What Does a Girl Got to do to Get a Response Around Here?

For a school of less than 2,500 kids, and with a faculty and administrative staff that prides itself on its ability to help students and communicate with them, you’d think it wouldn’t take five emails for me to get a simple answer to a simple question. In order for me to fulfill a second major, I need to take some classes this summer because I decided a little too late to begin pursuing a new area of study. I was told to email the head of this major’s department, which I did, three times, and he did not get back to me until after I sent my third email. This response was only to tell me to email another professor because the one I had originally emailed was the incorrect one. So, over a period of three weeks, where I emailed a professor three times, his only response was to tell me to email someone else. I then emailed this other professor twice in a period of two weeks.

If you are a math whiz, you can figure out rather quickly that it took me five weeks to get any sort of response on whether or not I could even take classes. Finally, when I thought all hope was lost, I received an email from the original professor I had emailed, telling me I was, in fact, able to take the classes. This email contained somewhat condescending language, telling me that I must have been confused. Of course I was confused! I was told to email the head of one department and then told by that professor that I must email someone else only to ultimately be told that I must email someone else. This language did not help, especially coming from a professor who has a reputation for being uninterested in responding to emails, as well as not being respectful to students. The first email was quickly followed by the second professor emailing me, also telling me that I could take this class, which was honestly only adding insult to injury.

This was the first time for me in my two years of being here that something like this had happened. Usually, professors email back within 24 hours of me emailing them. Even with the heads of departments, this lack of response was unusual. I thought it must have been my fault because I was the

one who was confused, as well as the fact that in the large scheme of things, I was not the adult in this conversation. But after thinking about it, I actually was the adult in this situation. I did what I was told in a timely manner, did so respectfully, and never once used condescension. It took me five weeks to get an answer to a question that was simple. I sent in all necessary materials, including the syllabus of both courses, and it took over a month to receive an answer. It took two people to answer a question that should only require one. For a school that prides itself on open communication between students and professors, it is interesting that this situation even happened.