post and comments on other students’ posts. Would you please check? I will be out of town during the calculation of our final grades and I want to make sure that we discuss any grading issues before I go.
4) What assignments will be due the week of Thanksgiving, the week after and the first week of December? I am wanting to find out if I can work ahead and turn everything in before I leave. If this is acceptable, please forward the work to me and I will make sure it is completed before leaving.
I contacted you again via phone and you stated you were at your other job and not able to answer my questions. So, I am sending this email to remind you that I am leaving in five days, I need any other homework that will be due between now and the end of the year, preferably by Sunday, so I can turn it in before I leave.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Andrea Warren
I thought my email was pretty objective. I just wanted him to know that I was not aware of his preference for phone calls over emails, explained to him my reasoning for using email and reiterated my questions. I was surprised to get this email back:
Ms. Warren,
I had hoped that we had moved on past the miscommunication issue. I suggested that my students call me, rather than email, on several occassions as a footnote to the weekly assignments. In fact, I informed them to call me after 9pm due to the late hours that I keep. I am not blaming anyone in this situation, I am just letting you know this situation had been previously addressed. As for the Discussion Board post, I will check them later this evening. They should be updated by tomorrow morning. I will also give you your assignments for the rest of the semester tomorrow as well.
(his name here)
What? Lol…ok. Now, I am really confused. He chides me for not calling him and states that he informed us “on several occasions” to call him after 9 p.m. with all questions due to the hours he keeps. So I log in to Moodle again and cannot find anywhere where this guy stated he wanted us to call him after 9 pm with all of our questions. I looked through all of the assignment footnotes and only found twice where he referenced contacting him. He said once to contact him if we had questions (he did not say to call him after 9pm or NOT email him, it just says contact); and the second time he referenced contacting him was if we needed help developing a topic for our paper. I did not need help, so I did not call him that night after 9 p.m. At this point, I am very aggravated. I get chided for not “knowing” to contact him via phone instead of email (which counterintuitive if you are taking online classes); I guess he expected us to read his mind. Then he tells me that this situation has been previously addressed (when? was it with me? I assure you I have not addresed the issue before. I am addressing it now!) and that he is not blaming me. Say what??? At this point, I am about to have a nervous breakdown because I am studying for 3 finals and 5 tests trying to get all of my homework completed so I can get my posterior on a plane to China at 4 a.m. on Tuesday. Here was my response:
Dear (his name):
I am not sure if I would call it a miscommunication, rather I would probably refer to it as noncommunication. You state that I should have known to call you after 9pm? You state that you have addressed it previously? With whom? It was not me. I don’t see anywhere you requesting we contact you in the evening due to the late hours you keep. You have two footnotes in all of the weekly assignments that you have posted. They are as follows:
10-16: “Next, complete your Chapter Review on page 186 and upload that as we normally do. If there are any questions, feel free to contact me.”
11-6: ” When you decide on a topic, submit it to me for approval. If you need help developing your topic, either go to the Writing Center on campus or call me after 9pm. “
As you will note, on 10-16 you did not refer to a preferred mode of contact. Nor do you list a preferred method of contact in your syllabus. On 11-6, you suggested we go to the Writing Center OR call you after 9pm. I did not need help developing a topic, so therefore I did not call you after 9pm.
I did not realize that we, the students, had to fit ourselves within your schedule. Maybe if you had stated in your syllabus the times you are available, your office hours and your preferred method of contact, I would have known to call you and when. However, I do find it interesting that this is an online course and you do not wish to be contacted via email? This does not make sense to me at all. I am a non-traditional student, mother, many other things. I do not sit up and wait until 9pm to call my instructors because that is when they like to be called. I am usually bathing my children at that time and putting them to bed. I have very short blocks of time each day to complete my homework. This week it has been in the morning. Some days, depending on my husband’s or my child’s schedule, it is in the afternoon or evening. Thus the reason I am taking classes online. But all of this being said, if it were clearly communicated to me that you desired to be called after 9pm, I would have made every effort to do so. However, as I have pointed out, you did not make this clear at all.
Thank you for answering my questions in your other email. I appreciate the information.
Sincerely,
Andrea Warren
Yeah, I was slightly ticked. I tried to write it in a most objective manner and also point out my side that I am the student, I am taking the online course, it is YOUR job to communicate and return emails. It is YOUR job to answer questions. I cannot read your mind and I did NOT “KNOW” you preferred to be contacted after 9 p.m. via telephone (this is ridiculous). If he would have stated his preference, I would have done my absolute best to make a list of questions and call him after 9 p.m., however, as I have shown you, after an audit of all of the information he posted to Moodle, he NEVER stated this preference. Therefore, I did not know.
