Just last week, a tenured professor looked me in the eye and told me it didn’t matter that I would be gone for a medical school interview; I’d have to drop his class because he doesn’t offer make-up midterms. Hadn’t I read the syllabus? If this were a rare occurrence, NBD. But unfortunately, I think his stance is indicative of how poorly our campus meets student needs — he’s not the only professor to give me that answer this quarter.
Take the two-pass enrollment system, which limits how many classes we can get into. This change affects our college experience way more than any A.S. election ever will (though granted, not as much as the beer prices at Porter’s). Yet before two-pass enrollment went into effect, there was no student vote to see how we felt about the change, nor were we given the choice of opting out.
As students at a massive public school, we shouldn’t expect the kind of individualized attention available at liberal arts colleges. But it’s absurd that every bio major knows there is a strict no-exception policy when it comes to getting into a full class or waiving prereqs. Extenuating circumstances and non-traditional students shouldn’t be treated as a burden that can’t be accommodated—they add diversity to our student body.
Professors and administrators can easily forget that we as students chose to attend this university. And while we technically decide what classes we take, often it’s only because some demigod administrator set up graduation requirements, scheduled the course and thus tacitly forced us to take it.
I mean, if I could change up the status quo, first I would revamp how big-lecture teachers are given their gigs. I’d maximize the number of students that can take the incredible teachers like Dr. Albizati in organic chemistry. I’d listen to students when it comes to finding out who these teachers are — a student enrolled in a teacher’s class certainly knows more about her teaching style than the people setting up class schedules. I’d reinstate in-classroom assessments and put upperclassmen on committees that decide on teaching schedules for the following year.
Next, I’d revamp our formalized student rights, which are outlined in the Student Conduct Code. A professor’s syllabus shouldn’t be treated as absolute law if it’s outright unfair to students. How professors distribute their grades might also be worth spelling out. No way does a bio student taking professors who only give 15% of their students an A have it the same as a fratstar who takes all of Dr. Magagna’s classes—a professor renowned for giving upwards of 97 percent A’s.
After all, UCSD is all about pimping out the academic experience. Maybe somebody should petition the academic senate — it’s one of our rights as students. But it won’t be me. I’m going to be busy studying on a red-eye back from my interview.