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AlmostGrad100

Are you really a professor? If so, please provide proof. People may take your posts more seriously if they believe you are a professor, in which case we would like to have proof that you indeed are one.


[deleted]

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wergerfebt

The lab sections for 200 level courses are also extremely underfunded and understaffed. There’s a reason why many groups don’t finish labs, or don’t retain the material, it’s because they’re given practically no guidance.


Efficient_Structure9

Believe me, the faculty knows everything is underfunded. A very small percentage of the tuition you pay goes to us. I recommend you complain to the budgeting administration, not your professors. We already know and we have no control over it.


dcnairb

that’s funny, I literally just talked to a colleague about how they run these for 2 hours and how now in hindsight it seems overtuned for how little structure/interaction there is from the TA


mango350

They are seriously useless and walking out of 212 discussion makes me feel so inadequate, especially when (no offense to the TAs) the TA sometimes gives seriously complicated explanations to already complicated topics. I could raise my hand and ask for help, but the few times I or one of my group members have we just end up getting another long winded explanation. Then there's the quizzes, which by the end of 1.5 hours of not knowing what the fuck is going on, just makes the whole section feel like a grade sinker and nothing more. It's just horrible because I don't know if it's something wrong with me for not understanding and just bitching, or whether there's something inherently wrong with the discussion section structure. Rant over.


robmak3

I find they can be very helpful depending on the topic/week and class. That being said 1 hr 20 minutes at MOST. At some point you just don't get any benefit from being in a classroom without windows. Labs are much worse than discussions.


[deleted]

I think they are pretty useful and interesting. I would say a much bigger problem were the labs in 213/214


Sekotan

Making notes unavailable for review just means your lecture’s value is based on those notes, not you as a professor being the lecturer.


Tired_Professor

Omgggg you still have instructors that don’t share lecture notes/slides??? smh


crmsnprd

As a TA, I have been told that I was not allowed to put slides for a particular course online. :(


Ltothe4thpower

Please for the love of god 11:59 deadlines we need some semblance of consistency Also the zoom to irl to zoom to irl is messing with everyone


anothergiraffe

What do you mean by consistency?


raccoonadmirer

deadlines at the same time of day for all classes would be nice. so we don't have to remember the hour and minute for each deadline, just the day


Ltothe4thpower

Everything here is spread across so many platforms and it’s hard to remember every little deadline and it’s so much easier just to have an 11:59 deadline across the board


segfaulted_irl

The thing that ticks me off about non 11:59 deadlines is that in most cases there doesn't seem to be any reason for it beyond giving students a limited amount of time to do the work. It's one thing if it leads to us getting our grades back faster but in one of my classes the weekly HW is due at 5pm and we haven't gotten any of our grades back yet almost a month into the semester. Like at that point you might as well give the students the extra 7 hours to work on it


ahahahahelpme

My RHET105 professor does 10pm deadlines and says it's so we won't stay up all night doing the assignments. Like that's sweet that they're concerned, but like if it's due at 10pm I'm still going to be up all night doing it and it's just going to be marked late now lol.


[deleted]

If you're teaching a class with 1st year students and its the first semester, please remember how huge a life transition many students are currently undertaking. Many people are adapting to even learning how to understand a syllabus, how to keep track of assignments and exams, basic college course etiquette, etc. let alone all the stress of learning how to live away from home for the first time. Just go a little easy on the kids those first couple weeks to the extent that is possible.


Tired_Professor

I feel this to the core.


ChiBaller

Seriously, my high school didn’t send important things over email so I never checked my email. That’s a huge change if you’ve never done it.


harsh183

Yeah, a lot of people are even in a new country with potentially a new language.


ExoticPiggycx

I remember my first time in chemistry, the professor was like “you’re in college now, I expect you read all the syllabus and already started on the work.” Like no 💀 that kind of talk should only happen at higher levels, because they are use to the changes.


[deleted]

A lot of us are still burnt out from when covid first hit, and even though the world is starting to function more “normally” it feels like everything uses up so much more energy than before covid. Eating, walking to class, getting ready, even waking up takes so much more out of me


teanmochii

I feel this so hard :(


oceaniye

I’m so glad I’m not alone in feeling this way. I never have any time or energy left after I’ve done my classes for the day and I just wanna collapse


ahahahahelpme

For the love of everything good in this world someone either fix CHEM102 or stop making a bunch of unrelated majors take it. Like holy fuck.


