oh my good hell. what a pompous dick!! as i continued to read this post, my eyes just kept widening ever more with each word. i canNOT believe he went ahead and said that it was YOUR duty to help HIM!

you exercise fantastic restraint. your responses remained professional and polite throughout. you have my admiration! please do keep us informed -- i am completely riveted and can't wait to see how this thing goes!

god. what a g.d. asshole!!

Wow. All I can say is...wow.

I'm with the History Enthusiast. Just wow.

I've always been surprised at the attitudes of some of my fellow students. I really appreciated your responses to the jerk student. After one of my classes lost a top notch teacher because she didn't want to deal with being told how she should run her class (and rightfully so-she could get a job anywhere), I've tried to make sure to say something to the offensive person or whoever they have complained to in the department. I grew up around academia, and it was firmly reinforced by my parents that you treat all people in your academic environment with the utmost respect. Beyond the whole general respect one other thing, you never know what connections you'll need later and what the offense of disrespect will cost you.

Simply amazing.... it never ceases to amaze me how people don't think that basic courtesy and civility apply to interactions over the internets.

Good for you, Cheeky. Few people would have the balls and the sangfroid to put Mr. JerkOff in his place.

Um.... what?

Ok, I can't stop thinking about this. Its giving me a stomachache. I may need a vicodin.

I really hope that he doesn't come to your office to fight with you....

This is just so surprising . . . but then again, it isn't. It seems as if every semester or every year, students get a little more demanding, expecting good service . . because, after all, they (or their parents) are paying for it.

I really appreciate your responses. Very professional and very right. While Jerkoff doesn't realize it yet, he has so very much to learn. Maybe you have started that process for him.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!

OK, I am so sick and tired of this college being a service and students are the customer crap.

I would not let him my class becuase of his arrogance. What does this little SOB think that kind of behavior is going to get him when he goes out into the work world???

Keep us posted.

Oh my f-ing god, is that unbelievable! What a complete idiot. I can totally imagine having a student like that here at my U. I got an email from a student begging to force-add my class after the deadline. He wasn't obnoxious, but I ignored it because it's just too late now. I cannot even imagine what "JerkOff" is thinking. Good lord...

Holy. Crap. That is just UNBELIEVABLE.

seriously, what the fuck is wrong with this kid?!?! i hope someday he asks for a letter of rec from one of these profs. that would be so fun.

I'll echo Professor A (and the History Enthusiast): wow.

Holy crap! I can totally believe the email he sent, and his replies. What I cannot believe is that he has enough free time to spend it tracking down profs so he can puff up his chest and keep asserting his essential, uncritical correctness. Has he never heard that cliche - you get more bees with honey, blah blah? The way a person delivers a message is so crucial. That's why advertising is or isn't successful, duh. That's why drs have to get trained in how to tell someone they've been diagnosed with cancer. That's why Bush & his friends have collective talking points. Duh. I can't believe he would argue that delivery doesn't matter, and I can't believe he would suggest that it is a prof's job to monitor their wait list and inform him (a stranger) of openings.

I got e-mails like this at least once a semester from students. Usually they were enrolled in my class and then lied on course evaluations about a litany of wrongs I committed at the end of the semester.

While you may see this as perhaps extreme, does your University have some sort of honor code that has been violated? If so, turn him in. Seriously. A letter from a disciplinary committee explaining how his behavior is inappropriate might do wonders.

The again, he might just decide to get revenge. Cuz you know he's probably nuts, don't you? Every single student who's taken this attitude with me has always revealed some lack of attachment to reality...

Good luck in the fight for dignity, respect, and common courtesy,

You totally rock. Not only did you answer his question, but you are actually trying to teach him how to function like a human. I LOVED your responses. BRILLIANT! Nice work.

I imagine he wants to talk with you to try to convince you that he's write. Lost cause, dude. He should check himself by sharing this exchange with one of his friends or something so one of his peers can clue him into how patient you're actually being with him and then he can lay off...

