Good college students want to learn from good professors. That is why so many of us conduct extensive research into Southwestern College faculty and plan our schedules to get certain teachers.
So imagine the feeling when we enter the classroom on the first day and see someone else standing at the front.
A last-minute switch in faculty is an academic slap to the face. Teaching style and class organization are essential to a student’s success within a course, so staffing is as valuable to a student as a spot on the waitlist. Opinions and ratings that reveal teachers grading and lecture style, as well as aspects of personality, are important. These characteristics help a student to make informed choices. By basing decisions specific to academic and learning preferences, we can learn more and earn better grades.
Fighting for spots in classrooms, with waitlists commonly into the double digits, students often work hard and plan ahead to get favored teachers because their sections fill up the fastest. It is not only a crushing disappointment to lose the professor we wanted to study with, it can also affect our grades and our futures. Some professors have unique skills and experiences, not to mention industry and academic contacts we may need.
Ciara Yegin, 20, a biochemistry major, had two unannounced faculty switches this semester.
Yegin was left with an instructor unfamiliar to the school. She said the complications stemming from the adjunct’s inexperience with the SWC system made for a rocky beginning to the semester.
“Class was not run smoothly,” she said.
Difficulties such as these are avoidable.
Beverly Stretch, 22, a chemistry major, said she has experienced staff switches in four different classes during her time here at SWC. These inconveniences have left Stretch feeling apprehensive towards the registration process, she said.
“I try to look at all the possibilities of classes for my schedule and never take a class where I know absolutely nothing abqout the instructor, due to my past experiences,” she said. “I take an active approach in knowing what to expect from my teachers before I take the course.”
Stretch, like other students, recognizes the importance of professors to the collegiate journey.
“I have my aims set on certain types of teachers that I know I will learn a lot from,” she said. “College in itself isn’t an easy ride, but having instructors that are easy to understand and are truly there for their students make a big difference.”
These silent switches rob students of academic satisfaction, leaving some, like Stretch, feeling agitated and forced to “accept the changes without a say in the process.”
Maybe SWC needs to start making adjustments that foster strong academics rather than cost cutting. Universities often put stellar professors in large auditoriums so hundreds of students can benefit. Teaching assistants grade papers and help manage the large classes. Maybe it’s time to put professors-in-demand in Mayan Hall.
California community colleges are starting to pressure students to transfer in two years. F grades and W’s are no longer tolerated. Sometimes, though staffing is everything. Certain professors are a bad match. SWC needs to respect that and be consistent in its catalogue listings.
Bait and switch is illegal in the world of commerce. Southwestern College should have the same standards.
