<p>Hand holding came up in another thread as an off-topic comment about LAC schools. Some took offense to the comment. </p>
<p>As I just got back with my junior from the circuit of LAC schools, this 'hand holding' thing did hit home. Certainly I love to hear a school tell you that professors will know you individually and care about your development. I liked that they said that professors will give you their cell phone and home numbers and even be on Facebook. What made me cringe is Admission Officers or tour guides saying with pride that if you are not in class you may get an e-mail or a phone call from the professor asking where you are. What? </p>
<p>If I were a professor, my expectations are that the STUDENT will take charge of their own time management. My expectations is that if they are missing from class it is for a very valid reason. If not, short of being in need of critical care, my expectations would be that the student would communicate with ME, not the other way around.</p>
<p>I don't expect that an entering college freshman is an adult. I do expect that this is the time they transition to being an adult. It seems to me that 'hand holding' sets up lower expectations for them which can only meet those expectations. That a school would actually promote this to parents and prospective students seems to me to be a very sad commentary.</p>
<p>As someone at a university that’s described as LAC-like, I can tell you that’s never happened to me or any of my friends. I have gotten an email letting me know about a change in the syllabus or an assignment that was announced in class when I wasn’t there, but I’ve never had to supply anyone with an excuse for not going to class and they wouldn’t care anyway.</p>
<p>In fact, I have a professor who routinely calls people in the class to apologize when she’s running late to class, but I’ve never had someone call me and ask where I was or anything like that.</p>
<p>I go to an LAC where professor/student relations are very close. I regularly go to my professors’ offices just to have a conversation about something unrelated to the class. But if you miss class, no one will ask where you were. Well… one professor I had was naive and would be genuinely concerned if you didn’t show up, thinking you were sick. But that was all.</p>
<p>And even ^ seems a little hand-holdy. At the beginning of almost every class I’ve taken, the professor says something along the lines of, “Don’t you DARE come to me after you’ve missed a class to ask what you’ve missed. It’s your responsibility to get that from a classmate.”</p>
<p>It is a unique part of American culture, that one has to set out on one’s own and become independent after a certain time in one’s life, and leave behind familial ties and obligations, or else fear being looked down upon and pooh-poohed by a society that encourages selfishness and an every-man-for-himself mentality.</p>
<p>Professors call delinquent students, because at a special place like Amherst or Williams, where every student is supposedly intellectually passionate and personally exceptional, they care about these students’ well-being and growth.</p>
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<p>This is a foolishly optimistic given. However, you expect too much of college-aged students, with your pretentious condescension, Professor ctyankee. A lot of kids that I know, who are having the time of their lives drinking themselves ****faced every school night at places like Columbia and Harvard, can sleep through an entire semester of classes, then panic at those precious last moments before a gradebreaking midterm because none of their professors, TAs, or classmates are willing to help them with the material.</p>
<p>LACs afford young men and women an extraordinary amount of intellectual independence and personal freedom. However, there will be occasions when these students will stray and, perhaps, get into some bad business. It’s comforting to know that your mentors and the administrators at your college are willing to work with you, and CARE about you enough to make sure you get back on the right track.</p>
<p>While I think kwu’s example is a bit extreme and crazy, I think the overall point is this:</p>
<p>We need to create spaces where students can fail and succeed. Success means nothing if we make it impossible for you to make mistakes, however, we don’t have to let those mistakes become so burdensome that you are unwilling to take risks and move away from your comfort zone. Having the right balance between giving students responsibility to fail or succeed and providing students with the resources to be successful is important.</p>
<p>In the end, I want the environment that’s going to keep me on my toes and force me to learn the most possible-- part of that is that personal attention, but part of that is also the responsibility aspect.</p>
<p>I was out for a week last semester. 1 professor called me, 1 sent me an email. i think if they could, they would give you a gold star instead of marks. =).</p>
<p>If I were out for a week, I’d expect an email, mostly to find out if I dropped the course or if there was something more serious going on that they should know about.</p>
<p>Well, if you expect to be out for as long as a week, you should probably have the courtesy to e-mail all of your professors, especially if all of your classes are 12-25 students, as mine are. And, especially if you are expected to present on a topic or if class discussion partly depends on a written contribution that you might not be able to prepare.</p>
<p>I myself was out the past week due to a medical concern. I had e-mailed my professors and my class dean before taking leave. All of the former offered to meet with me this coming week to review material one-on-one and to talk about my condition. The latter offered to make arrangements so that campus life would be as pleasant for me as it was before my upset.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call that “hand-holding,” I would call it being generous and understanding.</p>
<p>Some people on this thread are confusing “hand-holding” with accountability. </p>
<p>My son goes to a very good LAC and he in fact described to me witnessing a Professor deftly handling a “missing student” situation. “Hey, anyone know where Joe is? No? Anyone have Joe’s number on their cell? (Student says yes.) Let me borrow your cell, would you? (Dials Joe.) Hey Joe, actually it’s not Bill, it’s Professor Jones. Yeah, you weren’t in class and we were worried about you. Everything okay? Oh it did? Yeah, alarm clocks are like that. So we’ll see you soon? Great.”</p>
<p>If that’s too big brotherly for you, as smallcollegesftw said, go somewhere the Professors and the school are too distracted or too cynical to care if you’re in class or not. And if you decide to go to a LAC anyway and your reason for not being in class is good enough, you shouldn’t fear being held accountable for not being there.</p>
<p>Is this part of the educational mission? You bet. Want to know what happens if you don’t show up at work one day? You can be damn sure you are going to get a call, except it’s going to be a lot less pleasant than the one from Professor Jones. Welcome to adulthood.</p>
Omg, a week as in two consecutive lectures. I was sick. Give me a break. =).<br>
But it was weird to receive random phone call from your professor. </p>
<p>Me: “Uhm, who is this?”
Prof: “It’s me, first name”
Me: “First name who? I’m sorry I don’t recognize the number.”
Prof: “I teach <em>**”
Me: “#)</em><em>@)</em>@) cough **<em>(U#(</em>#@J cough <em>#</em>@)) sniff *(#@( cough”</p>
<p>Congratulations ctyankee, it sounds like you are growing up and taking responsibility for your actions. I am impressed with your maturity and your ability to realize that it is you and not the professor that is responsible for your success. Some people don’t come to this realization until after they are working their first job out of college.</p>
<p>You might cringe when you hear about professors calling a student to see why they were not in class. But that is part of the culture at liberal arts colleges. Think about it, if you are in a class with about 12 people and you are missing for a class or two the professors might worry because they have a bond with their students. It might evoke a feeling of “*** this is college!” But, nonetheless it is better to have a professor call you who cares about your education(slightly) than a professor who has no clue who you are.</p>
<p>I definitely have no issues with “hand-holding” or whatever it is LAC and LAC-like college supporters call it. </p>
<p>What I take issue with is when certain people deem this method as superior to the research university method. These are two sets of teaching skills and each type of school has its positive and negatives for each individual. I think it is stupid to just label Amherst as a better place for undergrads than Uchicago or Columbia simply because of the aforementioned methods. Each student should be able to figure out what is the suitable method for him or herself. Neither method is the best or the most correct method as a whole.</p>
<p>Our D1 is at a hand-holding LAC, and D2 is at a hands-off big U, both thriving. D1 appreciates the mentorship advantages that close attention brings. D2 craves the independence and broader options she has. You just have to choose which set of advantages best fit your own learning style.</p>