To me, the best part is that young Mr. Jerkoff is attempting to lecture a professor of [your discipline] ... about ... [social interaction]. Clearly he has a desperate need to take your class.

Since he has already couched your relationship in terms of customer and service provider, perhaps he will be receptive to the concept of tipping.

Woots and cheers are heard across the country for your noble efforts, Cheeky. Keep up the good work: bitchslapping respect into one student at a time!

I can't stand the next generation...seriously. I don't know a single person who, 15 years ago, would have even thought to do something like that, much less cop the attitude of entitlement you were subjected to.

Then again, we didn't have email and it would have required too much energy to actually go to the professor's office during his/her office hours. :)

I bet one of his parents told him to send you the initial email.

I join in the praise of your poise and righteous persistence. I wonder, would it be in your best interest to have your Chair present if/when the student meets with you? Having some administrative-type present might decrease the chances of this asshat taking his inappropriate indignation to the "higher-ups."

Not that you should fear that happening. It's just that it might be nice to +see+ him thwarted.

Keep on!
(from the former lucyrain)

Suh-weet! I can't WAIT to see how this guy gets along in the business world! I can't believe he doesn't understand that YOU'RE the one in power, and that if he isn't nice to you, you aren't going to tell him whether or not there's an opening in your class. Good lord. This guy has a lot to learn about social interaction, regardless of the sphere.

OMG! What a f-ing pompous ASSHOLE!!!!!

Wow. That kid has some serious issues.

I'm trying to figure out how this asshat made it to his junior year without so much as one functioning stem cell.

Wow, I really hope his boss kicks him in the nads when he gets his first job. Unfortunately, people like that never think anything is their fault and they are very unlikely to change.

On behalf of all reasonably functioning everywhere, thank you for at least attempting to put that guy in his place.

K.

I am *so* annoyed by students who treat us like customer service representatives. Reminds of a time early in my teaching career when a student, not as rude as JackOFF, came to my office hours during the penultimate week of the quarter to ask me how he, after ten weeks of jacking-off, could "do something extra" to improve his grade. And I quote: "I really need to 4.0 this class." As if! I should've told me, "get out ASAP" b/c you're wasting my time. But, of course, I worry about student complaints because I work for a University that often "has the back" of students more than it should. Oh well. Love the post -- and your blog.

Great responses! You have to wonder what gave him such an extreme and dysfunctional sense of his own importance. He won't get it until he gets fired for this attitude some time.

I have been teaching at the University level for 10 years and I am continually appalled by this incoming generation of students. I ignore emails like this and plead ignorance unless the student comes to my scheduled office hours - email is a fringe benefit for students and if it's whiney it goes into the delete file. If he or she wants special consideration, they need to show me respect right off the top.

Next goal: teaching the little savages to open doors for professors and TAs who are laden down with course materials. It's a serious reality that many of these 'speshul generation' knobs haven't been taught the most basic of manners. Woe to their future employers.

Great responses, Cheeky!

What is lost to this student is that he is asking for a favor!?! Geez.

Hope the in-person meeting goes well.

Let the mud slinging begin because I have a completely different take on this. My daughter is a 2nd year at a competitive university. She was unable to get in one class she wanted this semester but said she would contact the prof to see if she would let her in. I said contact her during office hours? She said no, she would send her an e-mail I said not a good idea, go see her in person. This smart, polite (if I do say so myself...) kid looked genuinely puzzled. She is very used to emailing assignments and receiving feedback on assignments by email. Her professors communicate by e-mail, she and her friends communicate by email, heck she and I communicate by e-mail. Upshot, she went to the professor who allowed her to sit in until there is a slot; she just found out there is a slot and now she's in the class and is as happy as a clam. You can't blame this generation for using email, even mass emails, to communicate. Jerkoff was a bit arrogant but so are most college students. They are used to high school teachers being more responsive and invested in them and so they make assumptions that are naive and come across as arrogant. Do any of you really KNOW kids this age?

I'm afraid I experience this sort of behavior several times a year. And I'm afraid I disagree a bit with the sense of the commentators here. This student is rude, no doubt about that. Your responses were more than appropriate.

