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| EMERGENCY MATHEMATICAL HOLOGRAM |
It has to be assumed that when appointments are made, they are made because they don't conflict with school. Those things are to be figured out on the student's end. This is a basic principle of adulthood.
If he feels that it's okay to cancel/no-show because he "has school" then that's unfortunate. The remedy for that is simple: schedule sessions when it doesn't conflict with school.
We've discussed these issues time and again about attendance. Tutoring sessions are an extension of school and should be treated as such.
He grumbled under his breath: "You aren't taking my money." I understand the frustration, but I did discuss the cancellation policy when we first met.
At this point, I am at a loss to what appears to be a blatant lack of respect. I do not know what else to do other than to not schedule any more appointments.
- Emergency Mathematical Hologram
EMH, is that you? Or is this an anonymous post?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is I. Basically, this was the email I wrote to his mom right after the incident occurred.
DeleteYes, it is I. Basically, this was the email I wrote to his mom right after the incident occurred.
DeleteI am sorry. The post came to the wrong address. And I did not recognize the email address. Posts need to go to the Send Yer Misery link in the sidebar and include your name. I will update this with your name in a moment.
DeleteNo worries. I thought I did send it to the "sparkydarlin" address though.
DeleteIf you don't mind, would you include my moniker in the post?
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DeleteAnd thank you!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI've added your name to the post. In going back out onto the boat deck again.
DeleteThe aggravation brought on by some customers is not worth the business they bring. There's nothing wrong with filling appointments with others who ARE worth your time.
ReplyDeleteI try not to attribute these types of things to disrespect. They just don't think. What will happen to this if I do that? Such a thought never enters their mind.
ReplyDeleteStudents make then miss appointments with me simply because they forgot that they had class at the same time. It's the middle of the fucking semester, bro. Get your shit together.
Others have posted to the effect that students think it is okay to be very late to an appointment. I can't recall all the details, but in one post the prof waited around for quite awhile beyond the scheduled time, left and then ran into the student while walking through campus, and the student seemed aggrieved that the prof had the nerve to stop waiting around and leave the office.
DeleteI think students get very focused on getting to the appointment, even if they haven't allowed sufficient time to do so, and have trouble shifting gears to thinking about what to do if they, by all reasonable understandings of the word "appointment," missed the appointment. It's somewhat the same phenomenon which leads students to expect professors to be as delighted to receive late papers as the students are at finally finishing said papers. In short, human nature is involved, as well as lack of practice at considering others' perspectives (which is partially a function of age, and partially a function of their not having been strong encouraged by parents and other adults in their lives to do so, perhaps especially in relation to adults who fit in the broad "teacher" category.
DeleteIt definitely helps if appointments have ending as well as beginning times, since that makes it clearer when the appointment has been entirely missed. But that doesn't keep some students from failing to understand that if there isn't another student right there ready to claim a following appointment, the professor isn't necessarily free -- or keep them from being surprised if the professor starts ushering them out of the office at the end of the appointment, or, yes, if they don't show up at said appointment, from being shocked to encounter the professor somewhere else than in hir office, waiting for the student.
I've never tutored in a situation where the student was paying me directly (only worked for writing centers, where my responsibility for enforcing lateness policies mostly involved record-keeping). It seems like the question should be easier to handle in that situation, but I can see why it wouldn't be. The obvious solution, if you have enough demand for your services, is to be unavailable to clients who regularly miss appointments, and/or fail to pay for missed appointments in accordance with your cancellation policy.
It is now common practice for doctors to routinely bill patients for appointments that the patients have missed. For whatever reason (barring a documented hospital visit, I presume).
ReplyDeleteMy sister now works for a doctor who wants to institute this policy at her practice. One problem: the doctor is routinely late for appointments herself (often by HOURS). The hypocrisy is aggravating.
So, in an era when young people have "issues" with attendance and promptness, established adults are instituting monetary punishments for similar sins in professional milieu, affecting mostly ther parents and grandparents. Irony?
- Anon y Mouse
What irks me is that they tell you to come 15 minutes early and then keep you waiting for hours. For a doctor that sees emergencies (and especially veterinarians who often see emergencies), I understand. But other than that, I will wait an hour, and then I go to the desk and ask if I will be seen any time soon. If not, I politely offer them the option to reschedule at a time when I won't have to wait several hours. One doctor I no longer see had an average wait time of 3 hours. I couldn't accommodate that. Even when they scheduled me first thing in the morning or right after lunch, it didn't matter... the doctor still ran abominably late.
DeleteI remember my first semester in college when I made an appointment to see my English professor on a Friday afternoon. Well, unfortunately, I fell asleep in my dorm room in the afternoon and missed the appointment. I was mortified and felt like it was the end of the world all weekend because I hadn't shown up for the appointment. So in class on Monday I went up to the professor before she started class and apologized. We didn't have e-mail back then, so I was a nervous wreck all weekend until I could speak to her on Monday.
ReplyDeleteI was an undergraduate peer tutor. Tutees would come for one or two sessions of Walrus History 101 and I'd never seen them again. I think they would have problems in class, prof would say "go to Tutor Center," and they would. That's it. That was not what the prof meant, but the students think just one or two sessions is all you need! There was one overachiever tutee who would schedule almost weekly appointments and then either show up very late or not at all. When I confronted her about this, I was accused of being the late one! It took all my strength not to harpoon her in the eye. Thankfully, the Tutor Center Supervisor was understanding and we had a policy that we could leave after 15 minutes of a no call/no show. Also we got paid for that 15 minutes of waiting for "God, no."
ReplyDeleteOf course, Walrus History wasn't the money maker for tutors. Gerbil Math and Capybara Chemistry were the big ones. As I wasted my time waiting on those who never come, I watched an Capybara Chemistry peer tutor with 15 tutees teach the glory of the math that unlocked the secrets of chemistry. I was in awe of his ability to command their attention and get them to participate. Sniff... no one ever goes walrus.
No one but the Eggman. But once you go Capybara...
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