Is there a way to complain about a professor?

Applying to College
1

Hey guys sorry if I put this in the wrong forum but I’m just curious, is there a way to file a complaint on a professor?

My reason for my complaint is that in my pre-calc class, we started with a little more than 40+ students. After the drop deadline we were left with 7 students. Every student but 1 was failing the class the whole semester and many of us went to tutoring and office hours but still failed. I’m not complaining that I failed but I’m complaining that the professor does not do his job properly. He will teach us chapters from the textbook like any professor; however, he will test on things that are not mentioned in the textbook. The problems he does teach, he never finishes the problem because “it is to simple” for him to show us and when we ask, he talks for 5 minutes explaining why it’s a waste of his time to solve the problem.

The 7 students that were left took the final today and 6 of us failed and 1 got a barely passing grade… He tells us it is our fault for not understanding the concepts that he never taught sadly /;

I’m curious is this just me complaining that I failed or can he really get in trouble for this?? I have evidence as I record many of his lectures in which he discusses how he wants the answers and when we put it on the exams he marks us off. Like I said, I’m not mad about receiving my failing grade but I’m mad for the reason I got the failing grade if that makes sense lol

Thanks in advance guys!

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Your first step would be to discuss this with the department chair. You can go up the ladder from there (dean, provost, etc.) What result you will get is anyone’s guess. You don’t say whether this professor is tenured, on the tenure track, or an adjunct. That can make a big difference. If the professor is tenured, don’t expect much. If he is one of the other two, the department will be paying attention to student retention so someone may be aware of this issue already. Do students complete evaluations? Again, their weight/influence depends on the particular institution and the professor’s position within that institution.

To sum up, it is worth making an effort to raise the issue, but no one can tell you what the result will be.

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Also, if your school has a rating system or survey given to students, provide feedback in those. Also, I would recommend writing a fair review on a third-party professor review site frequented by college students scheduling classes.