Syllabus Week

Ah, syllabus week. That wonderful first week of school when the class routine consists of showing up, calling role, handing out the course syllabus, and enduring the indignity of having the syllabus read aloud to you by the course professor.

Sadly, all but one of my classes began in this wasteful and most insulting of fashions.

Once–and just once–I had a professor do this:

“Hello, class. My name is Trevor Douglas. Here’s the course syllabus. You’re all literate people, I trust (if you’re not, this isn’t the class for you), so read this on your own time.”

And then he began lecturing. It was amazing. The down side, however, is that ever since, when I’ve shown up on the first day and the Prof has wasted the class period reading the syllabus aloud to us, I’ve been thoroughly annoyed.

So here’s a plea, professors of the world: start your class out right. Start your class with high expectations. Don’t waste an hour of our time, then send us on our way the first week. It doesn’t engender respect for the course, and it doesn’t demonstrate respect for your students’ time. So far as I’m concerned, if I’m showing up to class, it’s because I want to learn. Please don’t disapoint.

I’m pleased to note that Professor Andy Hanssen is one such professor who respects his students time. Class started at 6:10 pm last night. By 6:15, the class was engaged in a discussion of differing models of economics. After a while, he passed out the syllabus, mentioned a few of its salient points, and then went right in to a lecture. Thank you, Andy. I’m looking forward to your class.