Tardy teacher myths debunked
No real rule for leaving class early
Bartholomew Klick
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Front Page
Some students believe they have PSU's official blessing to leave class early if their teacher is running late. Hidden in the depths of a rulebook no one can find, it tells how long students must wait for their instructor based on scholarly rank.
In fact, a recent informal poll of 59 students found that almost 34 percent of PSU students believe such a rule exists, and almost 50 percent of students weren't sure whether it existed or not. Fewer than 20 percent of students who took the poll responded that the rule does not exist.
No PSU student handbook was found to explain professor absenteeism in this manner, and the PSU Web site does not say that students can flee, guilt-free, after 15 minutes of waiting. On average, poll respondents said that, if no rule existed, they'd only wait 10 minutes.
Unfortunately, nothing but social courtesy prevents a professor from showing up 15 minutes late and giving a pop quiz to the people who waited.
Sean Lauderdale, associate professor in psychology, says he doesn't have an official policy for his own tardiness because he is rarely late.
"If you're going to be late, you should just cancel the class," Lauderdale said. "It's a professional courtesy for your students. I don't like it when I'm kept waiting on an appointment. Students deserve the same courtesy."
Lauderdale says he was about 15 minutes late for one class last semester, and because he was tardy, he let class out 15 minutes early in appreciation that his students had waited for him.
Not only do students feel they can leave class if a teacher is late, they feel they have a set time of when they can leave, based on a teacher's degree.
Thirty percent of the informal poll respondents wrote in an answer, giving Ph.D.s 15 minutes leeway and giving graduate assistants only a five-minute window to reach class.
A search on the Internet will quickly reveal not only that PSU has no such policy, but also myth-busting Web sites, such as www.snopes.com, have been debunking unusual policies like this since 2007.
Lauderdale offered a guess as to why so many students believe in a policy of wait times in proportion to academic rank.
"I would guess that it's something that's suggested by so many people, that it's passed into the realm of being a fact," Lauderdale said. "It's so widely shared by so many different people, that it's assumed to be true."
According to www.snopes.com, this idea has a couple rationales: "This belief serves two purposes: it provides reassurance that those who govern ... are themselves governed, and that an instructor's power ... is limited by his status as an educator, thus they need not be nearly as respectful of a teaching assistant as they must be of a full professor."
To check to see if there is such a policy in a class, check the class syllabus. It should list what do to if a professor is late for class, or a mass e-mail will be sent out when, and if, the professor can't make it to class.
In fact, a recent informal poll of 59 students found that almost 34 percent of PSU students believe such a rule exists, and almost 50 percent of students weren't sure whether it existed or not. Fewer than 20 percent of students who took the poll responded that the rule does not exist.
No PSU student handbook was found to explain professor absenteeism in this manner, and the PSU Web site does not say that students can flee, guilt-free, after 15 minutes of waiting. On average, poll respondents said that, if no rule existed, they'd only wait 10 minutes.
Unfortunately, nothing but social courtesy prevents a professor from showing up 15 minutes late and giving a pop quiz to the people who waited.
Sean Lauderdale, associate professor in psychology, says he doesn't have an official policy for his own tardiness because he is rarely late.
"If you're going to be late, you should just cancel the class," Lauderdale said. "It's a professional courtesy for your students. I don't like it when I'm kept waiting on an appointment. Students deserve the same courtesy."
Lauderdale says he was about 15 minutes late for one class last semester, and because he was tardy, he let class out 15 minutes early in appreciation that his students had waited for him.
Not only do students feel they can leave class if a teacher is late, they feel they have a set time of when they can leave, based on a teacher's degree.
Thirty percent of the informal poll respondents wrote in an answer, giving Ph.D.s 15 minutes leeway and giving graduate assistants only a five-minute window to reach class.
A search on the Internet will quickly reveal not only that PSU has no such policy, but also myth-busting Web sites, such as www.snopes.com, have been debunking unusual policies like this since 2007.
Lauderdale offered a guess as to why so many students believe in a policy of wait times in proportion to academic rank.
"I would guess that it's something that's suggested by so many people, that it's passed into the realm of being a fact," Lauderdale said. "It's so widely shared by so many different people, that it's assumed to be true."
According to www.snopes.com, this idea has a couple rationales: "This belief serves two purposes: it provides reassurance that those who govern ... are themselves governed, and that an instructor's power ... is limited by his status as an educator, thus they need not be nearly as respectful of a teaching assistant as they must be of a full professor."
To check to see if there is such a policy in a class, check the class syllabus. It should list what do to if a professor is late for class, or a mass e-mail will be sent out when, and if, the professor can't make it to class.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
cincinnati moving company
posted 3/10/10 @ 11:41 AM CST
I have heard of this rule many times and I've seen people leave class after 15 minutes if the teacher or TA doesn't show up. There are always some people who leave and some who stay, and I'm guilty of leaving after 20ish minutes too even though I always figured no formal rule probably exists. (Continued…)
jimdiggerson
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posted 6/25/10 @ 3:48 AM CST
Thanks for great and interesting news!
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