College professor with ADHD

Well, I would like to hear the other side of the story.
I have been in the position of the college instructor with a student who hated my style and got all the other students together to make trouble, and it is not nice.

If what you are saying is really objective and honest, this instructor has committed two cardinal sins in college teaching, not handing in grades and cancelling classes.

Let’s try to draw a line here:

Now, if you are just peeved because you wanted the grades before you took off for vacation, and she waited to use her free time to do the marking and she posted them by the legal deadline (this is what I did), then you don’t have a case, and you are deliberately making trouble.
But if she really missed the deadline by a large amount, then this could interfere with graduation and jobs and placement in the next terms classes, and this is really out of bounds.

Being less than wonderfully organized myself, I have sometimes posted grades long-distance through the automatic phone system at 4 AM on December 26, but they darned well got posted, and posted before the deadline of 5PM on the 26th. We were warned that grades that missed the deadline would not be on students’ grade reports, and we would be in deep trouble.
Did these grades miss your grade report, or delay the issuing of your grade report after the normal time? If yes, you have a case; if no, you are making trouble.

If she has cancelled classes once or twice because she was ill and had no substitute, this happens to everyone in every field; beware of judging others, lest you be judged for the same fault next time. That is to say, do you want to fail a course and/or lose a job because you miss a couple fo days for what *you* think are good reasons? And people give a little slack to the disabled and do not demand performance beyond the highest level all the time. To demand that people with handicaps do ten times better than everyone else is one form of prejudice.

But if she missed more than a couple of classes, especially without warning, especially if no makeup time was offered, that is very much out of bounds. College instructors are supposed to spend a lot of their time working out of class, so those very limited class and office hours are sacred.

ADHD gets *no more and no less* consideration than any other handicap. Instructors in wheelchairs show up to teach, blind instructors show up to teach, elderly frail instructors show up to teach; instructors with ADHD have to show up to teach.

Did she miss 7% or more of the scheduled class or office hours with *no* substitute or makeup? (That would be the equivalent of taking a full week out of a semester) If yes, you have a case. If no, you are making trouble.

So, what to do if you have a case? Document everything on paper, missing classes with dates, missing grades with dates of late reports and the problems that ensued, ie not getting into required senior class etc. Get your other classmates to sign this with you so it is not a personal vendetta. Then hand it to the head of department *and* the dean or president of the university. They are not allowed to discriminate against a handicapped person, but they can take action if they are given definite proof of non-performance on the job.

If you don’t reach the levels of trouble I list above? Then examine your conscience for prejudices; as a college student, you should learn to open your mind and look at things objectively, including your own thoughts and actions.

I teach at an university and can’t imagine not turning in grades by the deadline would go unnoticed. There is no rule that people take more seriously, including administrators. On the other hand, some universities do have far more lenient grade turning in than students like. At a previous university, I once did not finish my grades until after Christmas. While not common (and the only time I ever did it), it met the university deadlines. At the school I am at now, they are due shortly after the last exam. I have had secretaries bugging me on Friday when they are due on Monday!!

Beth

Just to clarify: She DID NOT turn in the grades for any of us. She turned them in about a month late (I swear to this). When we got our report cards there was no grade next to the class. She did not even apologize or anything. Everytime anyone says anything to her she gets defensive, and says shes busy…”You know people are busy.” Also, she has already cancelled class about 4 times this semester. The class only meets once a week, so thats a lot of material we are missing. I am not a prejudice person my any means. I don’t want to hurt her at all. That is why I haven’t said anything yet. But if I continue like this I am only going to be hurting myself. Also, when she DOES have class, shes always at least 5 minutes late. Thanks for the relplies.

That is terribly unprofessional behavior. I have taught for 15 years and have never known anyone like that. I think that you and the students have a duty to complain. She is not serving the students’ interests at all.

Why did you take more than one class with her? I would have avoided her like the plague?

Beth

Yes, not having the grades on the report is totally unprofessional; only near-death is an excuse for that one.

I am surprised she hasn’t already been disciplined for that; when I taught in colleges that was one of the unforgiveable sins.

Being late — well, that’s one of my own faults. Often my own problem, but I really got mad when the previous instructor wouldn’t leave the class and got in trouble for starting late.
Anyhow, if she misses a *lot* of time and doesn’t make it up in other ways, yes a serious fault.
I’m surprised she hasn’t already been disciplined; I caught *&&^ quite a few times over even a few minutes.
(One point here; I may tend to start late or at the last minute, but I do give a thorough presentation once started, and I go the full length of the class. One of the rudest things students do, a very bad habit at some colleges where I was, is to pack up ten minutes early. Colleges have between-class breaks, so there is no excuse for this. You ‘d better not complain about a five minutes at the start start if you are zipping your backpack ten minutes before the end. I’ve never managed to use the famous quote “Excuse me, I have a few more pearls to cast” . . )

So, the thing to do is a serious, high-level, formal complaint, with facts to back it up. (In college, facts and references are vital everywhere).

This is not the point to worry about hurting people’s feelings; your feelings (and your academic career) have already been hurt badly enough.
Some people trade on personal likeability and/or on people feeling sorry for them to get away with poor performance, and this is not acceptable. The *same* standard, no higher but no lower than other instructors on average, is what has to be applied.

You say this is your advisor. If she has tenure, there’s little if anything to do about it. Tenure protects teachers not students or the quality of teaching.

As she’s just your advisor, request a different advisor. That shouldn’t be hard.