My office is located in a specialized library, and the office is unmarked - no signs saying whose office it is. It is next to several other unmarked offices, and we are in the farthest reaches of the top floor of the library. You have to look pretty hard to find us. You can imagine my surprise, then, when, hard at work today, I heard the door open. Nobody ever comes in this office except me, largely because it's mine. The door opened and a young man stood there, craned his neck as he looked around the room, and then stared and me for several seconds. I stared back. He said, "I'm looking for my TA." I continued to stare. He said the TA's name. I said, "I don't know who that is." This snowflake said, "Well, he said he was having office hours in this library." I replied, "Most people do that in the common area downstairs, just inside the entrance. Where the tables are. And the coffee. And the other human beings." Then he left.
This really bothers me because I have every reason to believe this student walked through every floor of the entire library, trying to open each door in search of his TA. Did he simply turn every doorknob as if he was in a game show, hoping that his TA would materialize? I feel violated on behalf of my library. I can't help but wonder how much time he spent searching the recesses of this library for a TA who (a) probably was in the heavily-populated common area all along, and (b) probably told him and the rest of the class that she would be in the common area.
This is also a problem because this specialized library is relatively quiet most of the year, except during finals when every major except the major for whom the library was designed holds their study groups in the library. I realize nobody has a monopoly on study spaces, but come on! If you're going to come into our house, at least show it a little respect.
I had a student come in twice last week for conferences about her paper. Both times, she opened my door without knocking and scared the shit out of me (my back is to the door due to the irreversible setup of my office furniture, and I'm like "Grosse Pointe Blank" pretty much every day).
ReplyDeleteWhen she did it yesterday, I finally said, "Please knock, because you just scared the crap out of me." She turned red and apologized. Hopefully now she'll knock when she visits other proffies (and the library) on campus.
It's also possible he was looking for a private place for some sexytime, or to look for something to pilfer, or maybe just for a place to nap and had to come up with an excuse, fast.
ReplyDeleteTwenty years ago I would've found this explanation the most plausible. Nowadays it's 25/75 against for two reasons:
Delete1. No boundaries.
2. "...come up with an excuse, fast." Most of them can't think that fast. That's why they have the internets.
Lots of truth in what Sawyer says here. Nevertheless, if I were Leona, I'd probably call the campus police with a good description of the person.
DeleteBetter yet, also take a quick iPhone photo of the perp and tell him that the TA is a friend of yours and you want to send him proof that this obviously hard-working student was trying to find him (so that the student can get credit for his efforts). Then give the photo to campus police.
Thieves makes lots of money wandering around campus looking to score--especially when people are preoccupied with finals.
Unfortunately, thieves know what they are doing (sometimes) so they have the BS backstory about looking for a TA lined up and ready to go.
DeleteI'd be very careful about taking a picture of a potential criminal in a remote corner of the library.
Yes, it's unclear what Leona's options are, how secure the library is, whether or not her office neighbors would hear her scream, and so on. The context matters.
DeleteLeona wrote, "I feel violated." So I'd contact campus police about it, one way or another.
What is with these snowflakes and not knocking but trying the knob??? A student came by yesterday and asked if my collaague was in (door shut, light off, I said I hadn't seen him, but you could knock and check. The little ass jiggled the knob and said "it's locked." Dude, I said KNOCK. and yes, the door is locked because people like you don't respect boundaries. I see this behavior often and I am shocked anyone would just walk into an office.
ReplyDeleteMy last department head didn't like closed, let alone locked, doors. He claimed that we had to be "accessible" to students and a closed or locked door was a "barrier" to learning.
DeleteFor years, students could wander around the office area and were allowed to do so by the administrators for that very reason. I didn't like it because I had stuff stolen out of my office (such as a solution manual I used in a course I taught--probably students) and I also wanted my privacy without having someone gawking at me through the window beside the door. Besides, other departments in our institution strictly controlled student access.
That all changed after a major security audit of our institution. Our department got its knuckles rapped for being too free and open.
Well, they *are* the customers, and they *do* pay for full access to all nooks & crannies of campus, right?
ReplyDeleteRight?
FML...
That was the thinking of my last department head.
DeleteThe assistant head had a habit of coming in before the department office was open in the morning and leaving the door open. Students simply came and went because not only did they have free access but there was hardly anyone around, let alone someone who would boot them out.
One morning, I was at my desk and a student was wandered around looking for a colleague and I saw his face in the window beside my door. I chased him out and then papered over the window because I wanted my privacy when I was in my office. The department head didn't like that, citing "accessibility to students", but the real reason was that he couldn't spy on me.
It wasn't as if the students couldn't contact anyone in the office when the door was closed. There was an internal telephone just across the hall which they could use. But did they? Naaaah. That was too much effort. Besides, they would have had to either remember our numbers or call the main receptionist to find out if we were in. How dare anyone make the students responsible for such details!
Some of the students at my campus are like this, but some are just the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI've watched students stand for two minutes in front of a closed door, trying to work out exactly what it means. You can almost hear the little gears grinding away in their heads, and sometimes they depart without even attempting a knock.
In my department, if we're working in our offices with the door closed, and we are available for consultation, we usually have to put a little note on the door that says "I'm in. Please knock," otherwise some students will just walk away when they see the closed door.
I know! I know! I just watched someone doing this. She stood in front of the closed door across the hall from me for two minutes, just looking at the door. Our doors are all open, too, when we're here, or we do the note thing, too, so it's clear the person isn't in. Their door doesn't need to be looked at for two minutes. Finally, she turned around to ask if I knew where that person was. When I shrugged, she went back to looking at the closed door. Then she left. She could have left a note, sent an email, asked me for paper to leave a note, etc. Nope.
DeletePerhaps the doctrine of student-as-customer can be blamed for this. Profs and instructors are supposed to be aware of the needs and expectations of their customers. Those students needed to see their respective profs and expected them to open the door without having to be told.
DeleteOn the other hand, some of students were brought up believing they could do anything and maybe thought that among the multitude of capabilities they believe they excelled at was telepathy.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTo many students, our offices are just potential nap/work stations -- or stapler warehouses. And us? The other night, one group of my students had their final exam -- in one of the campus gyms. A student from another course flagged me down in the gym, and asked a question about his exam. When I said I'd get his professor for him, he answered, "Yeah - do that."
ReplyDeleteSo nice to be appreciated.