Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

BP348 :eek:

Yes, that's right!!! The Sociology department at my school is way understaffed and someone with some really faulty thinking skills decided that offering a instructor position to me would be the thing to do. It's only a 1201 intro course but hey someone has to teach it.

I'm still kind of in shock. This semester looks like a write off as far as doing anything towards my masters. They were only scheduled to have one elective I haven't taken, which would have been great as I only need 1 elective and my 2 thesis courses, but due to the shortage in instructor they canceled the class.

The money's not great and it's going to be tough changing my schedule around but it should be good for my resume and a lot of fun.

Ros,
Any advice?

Ros,
Any advice?

1. Have anything you expect of them (assignments, research papers, etc.) listed in the syllabus, including due dates. That way if they "forget" or say you never mentioned it, you've already got a CYA.

2. Be consistent with your policies in class (breaks, acceptance of late work and what is required for excuses on absences, etc.).

3. If someone is absent and has a medical emergency (or any other emergency), have them bring you documentation, and keep this on file. I've known of one student who had the same mom die twice in one term. :rolleyes:

4. This is my personal style (so you don't have to copy), but I like my classes to be interactive, more discussion than just me lecturing. Also, if you use war stories in the class, see if you can relate it in a way that the experience is similar to others' experiences that they can share.

Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any questions. Always glad to help a bro out. Congrats on the gig!

Ros,

Thanks for the advice!!!

Unfortunately I guess I jumped the gun. I received a call to day from the Department Chair and he informed me that while he did not have any concerns his boss and the dean of the department had concerns about weather or not I would be able to attend each scheduled class session.

I mean I've only had to skip 2 mandatory meetings and inform them that I wouldn't be able to attend class on the 2nd scheduled day :rolleyes:

So it has been decided that they would find someone else to teach the class.

I'm not angry as I understand their concerns but I am really bummed out!!! I was really looking forward to teaching the class.

The good news is they considered you. That's huge in a sociology department ;-)

As far as missing class . . . if you are on 16 week semesters (or anything more than 8) I doubt that had too much impact on their decision.

Keep pushing it, periodic Instructor positions lead to the ability to share the real world with academia!