College culture—a new world

Here is the problem everyone faces when they enter college. For twelve years or so, you were in school and it all felt the same: you came in, sat there for several hours (maybe moving from one room to another), then you got to eat lunch, then went back to a classroom and sat there for a few more hours before they let you go home. If you messed up, you had to face the assistant principal and your parents. And some school districts were very poorly run—they truly did not care greatly about some things. If you could get through the day without committing a felony, that was a success in their eyes.

Now, suddenly, you are in college, and all those rules have changed.

First problem: It just doesn’t feel like school.

• You spend a lot less time sitting there. Fifteen credit hours is a pretty standard load for freshmen, which means that you might be in class only three or four hours per day. It is too easy to feel like the rest of the day is vacation time.
• Homework means “HOMEwork.” You will never have a class session devoted to catching up on your reading or writing. The best scheduling advice (which I have heard dozens of times) is to budget two hours of homework for every hour you sit in class. Let’s do the arithmetic. If you sit in class fifteen hours per week, that means you should spend thirty hours studying in your room or the library, for a grand total of forty-five hours per week devoted to college stuff. That feels a lot like a full-time job.
• Nobody is babysitting you. In high school, if you didn’t show up for class, someone would call your parents. If you didn’t submit an assignment, the teacher might pull you aside for a heart-to-heart conversation. None of that here. I assume you are an adult and you know whether you have skipped class. Your first real notice that you messed up might be the terrible grade you get at the end of the semester.
• Nobody is mothering you either. You get to keep track of your own laundry, your own money, and your own possessions. Mom is not going to make sure you have clean underwear. If you choose to drink too much (and right now you are probably too young to do it legally), you get to deal with the consequences. And because you are a legal adult if you are over 18, you get to deal with the government (including the police) as a full adult.
  • NOTE: There is a bright side to this. Once you turn 18, a lot of privacy laws kick in. As your teacher, I am forbidden from sharing anything about your academic performance without your permission. If you visit the Student Health Center or Psychological Counseling Service, all that information is completely private unless you choose to share it.

Second problem: Some of the unspoken rules have changed.

Some of the material below is simply a change from High School Standard Operating Procedure. Other stuff (unfortunately) is here because some high school teachers have just given up and are doing the minimum—students tell me “they always let me get away with this in high school” and I simply sigh and smack my palm against my forehead.

This is college. Things are different now.

The easiest way for you to reconfigure yourself is to think of a change from “kid in school” to “junior member of an academic community.” Or perhaps from “customer at a fast-food restaurant” to “employee of a major corporation.”

• Show up on time. Our class starts at the top of the hour. I expect you to be in your seat and ready to go when the minute hand hits 12—not crashing in fifteen minutes later, dumping your stuff on the desk, and leaving for an extended restroom break. I really will enforce the attendance rules from the syllabus.
• Show up every day. I do grant you three “freebies” in the semester (unexcused absences that do not count against you), and people who need bo be away on legitimate college business also get excused absences (with the proper paperwork), but aside from those exceptions, the rule is that you should always be here. I get the idea that a lot of high schools do not care greatly if you are there or not, but I expect to see you here, on time, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
• Bring the right stuff. The requirements for our class are very low: Pen or pencil and paper, plus laptop computer on some days. I do not give out office supplies and you should not assume your classmates will supply you. Take a deep breath. Bite the bullet. Go to the campus store and buy a pen.
• When to do the reading. This is a HUGE change from standard high school practice. In high school, you would get the reading assignment in class, do it that evening (or not) and come in the next day, when your teacher would tell you what was in the reading and give you a worksheet to fill in. You probably didn’t need to read the thing at all unless you knew there would be a quiz. College works the other way around. When you get a reading assignment, college instructors assume you will do it before class starts; we may not even mention it in class because we assume that material is inside you and we are building on it. Or we might give a reading quiz. Read the material before you get here and come in with questions.
• Submit your work on time. Our syllabus gives the penalty for late work. If you have a real problem with a due date (illness, for example) talk to me, but otherwise you will lose credit for late submissions.
• Be honest. Students always tell me that their high school teachers did not care if they cheated. When a student says that I assume one of two things: either the student is lying or the teacher was a fool. Neither is a good sign. Ashland University’s rules are clear: no plagiarism will be tolerated, nor will using Artificial Intelligence to write your paper.
  • Here is a rule I must follow. When I lower a grade because of a breach of academic rules, I must report it to the Registrar. They keep track of these things, and the general rule is “Two strikes, and you are out”—out of the University.
• Turn off your phone. Looking at porn, playing video games, buying things on eBay, or following fantasy football do not contribute to your academic success. Yes, I can see you doing that. Some students who sit in the back cannot see the board (too vain to put on their glasses), so they follow my lecture on their phone. Two pieces of advice: sit near the front or put on your glasses. Or both. Some of my fellow teachers collect all cell phones at the beginning of each class session. I do not want to do that, but I will if it becomes necessary.

One more unspoken rule:

• What to call your teacher. You and I are not buddies. The relationship should be more like employer/employee with a little social distance. If you do not know which honorific to use, go for the more formal: “Doctor Smith” or “Professor Jones.” DO figure out your teacher’s name! And ALWAYS go for the other person’s preferred form of address and pronoun.
  • My preferred form of address is Mr. Allen (not Mr. Curtis). My pronouns are he/his/him.
  • While we are on the subject of names, your full name should go on each of your assignments: “John Smith,” not “Johnny S.” We have gotten past the third grade, and all of my information is filed by your last name.