Beginning the Semester …

Hello All,

Yes, it’s been a while since I posted. But the incredible thing about being a professor is we get a fresh start every semester. And the fall semester, in many ways, is the most exciting.

For me, one of the exciting parts of right before the fall semester starts is that I get to meet and provide professional development to our incoming faculty. For the last few years, there just weren’t that many new faculty, especially of the tenured track variety. But today, I was able to meet several. I hope this is a trend that continues.

This year’s professional development workshop was also a bit different. In the past, I always talked about syllabus formation. And, today, I did as well. You can find information from prior blogs on syllabus formation here, and here.

This year, however, I was also asked to talk to faculty about how to be successful with students including office hours and grading. Now you might not think these two things have anything in common … but they do.

Firstly, each of your institutions may have some rule or expectations for you with regard to office hours and grading. Please, folks … if it’s not going to negatively impact your teaching and your students learning, appeasing administrators goes a long way. Being a professor and being in a relationship are similar … pick your battles, lest you be viewed as a griping malcontent.

But simply following the expectations may not be enough …

There are two variables associated with academic success that we should keep in mind.

Does the professor possess high expectations for his/her students?
Is the professor meeting the needs of the students?

If you are interested in learning more about how to do these two things making use of grading and office hours, the attached powerpoint “Welcome to ESU” can provide you with additional details.

I would love to hear from those of you teaching applied statistics …

What are some ways you articulate high expectations to your students?
What are some of those expectations?
How have students responded to your high expectations?
What kind of struggles have you had in meeting students’ needs?
Do you have any tips or recommendations for meeting students’ needs?

If you have answers to any of these questions, my name is Bonnie Green, and I can be found at East Stroudsburg University. I would love to hear from you.

Happy start of the semester!