Then, he sends me an email stating that he does not know why I am “toiling” over this issue.
Ms. Warren,
I do not understand why we are toiling over this issue. I hope that you have learned a lot from this class, and good luck with your paper. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you.
(his name)
I am flabbergasted. Did he not read my email? I laid it out pretty succinctly where the trouble was. He chides ME for the miscommunication stating that he informed ME s”on several occasions” to call him. (But don’t call him during the day because he is busy with his day job…feel free to call according to this man, is “man talk” and that REALLY means call me after 9 p.m. and not at my regular job…see, I am supposed to read between the lines…right? Are you confused yet? I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). All I did in my last email was point out to him that I had no record of his request that we call him after 9 p.m. I was informing him of this fact so he could correct it on his syllabus (which, I have read the faculty handbook for NSU, stating office hours and a method of contact is SUPPOSED to be on there and on his, it is not present) and also know that I was not purposely being beligerent, I was merely pointing out that his allegations of me “knowing” to call him later, were inccorect. So, I decided to outline for him exactly why I was “toiling” over the issue. Apparently his brain cannot comprehend. So, I laid it out very succinctly and clearly…surely he would “get it” this time. They say that man has evolved from apes…it makes me wonder at which part of the evolution process this man is stuck in:
Dear (his name):
Let’s see, why am I “toiling” over this issue…
1) My professor does not return my emails and justifies his reason for not returning them because he “told” his students to call him after 9 p.m. if they have questions. However, this information is listed nowhere on the syllabus nor in the Moodle module as footnotes as you allege.
2) Online students should be able to use the email system to contact their professors with questions and receive a reply within 48 hours so they can complete their assignments timely.
3) Online students should receive a standardized syllabus which includes a professor’s office hours and times of availability. I do not see this on your syllabus. So, therefore I did not “know” as you allege that I was supposed to only call you after 9pm if I had questions regarding an assignment and to not email you.
Andrea Warren
Pretty straightforward, I should think. I am hoping he “understands” this email. I think I broke it down for him. Oh, but here is the BEST part of this whole exchange. I get an email from him stating that he felt the issue was resolved.
Ms. Warren,
Once again, I felt the issue had been resolved. Your emails have been answered, and your topic has been accepted. At this moment, I am feeling like I am being harassed through your emails. Your issues have been addressed and you have notified my superiors. What more would you like to come from the situation? Please allow the semester to take its course. Once again, good luck on your trip and God bless.
(his name)
What? I am not trying to resolve an issue. I am countering your allegations and not accepting your pitiful chastisement of me for not “knowing” to call you after 9 p.m. But, I guess since he chided me and dressed me down, that he feels the issue is resolved. I sent a copy of it to the chairperson of this department to show them how unprofessional this person is. But, let’s get to my favorite part…he then tells me that he feels my emails are “harassing” him and signs off with “God Bless”. Hmmmm…..now I understand. ANY email from a student asking questions or setting the record straight by showing their professor that their professor did not communicate their contact preferences, rebutting the allegations that they posted information that they DID NOT POST, that I am too dense to see it and follow his instructions, that is considered a form of harassment. I am completely flabbergasted. If this professor does not want to be emailed and considers that harassment, he should NOT teach online classes. Harassment? ***very unladylike snort*** I guess, the term “harassment” in this person’s dictionary means “I am not happy with you pointing out my inadequacies and countering my stupid allegations that you should have “known” to call me, I look really dumb now in front of my chairperson, and that cannot happen because I am the smartest person in the world and all students are wrong”
Online students should have a line of communication open to their professors because the nature of online classes is online communication…which obviously would mean a higher level of EMAILS…DUH!
I have already transferred to ULM. Upon completion of these courses at NSU, my transcript will be sent to ULM and I can only hope that their online professors are professional, objective and are a higher quality than what I have experienced at NSU. I have another professor I have dealt with this semester, but I don’t have the time or energy to post those ridiculous emails. Each semester I usually get one or two who just SHOULD NOT teach classes online. What am I paying these people for??? Isn’t teaching about the students learning??? When has that changed? Why are professors so defensive when you send questions are trying to learn? Aren’t questions part of the learning process…. He must be one of those narcissitic types who feels superior to everyone else and has this innate belief students are stupid and he is always right, even when he is wrong.
So, now, as you can imagine, I am quite stressed and about have a nervous breakdown….I am not sure if I am going to be able to finish all of my homework…I can only hope that working day and night will get it accomplished. I was so mad this morning that I had to write this post to get it out of my system so I could concentrate on my work…I hope it worked!
Andrea
December 30, 2011
perpetualrenovator
