Rights & Responsibilities of Students & Faculty
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Learning is the name of the UCSB game. The students (you) and faculty (we) are the players, with the staff providing essential support and the California taxpayers buying the tickets. In order to be sure that this time and money are well spent, students must understand the rules of the game. The most important rule is that you are all...
Adults.
The key ingredient of adulthood is responsibility. You are in charge of yourself and completely responsible for all of your actions and omissions. In particular, you must take responsibility for managing your...
Time.
We have the responsibility for putting a value on our time and yours. Our time is more valuable than yours, and our duty to the taxpayers requires us to spend it wisely. We don't want to waste your time either. If bad planning, inefficient procedures, or bad teaching are wasting your time, please speak up. Don't wait for "someone else" to do it. There are several ways to...
Complain.
You can talk to the person in charge, you can write a letter to the Daily Nexus, you can call your ASUC officers, or you can see the...
Mediation Office.
The Mediation Office can help you deal with any kind of complaint, even those dealing with the...
Faculty.
We are paid to help you learn, and you have the right to expect us to earn our pay. However, part of our job is teaching you to take more responsibility for your own learning. One way we do this is to hold...
Office Hours.
This is your chance to meet with us on a one-to-one basis. All faculty members and teaching assistants have office hours when you can see them without an appointment. Office hours are a good opportunity for you to discuss your...
Homework.
We expect that you have tried your homework before you come to see us. We plan to give you a lot of homework, and we won't be surprised if you have some difficulty with it. The most common reason that students avoid talking to their teachers is the fear of asking "dumb questions," but the only thing dumb about your questions is the fear of asking them. If you already knew it all, we wouldn't have a job. However, we don't want to be asked by late sleepers to repeat our...
Lectures.
Here is our chance to highlight the important aspects of the course. We won't read the textbook to you or work all of your exercises, but we will tell you what to look for in your reading, provide an outline, or do sample problems. The lectures put your homework in perspective and give you a good idea what to expect on exams. That is why it makes no sense to...
Cut Class.
UCSB turned away thousands of students this year, any of whom would be glad to take your place. The factory, farm, and office workers of California are paying through the nose to give you an opportunity which most of them never had. Don't blow it by cutting class, not even those early morning or late evening...
Discussion Sections.
When a lecture class is large, the section provides a small group setting for questions and informal discussion. Even if you have no questions of your own, you can listen to others and see if you really know as much as you think. You might be surprised to hear points raised which never occurred to you. Another student's life experience might lead to a perspective very different from your own, and appreciation of different points of view is an important component in many courses. Discussion sections can also be useful in improving your...
Social Life.
You will never be at a loss for words when talking with someone from one of your classes. You don't know how to start? Believe it or not, here is one line which I heard used in front of the Arbor: "Gee, wasn't World War II really neat? Let's go for some frozen yogurt and talk about the Battle of the Bulge." Socializing can increase your GPA. You can get together with other students to compare notes, to check homework solutions, or to make up a final exam study outline (all of which go very well with pizza). Hard work and careful preparation is better than relying on...
Luck.
We all can use it, but, if you think you can count on it, then you should be playing the Lottery. If you are in academic difficulty, don't wait until the end of the quarter to get...
Help.
Campus Learning Assistance Services (CLAS) is located in the SRB. The folks there can help you improve study skills such as note-taking or outlining, and they can help you to deal with test anxiety. There are even workshops that are created with the aid of professors to help students with class assignments. For specific help on your coursework, ask your instructor or TA during their office hours. If they can't give you as much time as you need, go to the CLAS Tutorial Program. The tutors can help with papers, calculus or chemistry problems, foreign languages, and more. Most services are free, some are not, but either way the CLAS staff will see that you get the skilled help that you want. Even if all else fails, here is a last piece of advice,...
Don't Cheat.
There are two really good reasons. First, it's wrong. Second, we'll probably catch you and kick you out of school. If you fail a class (or even get a "C-" or "D"), you can take it again and do it right, with the new grade replacing the old one in your GPA. Many "Fs" have become "As" that way. You'll feel better about yourself and, after all, learning is the name of the game.
--Charles Akemann, Professor, Mathematics
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