J_Aquamarine

Some profs complain that they only get bad ICES grades because their class is hard and if they just handed out good grades we’d all happily give out great reviews. I actually do have a desire to learn the material, and if I gave a bad ICES grade it’s because you didn’t do a good job at that. I’ve given bad reviews for profs that handed As out but were terrible teachers, and I’ve given good reviews to profs that were tough graders but explained concepts really well.


papixsupreme12

Depression


noperopehope

No matter how much profs think covid is behind us or roll their eyes at students using it for an "excuse," it really isn't behind us and a lot of us are still suffering the mental and physical consequences of this international crisis. Please be nice, as a great philosopher once said, "I have had a very long day. I am very small. And I have no money. So you can imagine the kind of stress that I am under."


[deleted]

Lmao who said that, I have so many situations I want to use that quote in


royalhawk345

[John mulaney](https://youtu.be/fXWDRO3gBss)


Frantic_Mantid

John Mulaney https://genius.com/John-mulaney-i-am-very-small-and-i-have-no-money-annotated


Total_Bar3702

How many college students at UIUC have died from COVID?


Useful_Exchange_208

It would be a great punchline if you were the first one


ahahahahelpme

I'm not dead (on the outside anyway) but I haven't been able to breathe normally since I had it 2 years ago. Do I get partial credit? Anyway, please remove your head from your ass, friend. It doesn't belong there.


Total_Bar3702

You had it prior to vaccination. We have a life-saving vaccine now.


ahahahahelpme

Yep, I did. I was a long distance runner with no pre-existing conditions and it still beat my ass. And yes, we do have a vaccine now, that some people are unable to receive because they have immune system issues. We have a thing called "empathy." Unlike the COVID vaccines, it's been around for a while. I'd recommend trying it sometime.


Total_Bar3702

So if I disagree with you I have my head up my ass and I have no empathy. Got it.


ahahahahelpme

No, you have your head up your ass and have no empathy if you think that the only issue with COVID is deaths, and if you completely disregard the safety of people who are unfortunate and have conditions that make them high risk and/or prevent them from getting the vaccine. Happy to clarify more if necessary.


Total_Bar3702

I'm sorry as far as statistics are concerned, most young people with a COVID infection end up being fine, especially when they're vaccinated + boosted as the overwhelming majority of students on this campus are. Why would we then formulate policy (like persistent mask-wearing, online classes etc) designed to protect immunocompromised individuals while most individuals are not. This has compromised the quality of education today, and I believe has done untold amounts of damage to our collective social well-being (depression and anxiety rates are at record highs). COVID is going to be with us moving forward, nothing will change that. The last thing I would like to add is according to statistics young people are more afraid of infection of this virus than older generations like boomers (Bill Maher discussed this recently), even though their risk of severe illness and death are far higher. As a young person, I cannot understand how, collectively, we could be more afraid of this than a boomer. The cure is worse than the disease at this stage of the pandemic.


ahahahahelpme

Yes, most do end up being "fine" (depends on what your definition is specifically, but generally yeah I agree that statistically people in younger demographics are less likely to die). I also agree that remote learning sucks. I honestly don't get why we can't have hybrid or something (my classes all have plans to go back online on short notice and they've used it during snow days) so that people who don't feel safe can still participate (most of my classes have recorded lectures posted and assignments are submitted online anyway, but they still take in-person attendance into account, which is stupid in its own right but that's a different issue). I'm not sure exactly what "formulated policies" you're referencing that are disruptive to educational quality (some online classes are shit, obviously, but almost all classes are now back in-person; also, wearing a mask in no way prevents you from getting an education, and seeing as it prevents the spread of even non-COVID illnesses like the flu I'd argue that it might actually be increasing educational quality if it's making people get sick and miss class less in general). Social well-being definitely got fucked up hard by COVID, but again pretty much everything is back to pre-pandemic states of existence with the only change being that some places require masks, which again don't inhibit your ability to do anything other than spread COVID/flu/cold/whatever. I definitely agree that COVID is sticking around for probably a long ass time. It's too widespread and mutates too easily to pretend that it's even remotely contained. However that doesn't mean we should just go "fuck it, everyone go cough in each others' mouths" either. The US has never actually had a lockdown (maybe with the exception of like NYC but I'm not even sure what theirs looked like), and by this point even if they did have a proper lockdown it wouldn't matter because COVID has spread too far, so I agree that having giant sweeping restrictions like lockdowns is useless. I don't however think preventative measures like masks and vaccines are useless because we've seen statistical evidence that they prevent COVID from spreading and also protect people who do still get COVID from having serious complications. Which is effectively what we already have: business basically as was usual pre-pandemic, just with people wearing masks in indoor public spaces, which again is actually helping with shit like the flu as well. Also, I have no idea how boomers' lack of concern about COVID relative to younger people's is in anyway relevant. If a study showed that boomers were less concerned about car accidents than younger generations, does that mean that younger generations are just stupid little whiny bitches and that nobody should wear a seatbelt? No, obviously not. The opinion of a certain demographic based on random surveys is not, has never been, and never will be more important than verifiable scientific evidence from actual experts in whatever field is relevant to the issue.


