They've got a complaints commissioner...
Well what's the goss?
I have a meeting with a university complaints commissioner in Launceston on Monday. That is still to do with our wonderful Heat Transfer lecturer. I penned a letter expressing my dissatisfaction at his actions. The result of said letter was that our marks were doctored so that virtually everybody passed. That was a good start, but there was nothing to admit any wrong-doing on the part of the lecturer, there was nothing to suggest that there would not be a repeat performance. As a direct result of that, I submitted a formal complaint to the university just before new years. It is worth noting that the university website is well equipped to deal with complaints. The up-shot is that I have a meeting with a bloke by the name of Maurice Todd.
It's all a bit scary, because my complaint has the power to completely discredit the lecturer - a professor who has been at UTAS for the last 30 years. By the same token, someone who has been there for that long is a) surely close to retirement and b) set in their ways. And if their ways aren't good, it's probably a good thing for them to get a tap on the shoulder.
However.
There have been ongoing complaints against this lecturer since I have known of his existence, back in second year. The year above me had one of their subjects rejigged so that people would pass because nobody passed the exam. Similar things happened for the class below us. And my class... well things weren't pretty. I get the feeling that nobody has actually bothered with a formal complaint to date, because all the people that care enough were happy enough with the (scaled) mark that they received in the end.
I don't want it to happen again. The faculty of engineering appears to be too gutless to make the necessary changes, but one way or another, I intend to see a change for the better, to leave the uni in a better state than I found it. Gee, that is a moral high horse, isn't it? Oh well.
I also went for a dive today. Couldn't get hold of any abalone, but I speared 4 trumpeter (I'm a master of the gut shot, except for one, whose head I mauled with one sweet strike) and Nicolas got 3. It made my Saturday worthwhile.
I have a meeting with a university complaints commissioner in Launceston on Monday. That is still to do with our wonderful Heat Transfer lecturer. I penned a letter expressing my dissatisfaction at his actions. The result of said letter was that our marks were doctored so that virtually everybody passed. That was a good start, but there was nothing to admit any wrong-doing on the part of the lecturer, there was nothing to suggest that there would not be a repeat performance. As a direct result of that, I submitted a formal complaint to the university just before new years. It is worth noting that the university website is well equipped to deal with complaints. The up-shot is that I have a meeting with a bloke by the name of Maurice Todd.
It's all a bit scary, because my complaint has the power to completely discredit the lecturer - a professor who has been at UTAS for the last 30 years. By the same token, someone who has been there for that long is a) surely close to retirement and b) set in their ways. And if their ways aren't good, it's probably a good thing for them to get a tap on the shoulder.
However.
There have been ongoing complaints against this lecturer since I have known of his existence, back in second year. The year above me had one of their subjects rejigged so that people would pass because nobody passed the exam. Similar things happened for the class below us. And my class... well things weren't pretty. I get the feeling that nobody has actually bothered with a formal complaint to date, because all the people that care enough were happy enough with the (scaled) mark that they received in the end.
I don't want it to happen again. The faculty of engineering appears to be too gutless to make the necessary changes, but one way or another, I intend to see a change for the better, to leave the uni in a better state than I found it. Gee, that is a moral high horse, isn't it? Oh well.
I also went for a dive today. Couldn't get hold of any abalone, but I speared 4 trumpeter (I'm a master of the gut shot, except for one, whose head I mauled with one sweet strike) and Nicolas got 3. It made my Saturday worthwhile.
posted by BSJ-rom at 10:23 pm
3 Comments:
Keep us posted on how it goes mate. Good on you for doing something about the stuff at Uni.
wow! that's pretty full on jerome. Obviously I've had the 'heat transfer lecturer' for the last 3 years and you're right about not bothering to put in a formal complaint, most people see it as too much hassle. I hope the meeting goes well. It would be sad, however, to ruin his reputation. I know he doesn't relate to students very well, but he knows his stuff, and he does an ok job at teaching his unit... i'm in mixed opinons on this topic. Let me know how it progresses.
Jono H
Thanks for the comment Jono.
I was talking to my supervisor at work the other day and mentioned that I had put in the complaint. His position was that "back in his day" he was one of the better lecturers because you "knew what you were going to get". My supervisor is one of those guys that just dominate exams and probably hasn't scored less than 95 in a subject in his life... (I might add that he wasn't one the one that told me that and he is in fact one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet), but I feel that his style of teaching is really not too much of a problem if you are a memory machine.
I suppose the issues have just reached a critical mass where I am complaining officially about the really bad things that are simply unacceptable as well as the things that are things that could be done better. If, for example, the exam had all the questions that I had been expecting, I wouldn't have complained about his teaching style, his absence for our tutorial and the fact that he hasn't returned any of our work.
I have heard - not from the lecturer - that our pracs are available for collection, but they must be collected in person during office hours. In office hours, I'm completing my course requirements in George Town. For starters, it should have been the professor who emailed everyone to tell us that our labs had been marked, and secondly, he should have done it before our exam.
I really agree with you that he knows his stuff. He's a very bright cookie and as a result, he really should know better.
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