<p>Hey y'all. So a bunch of my classmates and I are by no means happy with how one professor went about teaching our UGS class. It was his first time teaching that signature course and it was (to say the least) hell. He settled on a textbook 2 weeks into the semester and changed the syllabus 3 times. 3 weeks before the semester ended he piled on 2 tests, 1 research paper, 1 short essay, the promised extra credit paper, and of course... the final. Here we are, on the eve of the final and via email @ approximately 8:20, he changed the syllabus yet again. In his change he royally screwed a bunch of us who had understood that 565 points would be an A; his change made 609 points an A. Therefore, anyone who thought they were safe with their grade got a rude awakening with barely enough time to study for the 9am final tomorrow. Also, to my understanding, he never got the class to evaluate him.</p>
<p>Anyways, long story short. Does anyone know how to go speak to the Dean. Further, WHICH dean?</p>
<p>msolo45, do you mind telling us what UGS you’re in and who your professor is? As for dealing with the professor, I would suggest you speak with an Ombudsperson. She will act as a middleman between you and the professor and will gage the situation and act accordingly. This is what the Office of the Ombudsperson is for and I highly recommend you look into it.</p>
<p>Also, for UGS courses there is a special office at the basement level of the Flawn Academic Center (FAC) next to the Liberal Arts career services center, check it out and tell them your problem.</p>
<p>When you go to meet with someone about the instructor, be sure to take copies of all the revised syllabi, emails, etc. That will make it clear that the issue is not just about personality conflicts. Encourage other students to schedule meetings too.</p>
<p>You might want to talk to the head of the department - that’s what I did one time. In my case, it didn’t do any good (the guy basically said, “Well, you have to work hard in Physics!”), but that would be your best bet. I’m sorry your class is going through this.</p>
<p>I dont want to cause any problems for him by putting him on blast… so if anyone wants to know the professor and class I will gladly PM you. Thank you everyone for replying. I got a group of 7 people total to come with me.</p>
<p>It’s required by law that a professor posts his/her syllabus on the UT website. I am not sure if that also means a finalized, non-tentative, syllabus. Your best bet is to talk to the professor directly to see what his intentions are. If that doesn’t work, get ahold of the Dean ASAP. Maybe he updated the syllabus to clarify that 565 points is an “A-” and 609 points is an “A”. Nonetheless, I hope the final went well…</p>
<p>Also, if you felt that piling stuff on at the end of the semester is rough (I agree) then why didn’t you take it up with him five weeks ago or whenever he assigned the stuff?</p>
<p>I would check the first syllabus. I remember one of my professors telling my class that the last line on the syllabus gave him the right to adjust the syllabus in the future. If the professor put something along those lines on the syllabus, you might be out of luck. Good luck though.</p>
<p>I believe that a professor has to put how many tests or projects he will have during the course of the year. So when you are a month away from finals and you realize that you still have to take 2 tests and a final report due, that should ring a bell to get ahold of your professor and get things straightened out.</p>
<p>@ampzor, he didn’t assign any of the writing assignments till the last 3 weeks. Everyone thought he forgot but no… the class was just so disorganized and a nightmare.</p>
<p>I’m very sorry to hear that you had this kind of experience in your class. I’ve had wacky and unorganized professors before, but nothing ever that bad. I hope you feel like you managed to do well enough on your final to get a decent grade in the class. I would take some of the advice from one of the previous posters and approach the Ombudsman of the University as a group. Unfortunately the university setting is not always the best at being able to teach. Particuarly when an academic is being paid by the school to produce scholarly research and not teach.</p>
<p>If you had a terrible chemistry class by a disorganized teacher, you could at least present an organized summary of what happened to the chair of the chemistry department, and that chair would be likely to care. It doesn’t work that way for UGS classes. The people over in the School of UGS
[People</a> | School of Undergraduate Studies](<a href=“Leadership | TEXAS Undergraduate Studies”>Leadership | TEXAS Undergraduate Studies)
likely have very little relationship to the faculty member who taught your UGS class.</p>
<p>If you wanted to talk to a Dean, though, I think you would talk to Paul Woodruff, Dean of Undergraduate Studies. The Dean of Students would not be particularly useful for academic issues like this.</p>
<p>In the end, I didn’t take the final because it wouldn’t have made me get a better a grade. Everyone was upset but we didn’t get a chance to talk to a dean. However, the professor no longer teaches that course (it is being offered but by another professor). </p>
<p>I’m still confused about the whole student evaluation of the professor. I’m pretty sure it never happened and I thought they had to have it done?</p>