This was originally written as a Facebook post in the midst of final exam week and I was bless to have my wonderful Soror (and LS), Pamela Anthony who is Dean of Students at Iowa State University provide a response to this commentary. Please share and repost especially if you have children or are an educator.
Peril at Week Thirteen
Dr. Francine Edwards
Associate Professor
Delaware State
University
It never ceases to amaze me that in my 12 years of teaching, there are always students who wait until week 13 to emerge. I’ve done everything from using official channels of communication (Blackboard and emails copied to my department chair) to texting and posting on Facebook. When the dreaded week 13 arrives, these students miraculously appear…excuses and all. I’ve heard everything; some excuses have lead me to campus police to help students resolve a serious issue while other excuses have truly enraged me because the student has the impudence to shovel me a load that they – themselves don’t even believe.
I am always dumbfounded by the student who expects to be given one or two week to complete a semester’s worth of work for full credit as well as join his or her classmates for a final examination. I am even more angered by the student who is not granted the opportunity to complete the course requirements, but informs me that he/she will go to the Dean to further discuss this issue…ah, but then they ask me who the Dean is (and often confuse the Dean and the Department Chair). You’d think that after matriculating through a university for three or more years that one would know the pillars of the campus community before threatening to solicit their support in assisting with what may be deemed a lost cause but that’s not the case. To this you might say, “The audacity of those students,” but I’ve grown immune to this behavior. Of course, we’re talking about generation Y and generation iY - - young people who demand instant gratification and responses, live with a sense of entitlement, and don’t understand accountability.
So what is a professor to do? I’m still looking for answers. I’ve tried restructuring my courses to incorporate social media, off-campus experiences, and peer-led learning groups, all with the hopes of encouraging students to come to class. Further, I work for a university that has several layers of support in place to ensure student success; everything from early academic alerts to special student services to the creation of university-wide learning communities. In some cases these tools have worked but in other instances, as a professor, I believe I’m still falling short. Or am I?
We all know that students become exponentially busier during the last two weeks of the semester (as do faculty). Full time employment or work study commitments coupled with other courses and extracurricular involvement make it challenging for students to manage tasks throughout the year, thus one might ask, why a student would pack a semester’s worth of learning (roughly 45 hours of classroom contact time, not including the recommended 1-2 hours of study time for each course) into one or two weeks.
Blogs, articles from journals like Chronicle of Higher Education, and several research papers all focused on one common theme; the lack of accountability. According to psychologist Dr. Linda Spadin, the constant stream of praise and enabling has created a generation of youth who are conditioned to being affirmed which often is accompanied by an intense sense of entitlement. This may address why a student would go over my head [breaching the corporate hierarchical chain of command] to handle an issue directly related to their own lack of accountability and expect a favorable outcome. This generation (and I say that as a purposeful generalization) seemingly refuses to take responsibility when a mistake is made. In the college environment there is the perception that students are paying the salaries of professors, thus professors are here to serve the students; a perspective likened to the customer service environment. This is not Wal-Mart or Applebee’s people! Sure a college or university is a business, but we are here to provide more than a service; we are in the business of growing intellectuals, creating channels of learning that enhance critical thought and engaging students in global consciousness, and yes, developing their understanding of self-accountability.
These students didn’t just come to college with the inability to be accountable. The absence of accountability was there at the high school level, but becomes more self-destructive as the apparent lack of interest continues at the collegiate level. There is a compelling yet sobering picture of what could happen to our society if we don't work to change the way today’s youth think. It’s no longer feasible to just sound the alarm or call this generation ‘lost’. Collectively, it is our responsibility as educators to set boundaries, pledge to stop enabling our students and to hold them accountable. Week one of the semester should be the beginning of a semester-long contractual agreement in which the student takes charge of his or her own academic destiny or suffers the consequences.
So here are my final words (mostly for any college student who suffered through this long post): Your time is ticking away. Don’t squander it. You need a road map to reality and many of today’s professors care enough to provide that. While much of the world believes that this generation lacks the self-discipline to stand strong as the future of this country, a university environment is the one place in which this perspective is refuted. Making excuses for why you can’t hit the ground running during week one of an academic semester (with the understanding that there may be a few hiccups along the way) and making a commitment to follow through for 15 weeks is no longer acceptable. You come to college because you believe you have skills, talents, and curiosity that will enable you to be successful and contribute to your own prosperity as well as the prosperity of the world in which we live. Embrace and face the challenges of college life and make this a meaningful time by doing what’s necessary to ensure that you don’t fall victim to the perils of week thirteen.
It never ceases to amaze me that in my 12 years of teaching, there are always students who wait until week 13 to emerge. I’ve done everything from using official channels of communication (Blackboard and emails copied to my department chair) to texting and posting on Facebook. When the dreaded week 13 arrives, these students miraculously appear…excuses and all. I’ve heard everything; some excuses have lead me to campus police to help students resolve a serious issue while other excuses have truly enraged me because the student has the impudence to shovel me a load that they – themselves don’t even believe.
I am always dumbfounded by the student who expects to be given one or two week to complete a semester’s worth of work for full credit as well as join his or her classmates for a final examination. I am even more angered by the student who is not granted the opportunity to complete the course requirements, but informs me that he/she will go to the Dean to further discuss this issue…ah, but then they ask me who the Dean is (and often confuse the Dean and the Department Chair). You’d think that after matriculating through a university for three or more years that one would know the pillars of the campus community before threatening to solicit their support in assisting with what may be deemed a lost cause but that’s not the case. To this you might say, “The audacity of those students,” but I’ve grown immune to this behavior. Of course, we’re talking about generation Y and generation iY - - young people who demand instant gratification and responses, live with a sense of entitlement, and don’t understand accountability.