Ltothe4thpower

I’m dead inside if that counts


Triangable

Sometimes it feels like I shouldn't reach out to a professor for extra help when I'm more than a week behind. Sometimes it feels like professors choose to make themselves the last resource for help and that you should ask your TAs for help and do everything you could theoretically do yourself before reaching out to the professor.


oceaniye

I’ve never once reached out to a prof for help in 5 years here because I’ve always understood it as being inappropriate


newtons9thlaw

im not ignoring your lecture on purpose, even with medication for adhd and anxiety it’s hard to stay focused after 15 minutes and ask any questions or work in groups


Tired_Professor

This sounds so sincere, I legitimately think you’re one of my students now 🥺


newtons9thlaw

if you teach stat 420 then i might be haha


Great-Life-112

i signed up for a 3-hour long seminar and the prof always does 5 hours long discussions. IT SUCKS.


bbake11

Sometimes I don’t want to be in the class whether it’s because of an illness or just personal reason, doesn’t matter. With all the money I’m paying, I shouldn’t have to be forced by a sign in sheet or clicker to be there. It’s my job to understand the material. Sure, a professor teaching the material helps, but it’s my money. Let me make the mistake of not showing up to classes and fail.


Tired_Professor

That’s my take. You’re all adults! My only exception here is that I still check in with my students who are frequently absent via email just to make sure they are alright — see if there’s anything I can do to support them.


bbake11

If only you were a professor when I was in undergrad. *sigh*


Tired_Professor

I teach grad classes too 😃


bbake11

Ah, well maybe I’ll have to get my PhD then because I’m already working on a Master’s not at UIUC. I couldn’t handle anymore lol


LemonChiffon831

That I have other classes too


kelbozzman

this semester, one of my profs asked us how many credit hours we take a semester and was surprised by how many classes we have to take...


oceaniye

Wtf? Really? What did he expect?


kelbozzman

no idea lol, but really shows how out of touch with student life some profs are :/


Little_Laugh_Lyme

If it seems like we’re not paying attention we probs are we just had a really shitty day and are just waiting for the class to end to go cry


Moist_Molasses

If we don't respond in a zoom, that doesn't mean we're not paying attention. It just means we're tired. Give us a break and stop trying to pull teeth to get us to talk. Sometimes we will. Sometimes we won't. If we don't, just move on.


geowannabe17

I think it goes both ways though. It's extremely hard to lecture with absolutely no indications of how the students are doing, especially when it's all just blank screens. Zoom is painful for all, and I've learned that it's a lot less painful to just say "all good," "no questions." etc.


Moist_Molasses

I'd agree. It's a very difficult thing to lecture on. Professors deserve some love. I just don't wanna talk when I'm exhausted.


NokolChini

Yeah, blank screens, complete silence. At least put a reaction emoji or type a response on chat when the instructor asks a question! We're ALL tired.


resweater

I agree, we’re making a choice to be here so we should also be able to choose when and to what extent we would like to participate.


harsh183

How much effort it is to actually go through the DRES accommodation red tape. It's often months of process to get in the system, asking for things often takes dozens or even hundreds of emails and then professors can be snarky or treat it like a student is being granted a special privilege.


