Not pulling her weight

[AnUnhappyStudent]

I am a mature student at uni. We have to do a group presentation tomorrow and have been meeting as a group for the last couple of months to work on it. One of the group has really taken the piss.
Turned up to about a third of the meetings, not delivered on her stuff, not letting us know when she is not attending meetings but then turning up to the one session we had with tutor
I raised it with the group and it was agreed that we would mail her and say if she didn't get her finger out we were going to ask for her to be removed as she will be graded on something she hasn't contribute to.

Today we are meeting up for a run through and its been arranged weeks. Just had an email from her to say that her uncle is seriously ill and she will need to leave early! I don't believe it for a minute. We have had various stories of ill relatives and just serms like its another excuse. But I could be wrong.
Anyway we have to submit a record of how we worked as a group this can involve meeting notes, action logs and emails. If I include the email we sent her then it will be really obvious that she was not a team player but would it reflect badly on me for dobbing her in as it were?? And what if uncle is really ill? I would feel awful

[roundaboutthetown]

There should be no room for fuckwits in social work - the work they do is too important.

[Trifleorbust]

FrancisCrawford:

You're fond of that 'mere speculation' phrase, aren't you? Actually I spent nearly a decade working with undergraduates before I retrained. I have a reasonably good understanding of uhow universities deal with late submission, missing work, not attending lectures and so on. And in my opinion - which I concede can't be proved to be correct - this isn't a 'sending down' offence. That would be grossly disproportionate. But crack on with your 'mere speculation'

[Trifleorbust]

roundaboutthetown:

I don't think so. I think lazy people who operate just on the right side of the line will exist everywhere you go.

[Trifleorbust]

FrancisCrawford:

This is an opinion forum. I will give my opinion if I wish.

[HorridHenryrule]

Sending an email to someone who had difficulty in attending a meeting. Yes she should have been their but to cover your back you should have.
Send her an email of what was said in the meeting and what she needed to do. At least the tutor would have seen organisation on your part.

Fwiw my grandparents died a month apart had two funerals to go to. My aunt looked a wreck at the second funeral it was her mothers funeral.

[roundaboutthetown]

Trifle - I'm amazed you think this candidate's work has fallen the right side of the line. That many missed meetings, a 100% disapproval rating from work colleagues and only a few questions asked and a piece of written work which proves a failure to understand the topic does not strike me as the right side of any line. It strikes me as an epic fail of that piece of work.

[FaFoutis]

I think it will be obvious to your tutor that she didn't pull her weight. I'm marking group work at the moment (with paper trail like yours) and its perfectly obvious which students didn't contribute much.

Don't include your email, it might reflect badly on you. I have had to deal with counterclaims of racism, bullying etc. in this kind of situation. Your freeloader sounds quite capable of turning this into that kind of situation.

[Trifleorbust]

roundaboutthetown:

Those things don't get you chucked out of university. Buyer's market.

[MakingMerry]

Ah God, group work. I went back to Uni as a mature student, and we were told 'it's to help prepare you for life at work'. Well it's not a bit like life anywhere where I worked, because if someone constantly didn't turn up for project meetings they'd get managed out of the team. And I have in fact managed people off projects for that reason. Anyway, when talking to tutors now, and they're all quite honest that the primary reason for group work is not to learn new skills but to reduce the amount of marking, which is insane at the end of semesters.

However having since done some marking of group presentations myself, be comforted OP, that it is blatantly obvious to the markers who has done the work and who has half-arsed it. And obviously they have to mark the group, but it's not going to ruin your academic career.

Mind you I am still annoyed about the one piece of group work I did which was a full ten marks lower than any other mark that year. I remember my personal tutor going through my portfolio with me: 'what happened there?' 'Group work' 'Oh,' he said, in tones of deep sympathy.

[roundaboutthetown]

Trifle - I don't give a flying fuck whether or not she gets chucked out of university. To pass that particular assignment, however, would be worthy of a complaint from all the other people who did the assignment with her. Buyer's market means the opinion of the majority with respect to that course are of huge relevance to a university trying to attract students.

