Our professor is a chill guy, he demanded a lot for our project which we heavily contributed into. On Tuesday he said that we should present our projects virtually and we set an agreed time to present it at 9pm
At 9pm he wasn’t active, and hang up on fellow groupmates who tried to call him, which he later apologized and rescheduled the presentation to Thursday
Yesterday we hit him up to check in on the set time, and he pushes it to today.
Today we hit him up again and he says “next week is fine or even the week after.
It’s frustrating, so I texted this to my groupmates, “We set a firm, confirmed date next week and communicate it to prof which after then the presentation won’t happen.”, “If the date is exceeded we drop the virtual or physical presentation, and he might have to mark the link.”
So I’ve put this into gpt and it says i shouldn’t put the alternative to signify respect to he a professor as an authority.
AITA for putting that condition?
P.S., Feel free to lmk your context: Student? Prof? Corporate?
Talk to your faculty advisor about the situation – they should be able to help you establish a clear boundary and suggest escalation options if the meetings continue to be missed or rescheduled at the last minute.
Hate to be the this guy but This
Consulting your Faculty Advisor or your Class Advisor is the perfect middle ground instead of going right to the dean; explain that it’s been delayed multiple times and your team is getting overwhelmed because it is now conflicting with your other obligations as students.
I’d understand frustration if it was solo, but this is a quadruple multiplier of frustration with a team of students who likely have different class projects and exams to wrap up the semester
ESH. Unfortunately, he’s the professor, so while his behavior is super unprofessional, he’s the one responsible for your grade. You shouldn’t be giving him ultimatums because you’re the student, and you’re expected to do the work. Do the presentation, then include this issue on his end of semester teaching review.
And if you have a professor who is not doing their job, go to their department head and explain the situation.
NTA but surely dumb. You are not in a position to give ultimatums to your professor. You cannot tell him that he has to grade you without a presentation if you don°t give one before date X. He can just; you know, _not grade you_, or _fail you_.
You need to talk to the faculty – the professor has a boss, and students likely have an advisor. _They_ can put ultimatums on him. And they can get him the help he needs – he does not sound like he’s well.
Gentle ESH. Your professor is definitely an asshole, but an ultimatum might turn out to be a disastrous move. Also, asking Aye Iye for academic/professional advice is a terrible idea.
Start by establishing a new date for the presentation. Politely note that you will no longer be available after that date.
Then, after the presentation date (whether the presentation actually happens or not), politely contact your professor’s supervisor (probably the Department Chair) and let them know that you feel it puts undue pressure on students to repeatedly reschedule a group presentation, especially as it requires multiple students to clear their scheduled on several successive dates.
ESH – you can’t just opt out of an assignment or put conditions on it just because you are frustrated. Course requirements have broader implications for your degree, program accreditation, and overall curriculum. But why is he so unreliable?? That’s super unprofessional. He needs to set a firm date and follow through. Or ask – If he’s not available, can you make a recording of the presentation and submit that instead? If he keeps blowing you off, contact the department chair or your dean.
NTA. I’m a college professor. Telling your professor you need a firm date and time so that you can plan your schedule around it is not crossing a line, imo. You can phrase it that with so many people’s schedules to consider a coordinate, it is very stressful to have to keep rescheduling.
You could offer to record your presentation and send him the recording as an alternative to a live presentation, perhaps.
This behavior on his part is…bad. I think if he cancels on you again or refuses to set a specific day and time, you should go to the department chair with your concerns. Show that person emails or other evidence of the repeated time changes.
I also wonder about the professor’s ability to just set a time whenever. On my campus, classes meet at specific days and times and you can’t require students to meet at other times. Requiring meetings at other times might interfere with another course or commitment.
And if it is an online only class, you can’t require live meetings at all. Something else to consider.
Happy to help with phrasing of emails if you like!
NTA, but it is a bad idea to get on a professor’s bad side because they pretty much have ultimate power, even if you complain to admin about it.
It is likely your prof got some personnal problem if he went as far as hang up on you on the expected presentationnday. Express your frustration and how it’s taxing of you to keep being ready for your presentation for weeks.
Do not include an ultimatum, you are not in a power position. You would not be an asshole by doing so, but you have nothing to win and much to lose.
ESH. The professor is being unprofessional, he really should provide you a set date and time. Sounds like he simply forgot about it the first time which is not great.
However, you are in no place to be making ultimatums, especially ones that could affect your classmates grades. Reach out and try to nail down a firm appointment, but be polite in your messaging. If you refuse to complete the assignment you are only hurting yourself.
Context: former student, currently in the workplace
ESH
Prof sucks for repeatedly pushing the date back with no warning.
OP sucks for consulting gpt instead of an actual person who can help them, like another member of faculty or someone in the department. Also for deciding unilaterally that if it isn’t done by x date, then it just won’t happen at all.
ESH, set that ultimatum and you’ll probably get a zero for the assignment. It’s not your place to set deadlines, you are a student, not equals.
You’re NTA for being frustrated. Whatever is going on with him, don’t let it hold you back, but also consider if this is as big an issue as you’re making it. It sounds like you want hard deadlines, and his lackadaisical attitude towards this one is resulting in some sort of stress response within you.
Setting ultimatums for anyone is a big step, and not something you should lead with.
– If waiting until next week is causing such a reaction, I would talk to my group and see if they feel the same. If so, you guys can screen record the presentation and send it to him; you can do this easily through zoom. Send it in an email, cc all group members and write “Hi professor xyz, I hope all is well. Our group was prepared to present last week. We didn’t want to lose our momentum so we filmed our presentation and have attached it to this email. We are ready to present this next week as well. Thank you, (your name)
– If you can re-channel your feelings about the situation, and your group members are ok waiting, take this time to comb through your presentation again. Make sure it’s well edited and you’ve planned what you are going to say. Practicing with your group is also super helpful.
Personally, I would choose the latter. A situation like this would stress me out too.
Context:
11+ years working in a professional setting as a clinician and program director; I completed masters earlier this year from a college with a prestigious reputation in my field.