Being a friend to students
Out school is struggling with the professional boundaries with some fo the faculty. They allow the students to call them by their first names, and send personal texts. I find this sets up a difficult dynamic as those instructors are then uncomfortable providing any sort of discipline or constructive feedback to those students. In addition, the other students pick up on who are the class favorites, and a culture is bred where students perceive unfairness. This has been difficult for me to navigate as a new faculty. Has anyone else dealt with this from a colleague? If so, how did you help change the culture?
I don't feel that this is professional at all. I will never allow students to approach me on a first name basis and you as a instructor have to be firm when first meeting with your students and letting them know your rules and what you expect from them while in the class room setting.
keep relationship business and professional at all times the liability or question that could be raise could effect the institution as a whole need never to have question as to what was said or what the contexts was within a situation.
At my institution it is also about professionalism. I was taught and still request that my students adress me in a professional manner. For me this behavior establishes the line in the sand that I am not their friend, while I will support and encourage them, I am here as their instructor and to me the student-instructor relationship should be respected and I do not allow anything to take away from that relationship. We as an institution have policies against fraternizing with the students, be it socializing outside the school environment or being their friend on Facebook, and there have situations in which disciplinary action has been taken to remedy the situation.
Hi Heidi,
Wow, this is unreal. Administration needs to put some policies in place so that a high level of professionalism is exhibited. At my institution it is all about professionalism.
Patricia Scales