[roundaboutthetown]

Shame she wasn't just chucked out of the group altogether sooner.

[Trifleorbust]

roundaboutthetown:

Well, we will have to agree to disagree.

[Madwoman5]

Dates of meetings and attendees, allocation of work, minutes showing who has said what, include reminders sent to each person and feedback/delivery. Reallocation of work. Include your concern about lack of participation of x, what was done to change this and then leave to tutor to find out why. Team worked well despite continued absence of x will highlight it. Tone should be factual and concerned rather than accusatory.

[HorridHenryrule]

I think madwoman hit the nail on the head. You have to show professionalism especially if you're going to be a social worker helping vulnerable people.

[WhatALoadOfOldBollocks]

The others have had to work extra hard to pick up the slack and they have spent time, effort and emotion dealing with the others non-cooperation
That's exactly it, the unfairness of taking up the slack of an absent team mate creates more work, stress and resentment. People getting credit for work they haven't done and getting the same grade as those who did the hard work boils my piss. It made my uni experience so much worse.

Every single assignment is group work here and it works. Why? Because we spend a morning learning about how to make it , how to assign roles, write group contracts, how to resolve conflict etc. There are advisors available.
That's a great idea. If they had done that at my uni I'm sure the team assignments would've been a damn sight less stressful and I'd be a little less angry and bitter today

I went back to Uni as a mature student, and we were told 'it's to help prepare you for life at work'. Well it's not a bit like life anywhere where I worked, because if someone constantly didn't turn up for project meetings they'd get managed out of the team.
Exactly, MakingMerry. Team work at uni is not really like team work in a paid environment IMHO. Also, one of the biggest issues my team had was the difficulty getting everyone together at the same time to work on and practice the presentation, what with our different uni timetables, childcare arrangements, location and jobs. At work at least you should all be in the same place at the same time, eg 9-5, Mon-Fri, and skiving would be an issue that management deal with not the team.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

trifle

the reason why the OP is in this position is because no one said anything sooner.

As part of my job it can triple my workload, as I have to try and support these people through to a professional qualification. If I pass them and they are lazy and shit, I will suffer.

And if I fail them I have provide shed loads of information to prove that they have been supported adequately.

It is an absolute ball ache which could be prevented by people speaking up earlier.

[Trifleorbust]

BoneyBackJefferson:

I get your side of it. I just wouldn't be swayed towards reporting this, in this specific situation. I would let the facts speak for themselves.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

Trifleorbust

I have probably missed it so apologies in advance.

Would you put the unadulterated facts forward?

[Trifleorbust]

BoneyBackJefferson:

Well, they're there in the OP, aren't they? They're not my facts.

[HorridHenryrule]

Boneyback that's your gripe. The op has to show how they worked together as a team and what communications did they use. Not everyone can get to a meeting so they use other forms of communication be it emails, telephone conference, Skype etc. The big meeting are now and again technology is their to help improve people's busy life's. Where I worked previously I could not attend one meeting but they always gave me the notes after so I knew what was going on. I only went to the important meetings that involved training.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

Trifleorbust

But I am asking whether you would put the facts forward or just cover up?

Having read through, you wouldn't report but wouldn't put there name down and it would be found out that way?

HorridHenryrule

Yes it is my gripe that people let others get away with as little as possible because they don't do the work. Because I have the task of clearing up the shit and clearing the decks to make sure that someone is fit for the job.

I am not sure as to why you think that I would have issues with using technology.

They could skype for all I care, we used IM conference chat for several of our meetings and and printed the conversation as evidence.

[Trifleorbust]

BoneyBackJefferson:

I would write a report that confirmed who did what, who met where etc. I would leave out the moaning.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

Trifleorbust

I have no issue with that as it has been reported and is now down to the tutor.

[HorridHenryrule]

Boney are you the op I am confused?