Successful Meetings with College Professors
How to Ensure a Positive Outcome during Office Hour Conversations
Apr 14, 2009
A student studies hard for an exam only to find a less than desired grade; a well-written paper – from the student perspective, is given a grade below expectations. What might make it worse, there are no comments or suggestions for improvement. As soon as this happens, students should determine the professor’s office hours and make an appointment. This should be done after the first unexpected grade to avoid hearing, “I wish you had come to see me sooner.” At that point it might be too late to raise an average or drop the course.
Meeting with the Professor
Although some students may view a personal office visit with a professor as intimidating, it should not be. In most cases, professors – and TAs, will gladly give their time to help a sincere student seeking guidance and direction. If, however, the professor is self-absorbed and treats such meetings with disdain or as an inquisitional tribunal, it might be better to drop the course and retake it with someone else.
Treating the meeting professionally is highly important. Students should:
- Plan ahead for the meeting mentally
- Organize all relevant documents like exams, papers, or essays for the meeting
- Dress appropriately – not sloppy or disheveled
- Be on time
- Thank the professor for agreeing to meet
- Have a list of questions prepared before the meeting time
- Keep the meeting strictly focused on the salient issues
- Avoid confrontational language
- Be polite yet firm in seeking answers
- Take brief notes (this demonstrates a serious response to given recommendations)
- After receiving commentary, ask if the paper or essay can be rewritten
- Regardless of the outcome, thank the professor for their time
Meeting with professors is much like a job or college interview. It is all about impressions. Whether the class is large or small, the professor’s initial impressions of individual students were formed within the mix of many people. The one-on-one meeting enables students to demonstrate genuine interest in the course and a sincere request for constructive assistance. New, more lasting impressions are formed.
Follow-up and Rehabilitation
Students should demonstrate in future assignments that they followed the professor’s advice. If the professor suggested tutoring, the student should determine what tutoring services are offered by the college. If the research paper or essay lacked sufficient sources and the professor suggested specific improvements, i.e., “fewer internet citations and more books sources;” “a more tightly focused thesis,” etc., the student should strive to complete the next assignment clearly demonstrating those improvements.
Many professors like to see such definite improvements and this may give the student the “benefit of the doubt” if the final grade hinges on one or two points. At the same time, students that continue in earlier patterns earn scorn from an educator who concludes that the meeting was a waste of time. Establishing a good relationship with the professor should be as much a part of the course goals as the information learned or the number of credits received.
When arranging meetings, students should always take notice that a professor’s time is dear, all the more on today’s campuses where professors are being asked to teach more courses and add other responsibilities in the wake of budget cuts and staff furloughs. Hence, the importance of a constructive meeting is all the more important with outcomes that reflect success.
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