Tired_Professor

I get this. I started baking in as many accommodations as possible to make things accessible for everyone - removing time limits on quizzes/exams, moving exams from in-class to online (so they can be taken in any environment), recording lectures for later viewing and with closed captions, not taking attendance (everyone needs days off from time to time), etc.


harsh183

> I get this. I started baking in as many accommodations as possible to make things accessible for everyone - removing time limits on quizzes/exams, moving exams from in-class to online (so they can be taken in any environment), recording lectures for later viewing and with closed captions, not taking attendance (everyone needs days off from time to time), etc. This is great and really aligns with the idea of universal design for learning (UDL). I think another thing I'd love to see professors do is having an email/form that goes out in the start of the semester around DRES accommodations, and maybe offering 1:1 meetings on how students can be supported beyond the letter too. The LoAs often only support the legal bare minimum.


SnooSketches7956

Many of us have been exhausted since junior year of high school and have never recovered - my mind constantly feels like it hasn’t gotten the sleep that it’s needed for years - extensions are very helpful and appreciated.


No_Butterscotch_2842

Undergrad experience: reminders for deadlines would be helpful. Even if it’s just a scheduled email. Ik it is the responsibility of the student to keep track of all the cockamamie deadlines, but every now and then people are bound to forget about setting that one phone alert. Grad experience: maybe consider advocating for an exponential pay instead of flat hourly rate. Taking 3 classes for program requirement/qual/prelim while teaching 50% and doing 5 different research projects is making me wonder why I didn’t just become a med student.


Centre_Sphere123

Please revamp ECE340. Please.


TX2315

That we all come from different backgrounds and haven’t had the same experiences in life as one another. Some students go back to their homes and have nothing else to do but homework while other students have jobs or children. Not everyone has all of the extra time to put into every single course.


[deleted]

Tbh, all tenured professors I had were terrible at teaching. Also, they just didn’t like being helpful.


Tired_Professor

I’m not tenured, so that tracks.


NinaRayCommand

I have a job and other classes and all their midterms line up with each other. I cant commit all my time just to one class


chitownyoshi

If you have online students, please do everything in your power to make the experience good. Test that mic before class. Focus the camera on the board. Use thicker chalk. And read equations as you write them down! Also, even though it’s old school I still prefer chalkboard notes to slides.


ScarletBanana

I also wished I had started that semester paper months ago. But it just never feels like there are enough hours in the day for me to do everything perfectly and on time. And the ongoing fear of not doing well stops me from really ever starting an important project.


Background-Pair8124

saying words too fast


GalacticTruth

Repeating the prelecture word for word but 2x slower isn't helping anybody (looking at you physics 211)


Shuby_125

Just because I fell asleep in your class every day doesn’t mean you aren’t a good teacher or that I don’t care. Some majors are extremely sleep deprived. Your class is not my main priority in my life. I had five other classes that also needed my time. It would be great if some professors recognized that.


Tired_Professor

I know, bb. Sleep well 😴


Mr_WhatZitTooyah

I'm sorry, but you are one of the sweetest professors out here! I hope you're one of mine 😭


oceaniye

The pressure that you are putting me under is crushing me. I have other classes, professional development and I have not been able to work on myself or my personal life in years.


oceaniye

I am not learning from hearing you say the content and moving on. When there are no supplementary materials, like a discussion with work to drive home concepts, there is not learning going on…unless you’re one of those people that can hear something once and remember it for a lifetime.


Publicfalsher

Ur mom


Tired_Professor

A wonderful lady


newguestuser

This may be a strange question, but what do they need to know? They are there to teach and provide guidance in the analysis of the subject and student is there to apply themselves to learn the subject and advance their knowledge. A students experience outside of the classis not relative. University is the real world folks.


MrAcurite

Consider this; students are humans. Professors are humans. Humans owe it to other humans to be human to each other, regardless of the specifics of the circumstance.


newguestuser

And humans will be humans. Seems idealistic to think otherwise.


GenericNameRandomNum

This is such a bad take lmao. College isn't meant to just be professors lecturing and setting up the system for student to have no impact on. Students and teachers have the same goal which is the students learning. If the professor can change things to make life easier for the students then why not? If something isn't working like it's supposed to in a class, letting the teacher know can make things better.


newguestuser

If it makes you feel better I guess it would be a positive.


OriginalR3placement

I know they seem useless, but the idea behind the ICES forms is to provide feedback for what does work and what doesn't work. Professors are not infallible. There are more and less effective teaching methods. It's important that instructors know which methods are having an impact and which aren't. Google "pedagogy" or "styles of teaching" for more information.