But at the moment this student doesn't appreciate the lesson because he's also desperate. At least that's the only reason I can muster to explain the last-minute blanket email, the lack of direction in his course selection, and the "directive" to reply to him about his needs response "instead of wasting time emailing friends"--which to me reads that he's retaliating for the embarrassment he feels for being, to his mind, mocked in a group reply ("I don't know who was supposed to get that message"; "not making fun of me").

What this student is attempting to do is find some leverage ("You think its inappropriate to approach a professor by their first name and I think it is inappropriate not to reply to students quickly when they need to get into a class"). And he's flunking badly ("I maybe didn't ask the best way...).

I certainly agree that it isn't the professor's "duty" to submit to his rudeness. Yet who else in this situation but the professor has the power to override class size and let students in? Students such as this one are always told "your professors will know" or told to "ask the professor" if problems arise. I offer students of this sort an explanation (in person) of how the university operates--even including a flow chart sometimes and explaining (from university policies on my desk) how much professors do. I ask who his/her adviser is and drop that person a note. I also tell students that deadlines (the "asap" here) don't work in emails (although at my university it's the official means of communication) because you cannot ensure that addressees read their email on your timetable.

When students of this sort do see me, I explain in neutral terms that emails of this sort don't work (in this case that "asap" is ambiguous; that a group email discourages timely answers at the beginning of a semester; that [as you point out] email messages may be read the wrong way). I offer that the telephone or office hour visits work much better (and faster) in achieving results. Then (with the student code of conduct on the desk) I discuss expected behavior. I wouldn't use the term "duty," of course, but duty implies deference which also implies respect. And clearly this student doesn't get that!

I'm afraid in this instance, though, your position isn't clear due to another's misunderstood response to this student.

Dear Cheekyprof,
"WHERE I BITCH SLAP A STUDENT"?
Having a bad day? I am not sure why you are so proud of yourself? I see nothing wrong with the first email. Kind of a novel way of covering as many bases as he could. As opposed to putting hat in hand and going around trying to find all these teachers to beg for a signature. And I am sure just trying to find teachers would be a problem. As to "ASAP", when did that become a dirty word? And he did end with a "thank you". I think the first teacher was out of line to tease him publicly. Then you to pick him apart after he raised to the bait. Why were you quiet the first time? Dropping and Adding is not a win-win for the student. And it can be a very negative scenario. Teachers like to have small classes, and it can be extra work on their part to catch a student up. So hind sight being 20/20, the next time you might consider a different response. the first would be to ignore, which is what you started out to do. Or respond to only him that you do or do not have an opening.

Greg

Greg:


From: JerkOff

To: A List of 15 Employers

My name is Joe Blow. If any of you has a job in CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, CIVIL ENGINEERING, or ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING let me know ASAP. Thanks.


Or:


From: JerkOff

To: A List of 15 Local Business Owners

My name is Joe Blow. If any of you has any FURNITURE, CLOTHING, HOUSEWARES or GIFT CERTIFICATES you want to donate for a raffle, let me know ASAP. Thanks.



Point being, if you want to request something special from someone, it behooves you to approach that person individually and with courtesy, not to send a blanket email without blandishments. As you recognize, admitting a student over the institutionally specified course capacity represents extra work for the professor and potentially a decrease in the overall course quality (I speak as one who teaches English Composition with a course cap of 35, and yes, I've admitted up to 42 and then felt the size truly affected my ability to teach effectively). If you're going to ask for something, why not ask in the way most likely to get a positive response? Props to Cheeky Prof for giving the student feedback he could utilize (though it doesn't look as though he's utilizing it).

hmmm...

I think we see how some of these students get created...

*bump*

Prof. Cheeky --

I'm curious: Has there been any followup contact by this student with you or Professor A?

In reading the comments on this thread, I was struck by how many times folks said things along the lines of "we professors should not be treated like customer service reps"; I agree that professors shouldn't be poorly treated, but am led to ask: Should we treat C.S. reps as many of us believe this student treated Professors Cheeky, A, et al.?