Issue With Class

[russellang]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am taking a microbio class this semester at a university downtown and I live and work about an hour and 15 minutes from campus. I had to take the class there since it was the only one that I could get into. Anyways in class we are identifying an unknown microbe and putting it on several types of media.

My issue is that I have class TR and I work 12 hour shifts MWF at the clinic. The professor makes it impossible for us to finish the work during the alotted class time and expects us to come in on other days to do tests and innoculate media (some media requires less than 24 hour incubation). I work for a large animal veterinarian and I cannot come in MWF, only TR (I am the field tech and I cannot come in late or leave early, its the entire 12 hour shifts or nothing). I told this to my professor and he allowed me to bring home a burner and innoculate the media at home before work each day. Unfortunately I have contamination issues and I cannot do anything at home. I went to do it this morning before work and the plates were useless. I emailed him and I am assuming he will say I will have to come in MWF to work on the project. I unfortunately am not like everyone else in the clinic who works part time and lives down the street from campus.

I guess I am not sure what to do, I either have to take out work days and loose income which I need or not be able to do the tests. My main question is whether he can penalize me for not finishing because I cannot come in at times we do not have class.

Any advice would help.

Thank you

 

[favhrnstr]

I am taking a microbio class this semester at a university downtown and I live and work about an hour and 15 minutes from campus. I had to take the class there since it was the only one that I could get into. Anyways in class we are identifying an unknown microbe and putting it on several types of media.

My issue is that I have class TR and I work 12 hour shifts MWF at the clinic. The professor makes it impossible for us to finish the work during the alotted class time and expects us to come in on other days to do tests and innoculate media (some media requires less than 24 hour incubation). I work for a large animal veterinarian and I cannot come in MWF, only TR (I am the field tech and I cannot come in late or leave early, its the entire 12 hour shifts or nothing). I told this to my professor and he allowed me to bring home a burner and innoculate the media at home before work each day. Unfortunately I have contamination issues and I cannot do anything at home. I went to do it this morning before work and the plates were useless. I emailed him and I am assuming he will say I will have to come in MWF to work on the project. I unfortunately am not like everyone else in the clinic who works part time and lives down the street from campus.

I guess I am not sure what to do, I either have to take out work days and loose income which I need or not be able to do the tests. My main question is whether he can penalize me for not finishing because I cannot come in at times we do not have class.

Any advice would help.

Thank you

My recommendation would be to first wait for the professor's next response. You're getting worried about assumptions, but it's best to give him the benefit of the doubt.

When these kinds of things come up, be sure to check your syllabus. Did he tell you in the syllabus that you would be required to come in on off days? If so, then it's your responsibility to do so. (For example, in my herpetology class we were expected to take several field trips, but we knew about them the first day of class.) If he didn't let you know about this outside-class time in the syllabus, then you might be able to appeal to him or his department head. If TR is all that you were told was required, then he should have to work with you.

Another thing to ask the prof: If all you need to be doing on these days is innoculating, could you have a lab partner do this for you? Or a friendly TA?

Good luck!

 

[168135]

I'm just commenting to say that I feel your pain. I hate it when profs schedule things outside of classtime, because it usually means I need to shell out $20 on a cab to get there. EVERYONE else lives with their mommies and daddies, so transportation isn't an issue. It is for me. And NONE of them are in debt as much as I am. That I am 100% sure on.

 

[laitmanvet]

I am taking a microbio class this semester at a university downtown and I live and work about an hour and 15 minutes from campus. I had to take the class there since it was the only one that I could get into. Anyways in class we are identifying an unknown microbe and putting it on several types of media.

My issue is that I have class TR and I work 12 hour shifts MWF at the clinic. The professor makes it impossible for us to finish the work during the alotted class time and expects us to come in on other days to do tests and innoculate media (some media requires less than 24 hour incubation). I work for a large animal veterinarian and I cannot come in MWF, only TR (I am the field tech and I cannot come in late or leave early, its the entire 12 hour shifts or nothing). I told this to my professor and he allowed me to bring home a burner and innoculate the media at home before work each day. Unfortunately I have contamination issues and I cannot do anything at home. I went to do it this morning before work and the plates were useless. I emailed him and I am assuming he will say I will have to come in MWF to work on the project. I unfortunately am not like everyone else in the clinic who works part time and lives down the street from campus.

