A recent proposal in the Faculty Senate to allow for “alternate methods” of teaching in response to unforeseeable circumstances has drawn the ire of many students.
The Daily reported that at a February 9 meeting, professor Cecelia Brown, chairwoman of the Faculty Senate, reported that they were looking for ideas that would address what they could do to make up missed class periods when the university decided to close for circumstances such as inclement weather.
According to the minutes of the meeting, the closure of campus due to the January ice storms cancelled classes for a couple days, which resulted in “substantial” losses in time and content for some courses.
To guard against such losses, a number of faculty members have proposed alternative methods of teaching their classes by utilizing modern technology to effectively have class even if the campus is closed.
Proposals include rescheduling class periods, conducting class via D2L, or lengthening the time that remaining classes must meet.
Listening to other students’ opinions, I would venture that my own initial reactions of incredulity, skepticism and outright hostility might represent a general student consensus on the matter.
I think this is a classic example of creating a mountain out of a molehill.
Assuming her quote was not taken out of context, physics and astronomy professor Kim Milton thinks amending the policy constitutes common sense.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask those proponents of the change why they think these changes represent common sense.
If anything, these ideas seem to defy common sense.
Think about it. If campus were closed due to an unforeseen event like an ice storm, what are the chances that large swaths of Norman would lose power? Do the proponents consider those students who are only able to access the Internet on campus?
What do those students do if campus is closed yet their professor insists on having an online discussion?
Instead of resorting to legislation to “fix” the problem, it seems that the real common sense approach would be for the university to reform the manner in which it decides to cancel class and close campus.
Saturday classes were cancelled on March 27, a day ahead of time, because weather forecasters told us that severe weather could strike the Norman area.
No doubt proponents of this change received a huge bolster when campus received only a light dusting of snow the next morning. I think a common sense approach would be to wait until the wee hours of Saturday morning before cancelling classes.
Oklahoma high schools do it, and the move seems logical.
The OU Faculty Handbook is available online through the Provost’s office, and its 263 PDF pages will cure any bout of insomnia.
In section 4.20 under the subheading of “Irregular Class Meetings,” the information contained within seems applicable to the situation: “The department that announces the hours at which a course will meet, the faculty member who agrees to teach it at those hours and the student who has agreed to take it at those hours have all assumed an unwritten contractual obligation from which no one of them should deviate without very substantial reasons for doing so.”
The Handbook does not specify what accounts for a “very substantial reason,” but I doubt inclement weather is one of them.
Instead of relying on the Faculty Senate to change the rules, why don’t professors adapt to the situation on a case-by-case basis?
If classes are canceled due to weather, it seems logical that the professor should attempt to cover the missed material in subsequent lectures.
If this is a non-option, e-mail the students the lecture notes or hand them out at the next class meeting.
Make students responsible for the missed material.
Professors who can’t handle these options should drop the material from the course and move on. I doubt students will complain, and their education likely won’t suffer if one chapter out of 20 isn’t covered.
I’m tired of listening to students complain about problems and then watch them sit idly by and do nothing when an opportunity presents itself.
If you support these proposals, please enlighten the rest of us who think they’re patently ridiculous.
If you oppose them, talk to your professors and e-mail the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
The Faculty Senate is set to vote on the proposals at its May 11 meeting. The meetings begin at 3:30 p.m. in Jacobson Faculty Hall 102 and are open to the public – so show up to the meeting in May and voice your displeasure.
A little civil disobedience never hurt anybody – or so my professors at OU enjoy telling me.
-Joe Hunt is a history and economics senior.
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ricflair 3 years, 1 month ago
Great article
JJanowiak 3 years, 1 month ago
Mountain out of a molehill is right. Teachers that care are already doing the common sense thing, which is to assign reading for the missed periods. Any extra-class option is just not feasible for an entire student body, or a large class for that matter.
One possible solution is for a professor to make some kind of pod- or video-cast to supplement the reading materials, but based on the technical incompetence of at least half the school's soft-science faculty, it's doubtful that many would jump for it.
Student's don't need a dog and pony show to learn class material - teachers should just assign reading and distribute some kind of lecture notes if they want.