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Professor XXXX,
I need your signature for permission to enroll in your Feminist Hamster Weaving class. I was wondering when you would be in your office. I'm leaving late Wednesday night so if I could get it before then it would be much appreciated. Thank you.
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Hello Professor, I am interested in enrolling in your Intro to Hamster Weaving course section 1 held on Monday and Wednesday 1:00-2:40Due to a federal tax verification and complications with my financial aid package earlier in the semester, my account was placed on hold and I was unable to register during the conventional period. I have already had a meeting with my advisor and compiled my potential schedule. However, I need each professor to sign a permission to enroll form for their respective course in order to complete the process.
I recognize that your schedule this week is especially hectic, but if you do have any time at all available I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. If there is anything I can do to help expedite the process or if you have any questions at all for me please let me know.
Thank you very much for your time and I apologize in advance for any inconvenience, I look forward to speaking with you.
Please tell student # 2 that there are spaces available in my classes too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, if the class is full, I'm guessing you don't want anyone needy. My experience has been that the one student I make an exception for an add to the class after it is full always ends up being the most painful in the ass student in the world. But at least #2 is polite.
ReplyDeleteThe needier they are, the more likely they are to drop or have personal drama in my experience. This semester I was stung pretty hard by one who was very much like Student #2. I let him in because he was so polite, and he started out strong. Then he quickly discovered he was in over his head trying to take too many hours and work full time. He was getting in trouble for falling asleep or being too slow while filling customer orders. One class had to go, and of course it was mine, the one to which he devoted three days jumping through administrative hoops for enrollment.
ReplyDeleteI never bump the cap, unless the student meets three criteria: I have to have had them in a class already (or know them personally), they have to be EXCELLENT, a joy to have in class, and I have to like them enough so that I would be willing to do them a BIIIIIIIIG favor. That never happens.
ReplyDeleteEven the most polite and erudite student represents hours and hours of extra work each semester, without any corresponding bump in pay. I'm simply not interested in doing hours and hours of extra work without any corresponding bump in pay.
Here in adjunctland, we don't have to make these decisions. I have zero say in enrollment. Toward the end of the term, I can approve extensions or reject them, but rejected extensions sometimes get approved higher up the chain of command anyway. It is this lack of responsibility that justifies the pay difference, I suppose.
ReplyDelete@EnglishDoc. You're right: the more details a student has to offer before or just as a class begins, the more drama at the end.
ReplyDeleteThe State established strict room capacities after a tragic fire at another institution. So we can truthfully and literally say, "I don't have an extra seat."
We get extra money for overenrolling online courses. You better bet your butt that anybody that asks is probably going to get added to my online course. If they did that onground the answer would be the same. Till then? Yeah, you're not getting signed in. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteI have had the same experiences as others - nearly 100% of students who asked special permission to enroll late or in an oversubscribed class ended up being one of the first to drop, or never bothered showing up.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the last-minute supplicants are often the biggest pains in the ass.
ReplyDeleteSome of my most annoying students have been those who begged to get into the class, who assured me that they were hard workers and always did the reading, and who waxed enthusiastic about how much they reeeeeeaaaaaaally love my subject.
Yeah, right.
What all that means is "When I can be bothered turning up to class, I'll sit in the back checking Facebook or texting. I'll never read a single thing, I'll submit half-assed written work, I'll leave the mid-term and final exams before the half-way mark, and then I'll be shocked and appalled at the D or the F that you give me for the course."
I made two exceptions this term. The first dropped on the first day of class. Big shock.
ReplyDeleteThe second I wasn't going to allow in but I figured, "What the heck! Three will drop after the first 3 weeks of class so I'll be in no worse of a position by the first exam." Turns out it was awesome decision. The student one of the best I've got. Her HW average is a 100%, her exams are A's and B's, she comes to office hours, and follows all the rules.
@Defunct: Yep.
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time, I occasionally over=enrolled my sections (1 or 2)--at my discretion. Then they raised the course cap to 24 without raising my pay. Now, not a chance in hell.
I have had a steady stream of emails for the past 2 weeks of students looking to enroll in one of my 2 sections (both are closed). I have a cut-and-paste response explaining that a) there are other sections with seats available and b) it's department policy to NEVER over-enroll sections.
When I *have* caved in the past, I have had experiences similar to those mentioned above. I think I'm in Stella's field, and I'm *so* with Stella--every "extra" student is extra, unpaid work: 6 "extra" students spread across three sections of the same course is about 2 additional hours of grading per major assignment. No thanks. I'm already underpaid.
Those students almost invariably drop the class anyway; the lack of organization that caused them to enroll late continues to serve them ill. The ones who are asking for special treatment because they're such special people are particularly bad, because somehow it's going to turn out to be your fault they had to drop the class. In my experience.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the last comment wholeheartedly. In all my years of adding UNKNOWN students to "full" classes, those very same students then become the first to drop. I have a much better track record with adding KNOWN students to my classes, however. Those people know me, know what to expect, and are in it for the long haul.
ReplyDelete