A virus is running rampant on campus. And not just among students.
In the journalism profession, they call it “failure to meet deadline.”
The issue is lateness. Why do people show up late? At the retail job I worked at for eight years, the reason was burnout.
Maybe this is why so many professors here at University of Texas at Arlington show up 5-15 minutes late every day.
How many students have the patience to tolerate that?
In Spring ‘95, I knew a student was a little peeved.
“Oh, god,” said the woman next to me as our professor strolled in 15 minutes late.
“Problem?” I asked.
“I had this guy last semester, and he was late every day,” she said. I cringed!
The same thing happened on the first day of summer II this year. I showed up for class at 8 a.m. and all three of us waited for the instructor to show up.
At 8:15 a.m., he did show up, only to tell us what I already assumed. The class may not make its enrollment, and we may have to drop for a refund in the next couple of days.
Why is it mandatory to be on time for your job?
Until recently, I always knew it was a job requirement. It enhances responsibility. It proves to your employers that you want to work, even though deep down, you would rather be elsewhere.
As my boss once said, timeliness is going to play a key role in our evaluations this month.
Showing up on time, however, means something else.
“It’s a courtesy to your co-workers,” said my weekend IT support manager. “Remember, when you’re scheduled to be here, someone else is waiting to leave or go to lunch.”
I do not have a cure to make instructors show up to class on time. All I care about is passing the class so I can be closer to graduating.
The next time, however, I show up late for class and get counted as absent, and the instructor drops my grade five points, I am not going to waste my time contesting the matter. I will tell he or she they were late to class almost every day this semester. I was late twice and had good reasons for it.
“What’s your excuse,” I will ask.
©8/30/96
In the journalism profession, they call it “failure to meet deadline.”
The issue is lateness. Why do people show up late? At the retail job I worked at for eight years, the reason was burnout.
Maybe this is why so many professors here at University of Texas at Arlington show up 5-15 minutes late every day.
Having come from a community college and another four-year university, whenever an instructor failed to show up within ten minutes of class, one of three things happened.“Don’t worry, he’ll show up,” someone told me.
The students left. Or someone from the head office would tell us the teacher was not coming. Or a note would be on the blackboard saying, “No class today.”
The UTA tradition seems to be just the opposite. When professors do not show up within the first five minutes, students do not leave.
How many students have the patience to tolerate that?
In Spring ‘95, I knew a student was a little peeved.
“Oh, god,” said the woman next to me as our professor strolled in 15 minutes late.
“Problem?” I asked.
“I had this guy last semester, and he was late every day,” she said. I cringed!
The same thing happened on the first day of summer II this year. I showed up for class at 8 a.m. and all three of us waited for the instructor to show up.
At 8:15 a.m., he did show up, only to tell us what I already assumed. The class may not make its enrollment, and we may have to drop for a refund in the next couple of days.
Why is it mandatory to be on time for your job?
Until recently, I always knew it was a job requirement. It enhances responsibility. It proves to your employers that you want to work, even though deep down, you would rather be elsewhere.
As my boss once said, timeliness is going to play a key role in our evaluations this month.
Showing up on time, however, means something else.
“It’s a courtesy to your co-workers,” said my weekend IT support manager. “Remember, when you’re scheduled to be here, someone else is waiting to leave or go to lunch.”
I do not have a cure to make instructors show up to class on time. All I care about is passing the class so I can be closer to graduating.
The next time, however, I show up late for class and get counted as absent, and the instructor drops my grade five points, I am not going to waste my time contesting the matter. I will tell he or she they were late to class almost every day this semester. I was late twice and had good reasons for it.
“What’s your excuse,” I will ask.
©8/30/96
