General Etiquette > All In A Day's Work

Unprofessional professor - more info post 31, 144.

(1/31) > >>

LadyL:
In one of my courses we had to do a group project that included a presentation. One of my group members Deena is a nontraditional student in that she was a practicing counselor for about 25 years before coming to graduate school for a second time. The professor of the course also has training as a clinician but is younger than Deena by about 10-15 years, and never actually practiced as a clinician (this may or may not be relevant to the situation).

During our presentation Deena made what was intended as a lighthearted aside where she used a non-PC term for psychiatric patients*. The professor stopped Deena and told her that it was not an appropriate term to use. She apologized and continued the presentation.

Deena told me afterwards that she felt that since presentations in the class are typically very informal/conversational, and her joke was meant to be lighthearted, that she wished the professor had waited until after class to talk to her about using the term instead of interrupting her and correcting her in front of the entire class. Also, Deena's attitude towards talking about mental health is "you have to laugh, or you'll cry" and that humor is healing - but that of course you have to also be sensitive about terminology, and she may have misstepped during her presentation.

The class meets twice a week, and Deena wasn't feeling well the day before the next class. She had gone to the doctor and they had ran some tests and confirmed she had an infection, and additionally there was some concern she might have a cancerous growth. She wrote the professor an email to tell him she wouldn't be able to attend class because she was receiving medical treatment and going for some tests (she didn't specify why). She also apologized again for offending him with her use of inappropriate terminology in her talk.

The professor did not say anything in regards to her health, i.e. "hope you feel better soon," nor did he acknowledge or accept her apology - but he did apparently write her a fairly chastising email where he said that she was "not acting as a good role model for clinicians" by using such language.

Deena is extremely upset because she feels she has really tried to communicate her regret at her poor language choice and in return the professor has continued to lecture her and portray her as a bad clinician who uses insensitive language - while himself acting insensitive towards her in regards to her medical issues. As she put it, "If I had mentioned 'the big C' do you think he would have been nicer about it, and isn't it sad that I'm wondering about that in the first place?"

Additionally, the professor himself has made a few off-color jokes throughout the semester that could easily be construed as offensive if one were to be uncharitable. For him to not give Deena the benefit of the doubt, when we have extended it to him when he has made jokes for example about certain demographics or political affiliations, seems like quite a double standard.

After grades are in, Deena plans on meeting with the chair of the department and the professor to discuss his handling of the situation. What are some polite phrases she can use to convey her upset? I have already suggested she forward his email to the chair, which she plans on doing.

Also, was he actually rude? Is it rude to not acknowledge someone's health issues or apology, or is it just poor social skills?

*I'd rather not say what the term was other than, it was not anything overly pejorative and in the context it was more a jab at this one particularly poorly designed scale of measurement than at any patients themselves (PM me for details), because the debate over terminology in this realm can get rather fraught.

Yvaine:
Is there any possibility that he sent her the chastising email before reading the illness email? That happens in my office all the time--people will be plowing through their emails, respond to something, and then 20 or 50 or 100 emails later, realize that it's obsolete now or something more urgent has happened. My guess is some people start with their oldest email and others start with their newest; I do the latter and have the opposite problem, where I'll read an email and only 20 emails later see the earlier one that provided the context!

I think that if he had seen the illness email when he emailed Deena, a comment on her health would have been nice. I also think that if she's using bigoted terminology in a psychology class, that's inappropriate. And if the professor is also using bigoted terminology in a psychology class, that's inappropriate too.

Steve:
I do not feel that the professor did anything really wrong here. If she had sent a mail that only stated she would not be coming to class, I doubt he would have responded at all. These things are mere "notices" to a professor. He is not her friend or her family or someone she has a social type relationship with. He is her teacher. She alerts him to her abscence, and that is enough. The reason is stated as a precaution that students do not stay away from classes for frivolous reasons, not so the faculty can concern themselves with their well-being.

She opened up the topic of conversation on her inapropriate use of terms. He must have seen that as a reason to get back to it. He explained further why he chastitzed her in class (her being an example to the rest).

I feel she is mistaking her professor for a friend, relative or co-worker.

zoidberg:
I don't believe there's any need for the professor to acknowledge her well-being or lack thereof. Would it be nice of him to do so? Maybe. Or it could be construed as being over familiar.

As for the chastizing, yes, it would have been nice of him to acknowledge her apology. But since we have no way of knowing how inappropriate the term used actually was, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. He seems to feel very strongly about this. In the grand scheme of things, this is a blip and I'm not sure what could be gained by involving the head of department.

Neither non-aknowledgement of an apology nor non-interest in the health issues of students is criteria for being a good professor, IMO.

Fleur-de-Lis:
I agree with Steve.

I also think that forwarding the Professor's email to the chair would be a big mistake.

Deena was patently unprofessional in a classroom, mentoring environment, and was called on it. What does she want the chair to do? Scold the professor for not being more friendly about Deena's medical condition? Professor is Deena's mentor/supervisor, not her friend.

And in a circumstance where a mentor has just had demonstrated to him that an advanced student apparently  *does not get* the standard of professionalism required for the field job, the Professor is probably feeling a little sting, too. 

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page