Friday, January 9, 2009
Favorite Student
If you recall, a student of mine submitted a paper that had been cribbed verbatim from an article by a well-known scholar in our field. I gave her a chance to submit an acceptable paper to me, but after several email exchanges it became apparent to me that she wasn't getting the message. I wrote a blunter message indicating why I couldn't accept what she had given me, and what I expected from a resubmitted paper, and she wrote back telling me that "su maldad de usted me hizo vomitar," that she is disgusted with me now that I have revealed my true face, that she never wants to see my face again. But it looks like she still might want to take me up on my offer to submit a new paper. Since I made the offer, I guess I still have to honor it, but I wonder how sympathetic a hearing she thinks she's going to get after this.
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I am sorry to see you on the receiving end of what seems to be the norm in student-professor communication, that is, a total lack of any reasonable sense of formality on the part of some students, who feel that vulgarity is the way to really get a message across. I now recall a (slightly imbalanced) student who, upon not understanding an exam question, blurted out : "How the fuck am I supposed to answer this?" I was not too pleased.
As I mentioned before, keep written records of everything...
I would report her/him to the department chair, and copy the chair on all future communications with the student. I would also tell the student that you don't appreciate the lack of respect, and suggest that if he/she wants to pursue the matter further, that she take it up with the chair or through the proper authority. That is not acceptable. We are not here to serve students in the same way that a store clerk is there for customers, but that's what they seem to expect at times.
It also occurs to me that perhaps she/he sincerely doesn't understand the concept of plagiarism. Is that possible?
Store clerks don't help shoplifters take the merchandise to their cars.
Indeed, some students seem to think that they're buying a grade with their tuition, instead of an education.
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