I guess I am not sure what to do, I either have to take out work days and loose income which I need or not be able to do the tests. My main question is whether he can penalize me for not finishing because I cannot come in at times we do not have class.

Any advice would help.

Thank you

OK, first of all, I'm SHOCKED he let you bring the bacteria home. I would never want anything from a lab in my house. But I also remember we worked with enteric pathogens, so I don't know what kind of bacteria you're dealing with here.

Are you friends with anyone in class? If you can inoculate a plate say Tues or Thurs and someone else can take it out of the incubator for you the next day, it can be wrapped up and put in a fridge until the next Tues or Thurs. Bacteria won't grow (or quickly at least) at 4 degrees. It can be wrapped in parafilm (better) or saran wrap and as long as the plate doesn't get contaminated it can last for months in a fridge.

Hope this helps.

 

[NStarz]

Sorry to hear you're having trouble...but didn't you complain about this class in the first place (not being able to get in) and now you're complaining about being in the class?

 

[nohika]

Sorry to hear you're having trouble...but didn't you complain about this class in the first place (not being able to get in) and now you're complaining about being in the class?

I can kind of understand, though. We found out in bio for our "experiments" we had to come in five days in a row, every day. I'm a poor person and can't afford that much gas (live far away from campus, plus drive a minivan). It was wretched. No one likes that being "sprung" on a person.

 

[EllieGirl89]

I can kind of understand, though. We found out in bio for our "experiments" we had to come in five days in a row, every day. I'm a poor person and can't afford that much gas (live far away from campus, plus drive a minivan). It was wretched. No one likes that being "sprung" on a person.

I agree. I took a class last spring that we weren't told until the first day of class that took a lot of work outside the classroom that had to be done at the horse barn (a good 20-30 minute drive from the school) for a few hours outside the class every week, and that was a strain for myself and a lot of others in the class who had very busy schedules. We all made it work in the end, but I wrote in the class evaluation that I would have appreciated that being in the course description so that I could have known that there was an outside commitment involved with the class and could have scheduled myself a little differently.

 

[that redhead]

I guess I am not sure what to do, I either have to take out work days and loose income which I need or not be able to do the tests. My main question is whether he can penalize me for not finishing because I cannot come in at times we do not have class.

He can penalize you as he pleases, since he's the professor of the course. If the extra work is mentioned in the syllabus, you're pretty much SOL because in a way, the syllabus is like a contract - you're told up front what's expected of you and by remaining in the class, you're agreeing to his conditions, so to speak.

I'm pretty shocked that he'd let you take bacteria home, as well. If bacteria from your home is getting into the plate, what's getting out? That would be my primary concern. However, it seems that unless you can hash out a deal with the professor, a TA or a classmate, your choices boil down to a. drop the class and not have it for your application or b. reduce your work hours with the LA clinic. Although you might lose some income, there is always the possibility of picking up a second/part time job to attempt to recuperate those loses. In my opinion, if you're applying this cycle and need the class (which you do, if I remember correctly), you're going to have to take the hit on the work side of things. No one said it was going to be easy, unfortunately 🙄 Good luck.

 

[nohika]

I agree. I took a class last spring that we weren't told until the first day of class that took a lot of work outside the classroom that had to be done at the horse barn (a good 20-30 minute drive from the school) for a few hours outside the class every week, and that was a strain for myself and a lot of others in the class who had very busy schedules. We all made it work in the end, but I wrote in the class evaluation that I would have appreciated that being in the course description so that I could have known that there was an outside commitment involved with the class and could have scheduled myself a little differently.

We weren't even told the first day of class. 😡 They sprung it on us THE DAY OF THE EXPERIMENT. Two weeks ago. Which was almost halfways through the semester. Ugh. "Oh, by the way, for this experiment, you guys need to come in every day."

....thanks, you 3490*%4AJ8(%*(#$*(#(iuio$#w.