So what is a professor to do? I’m still looking for answers. I’ve tried restructuring my courses to incorporate social media, off-campus experiences, and peer-led learning groups, all with the hopes of encouraging students to come to class. Further, I work for a university that has several layers of support in place to ensure student success; everything from early academic alerts to special student services to the creation of university-wide learning communities. In some cases these tools have worked but in other instances, as a professor, I believe I’m still falling short. Or am I?
We all know that students become exponentially busier during the last two weeks of the semester (as do faculty). Full time employment or work study commitments coupled with other courses and extracurricular involvement make it challenging for students to manage tasks throughout the year, thus one might ask, why a student would pack a semester’s worth of learning (roughly 45 hours of classroom contact time, not including the recommended 1-2 hours of study time for each course) into one or two weeks.
Blogs, articles from journals like Chronicle of Higher Education, and several research papers all focused on one common theme; the lack of accountability. According to psychologist Dr. Linda Spadin, the constant stream of praise and enabling has created a generation of youth who are conditioned to being affirmed which often is accompanied by an intense sense of entitlement. This may address why a student would go over my head [breaching the corporate hierarchical chain of command] to handle an issue directly related to their own lack of accountability and expect a favorable outcome. This generation (and I say that as a purposeful generalization) seemingly refuses to take responsibility when a mistake is made. In the college environment there is the perception that students are paying the salaries of professors, thus professors are here to serve the students; a perspective likened to the customer service environment. This is not Wal-Mart or Applebee’s people! Sure a college or university is a business, but we are here to provide more than a service; we are in the business of growing intellectuals, creating channels of learning that enhance critical thought and engaging students in global consciousness, and yes, developing their understanding of self-accountability.
These students didn’t just come to college with the inability to be accountable. The absence of accountability was there at the high school level, but becomes more self-destructive as the apparent lack of interest continues at the collegiate level. There is a compelling yet sobering picture of what could happen to our society if we don't work to change the way today’s youth think. It’s no longer feasible to just sound the alarm or call this generation ‘lost’. Collectively, it is our responsibility as educators to set boundaries, pledge to stop enabling our students and to hold them accountable. Week one of the semester should be the beginning of a semester-long contractual agreement in which the student takes charge of his or her own academic destiny or suffers the consequences.
So here are my final words (mostly for any college student who suffered through this long post): Your time is ticking away. Don’t squander it. You need a road map to reality and many of today’s professors care enough to provide that. While much of the world believes that this generation lacks the self-discipline to stand strong as the future of this country, a university environment is the one place in which this perspective is refuted. Making excuses for why you can’t hit the ground running during week one of an academic semester (with the understanding that there may be a few hiccups along the way) and making a commitment to follow through for 15 weeks is no longer acceptable. You come to college because you believe you have skills, talents, and curiosity that will enable you to be successful and contribute to your own prosperity as well as the prosperity of the world in which we live. Embrace and face the challenges of college life and make this a meaningful time by doing what’s necessary to ensure that you don’t fall victim to the perils of week thirteen.
Response to Peril at Week Thirteen
Pamela Anthony
Dean of Students
Iowa State University
As a dean
who regularly receives students’ complaints, appeals and grievances regarding
how they are treated (rather than how their behavior has caused a particular
situation), I wholeheartedly endorse this post. I often find myself in
discussions with students about accountability and specifically as it relates
to consequences. You see, many students understand accountability in its purest
form; that is, “I am responsible for my actions”. However, they lack (or fail
to apply) the critical thinking skills that equate responsibility to
consequence, i.e. the very basic principle of “for every action there is a
reaction”.
Yes, the student acknowledges they waited until the last minute to complete their assignment but their hard drive crashed the night before, so you (professor) should allow them extra time to submit their paper. Yes, the student admits to cheating but college is much harder than high school, so you (administrator) should be understanding and not cause them to fail the class. Of course the sorority president accepts responsibility for her chapter having served alcohol to minors while hosting an unregistered party, but you (judicial officer) should not suspend them because you will negatively impact the recipients of their chapter’s philanthropic contributions. Sure, the graduate student recognizes the multiple past due notices sent regarding their balance but they lost their job earlier in the semester and don’t have the money to pay the bill, so you (financial aid counselor) should lift the hold on their account (waiving the late fees of course) because they have to register today in order to get the requisite classes to graduate next semester.
I could provide numerous other trite examples but suffice it to say, I am inundated with excuses that fail to connect consequence to behavior. I find that while it may take some prodding for a student to finally admit their shortcomings or at minimum, a poorly made decision, they vehemently reject the subsequent recourse of levying punitive sanctions upon them because after all, they are sorry for their actions, and isn’t that enough? Sadly, it isn’t. Expressing remorse, claiming ignorance of university policies or just failing to use good ‘ole common sense does not negate one’s behavior or its personal and/or community impact.
Every professor, administrator, judicial officer and financial aid counselor was once a college student, albeit in the Stone Age before many of our currently matriculating students were born. Nonetheless, we understand the academic rigor, student organization obligations, social life options, family pressures, financial stressors, interpersonal relationships, career decisions and everything else in between that occurs in the nexus of a university campus. Guess what? We survived! Some of us were scraped and bruised, and others have permanent scars but we made it and so can today’s college students.
I absolutely love college and the entire collegiate experience. I especially appreciate its unique ability to teach invaluable lessons that often do not manifest or resonate until more life is experienced. I unapologetically demand (“strongly encourage”) students to take responsibility for their actions and moreover, accept that these choices are not devoid of consequences. The harsh reality is, sometimes the answer is (and should be) NO and the world owes you NOTHING.
