Unreasonable requests from students: Sense check

At least, all new appointments have Professor in their titles, where previously it might have been Reader, University Senior Lecturer and University Lecturer.

It's your job. To be completely honest also, lecturers and universities aren't actually doing enough for students based on what they are paying for the course. Stop moaning and be more compassionate.

Honestly op I do get it. Students can be lazy and annoying but I think you're being a bit infantalising to your adult learners.

With respect to the poster who suggested students should ask the other students on their course. A lot of students don't know many if any of their peers at university. Third years now will have had every year affected by covid. Unis don't publish classlists anymore because of GDPR. OP as the lecturer might be the only person they know to contact with lost cards etc.

I think we underestimate how much covid has influenced the current UGs. The ones who've come straight from school, have had much less time to grow up than their predecessors. They've had 2 years of Lockdowns stuck with mummy and daddy without interaction with their peers. It seems ridiculous to expect students who've not sat alevels or even been in school full time for the last two years to be perfect.

The student had an appointment with you and couldn’t access the building. Yes, having the is card would have been best, but life happens. The student contacted you and still wanted to meet and simply asked for help in accessing an education.

People lose track of links all the time. It’s nearly constant in workplaces to have to resend. If you aren’t willing to deal with that, try setting up a centralized place with all your critical course information so students don’t have to search emails for things they need.

Oh and I have taught at the university level so I am not judging without experience. At the current time I am 100% research.

As a former academic myself, and working professional, I dare say you sound very much stuck up your own ass, OP. And not that professional...

The email thing is a basic communication issue. Why are important links about your module buried in an email? Don't you have a personal staff page with links to key resources for all the modules you run? Then by all means put a link to that one page in your email signature, and kindly point at your signature whenever answering any student query about where to find stuff. That's the professional thing to do. It is your fucking job. If it happens too often, just have a canned email answer ready, and automate it. Job done.

The bit about the door is a bit more annoying, but still... The collegial thing to do would be go and meet your students yourself (if you're on your own), or (if you're so important...), send one of your minions to open the door (a student who happens to be already in, a PhD student of yours, or a post-doc, or another more junior professor, or perhaps your own PA?). If you don't have any minions to do your chores, then I doubt you're as senior as you think...

I’m a medical consultant and I forgot my ID card yesterday!

As soon as you get more than one slightly daft I’ve lost the link email just send a whole year group mail reminding them of the link and the need to keep it in their records. If you want to you can say you won’t keep sending it. You can even add what else you expect them to do eg look on library system for a paper rather than just emailing you for a link. You won’t win most popular professor of the year award but you will get less irritated by emails back.

They aren’t at the point of being in the workplace yet they are still learning which is partly the point. But if you feel they need to learn to be more organised (which they do) either don’t respond or be firmer.
You are annoyed by the obligation to respond as much as the requests themselves- so dont.
You get an an email to let them in the door -as they forgot their ID card and you think that is unreasonable- don’t reply- they miss their tutorial. Lesson learnt.

In my job I spend a lot of time re-telling professional people where to find things and resending out links to information. I work in professional services in a university and guess who I'm sending information to? Clue: it's not just the students who forget stuff.

My son is a scatty, unprofessional 1st year who is really struggling right now with the demands of his course. He is not a snowflake or incompetent (although he feels incompetent atm) but he has never done this before and has only ever experienced teachers holding his hand/ nagging/ reminding/ encouraging him every step of the way. This doesn't happen at uni and he is floundering.

I work in student support in a different uni. I see this every single year, and told him to speak to his tutors who will want to help him...

OP, helping your students is part of your job. It doesn't mean you have to run around for them, but they are not yet professional academics, and they will still need some help I'm afraid!

Yes, I’m in the UK.

Yes to having every year of my degree fucked up my the Pandemic - it hasn’t affected me the way it has the young ones because I’m in my 30s, but it’s still been deeply unpleasant.

Yes it came up on active but I lurk on this board as I’m very much planning a PhD and, hopefully, working in Academia myself so it’s a very useful board for me lurk on!

I feel you are being a bit harsh. They are students- of course they aren't "professional". It's annoying and inconvenient for you but part of being a student is learning to organise yourself. I can only imagine they haven't had any solid routine of learning, with circumstances in constant flux between online and then having to get yourself to classes in person. They are not like you. They are not senior professors. They are not professionals. They are not academics. They're young and just setting out on their independent lives.

If another senior professor forgot their ID and needed buzzing in, I'm sure you wouldn't begrudge them...

Don't slide into a disdainful and contemptuous attitude to your students - you'll end up hating your job.

I wouldn't bat an eyelid at either of these requests, TBH, they are things I see from colleagues all the time, so no evidence that being scatty hinders an academic career!

This week I was emailed by a student who said her computer had broken so she was using her phone. She didn't like reading journals on her phone so could I print them off and post them to her... not even a "please!"

I did say no to that, and reminded her the library was open!

I haven't come across this but I can relate with a pp's comment on students getting increasingly entitled. They all expect a first now and if they don't get one, they will blame your marking!

lecturers and universities aren't actually doing enough for students based on what they are paying for the course. Stop moaning and be more compassionate.

You're joking right? Have you any idea how hard the vast majority of university staff work?

I agree, SpinsforGin, we're working our arses off.

And because of Covid the last two years have been the most stressful of my career. My research has pretty much ground to a halt because the teaching demands have been so onerous. (Not to mention how hard it was during lockdown to be a uni lecturer teaching from home with my school-aged DC at home doing their own 'home learning' as well.) Things seem to have settled down somewhat now but it's still a far cry from normality.

And UK uni fees are a bargain compared to how much you'd pay to go to a US Ivy League university or liberal arts college.

And because of Covid the last two years have been the most stressful of my career. My research has pretty much ground to a halt because the teaching demands have been so onerous. (Not to mention how hard it was during lockdown to be a uni lecturer teaching from home with my school-aged DC at home doing their own 'home learning' as well.) Things seem to have settled down somewhat now but it's still a far cry from normality.

I could have written this word for word.
I've dine no research in the last two years which will ultimately impact any promotion opportunity.
My teaching work load trebled and it's not got back to anywhere near a normal level yet.
And homeschooling a 6 year old while trying to teach was pretty much impossible!

I'm broken but I'll still do all I can to support my students .... but I am entitled to get a little frustrated at times! Even if I don't express it to any of the students.

I resuscitate people for a living. Including children.

Sometimes I let people into the building when they lose their swipe card and sometimes I help them when they can’t find a link they were sent.

I’m not as important as a senior academic, I guess.

This happens quite a bit with older adults. Someone forgets their keys at work and I have to let them in. Several people ask for something in an email you've already sent. I would expect it of younger adults, but have words if it was the same person, over and over.

It never happened to my recollection when I was a student, but had any student sworn at a member of staff (academic or otherwise) I would have expected disciplinary action to follow in short order. Totally unacceptable.

It doesn't matter if you're a senior academic or a big standard academic. It's frustrating but it happens. Ignore them then when they email say. I came down but couldn't see you sorry. Rebook and this time bring your pass!