MEETING WITH THE PROF

By this time you may well have already met with the prof, particularly if this is a senior course. You could have met to get clarification about a project, to run a draft by them, to question a grade, to get help with your group, to get suggestions for research, to discuss work in an area that interests you . . .

If, however, you haven’t yet met with an instructor and you need their help with a course-related problem before finals but are unsure about how to go about approaching them, gather your courage and go for it. This week I’m sharing some general tips that can help you help the instructor help you.

First, remember that professors want their students to do well. That includes you.

Prepare a statement of the issue or problem facing you and, as far as you can, the result you would like to see. It could be asking for pointers about writing multiple choice. It could be that your major project for the course has grown beyond the time you have left to complete it. It could be that your group project had a major contributor withdraw from university.

Send a brief email requesting a meeting with a short description of your issue.

Having named the problem, prepare for your meeting. Write down in succinct point form the problem you want to resolve. Outline what you have done to solve the problem. This could be going to exam workshops or taking online prep exams. It could be that you have several ideas for how to limit your major project and would like advice on optimizing the time/coverage ratio. It could be alerting the prof to the unforeseen withdrawal that will reduce the quality of the final presentation.

You may find it useful to rehearse your outline with a friend. 

Prepare an agenda in point form. You might print it out with a copy for the prof. It needs to be a flexible agenda, as the prof may very well add three points and tell you two aren’t necessary.

Now go to your meeting. Present your points and ask for what you would like (“What would you recommend?” “Can you direct me to gold-standard research in this area?” “Can our group go last to have more time to make up for Chad’s withdrawal?” “What should I enrol in to be better prepared for the senior stats course in the third year?”

Then be prepared to listen. The prof may come up with suggestions that you don’t like as well as your own preferred solution. Discuss how you might combine your idea with their recommendation. Remember that when advice is given, the advice giver is favourably biased toward approaches that follow the advice they gave.

If the issues involve your group, if you can get two or three of you to go in together, pick one of you as the initial presenter, but make sure everyone has a say. 

Take notes of the discussion and any recommendations or agreements.

Summarize the discussion at the end of the meeting, including your understanding of what you are going to do. It is triply important to do this if group work is involved.

At the end of the meeting, thank the prof for their time and suggestions. And follow up with an email thank you that particularizes what you gained from the meeting.

Connect with me for strategizing your approach to communicating with your instructors, and for planning out the weeks before exams.   [email protected]