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[mudskipper]

One of the instructors in my department is (or was?) a graduate student at another university. He has some credits toward his PhD but I don't think he's made much progress toward completing his dissertation. Apparently there is a rule that he needs to take a certain number of credits each year to keep his credits alive, and he wants to take a class with me. He has been teaching full-time (but not tt) at my Uni for 3 years longer than I have, so he's known to me as a colleague, not a student etc. He is 20 years older than I am.

I hesitate to say yes for several reasons, none the least of which is that I've seen his writing and it isn't up to the par of the other students. But more importantly is that because he's around the department as an instructor, he is looked at differently by the other students, and I worry that his presence in the class will be overly influential.

Has anyone taught a grad seminar with a person who is, for all appearances, a colleague? Any advice/warnings/suggestions/etc.?

Thanks.

[athena1]

Do you actually have the option to say no? If he's applied and been accepted and has taken any prereqs, can you actually ban him from the class?

As far as his writing, if you have some kind of grading rubric, you just grade his papers as you would anyone else's.

I get plenty of students who are know-it-alls (is that what you mean by overly influential?). Nothing I can do about it other than redirect the discussion.

[marlborough]

Wow, that's a minefield.  I'd invite him to have a coffee and I would be very frank about it, suggesting that if he is only doing this to keep up a number of credits, perhaps a supervised reading (possibly in view of his dissertation research) or an independent study would be better.  If he insists on wanting to take the class, I'd ask what he expected to get out of the experience--broader background on the subject, a conference paper, some peer review of his writing...making it clear that these are the aims of your seminar and will be the standards for all of the students.  If you avoid being very upfront about this, you are putting yourself in a situation that will lead to problems.  On the other hand, understanding the situation upfront, he might take it seriously, act like a respectful student and benefit from a rigorous seminar experience.

Do you have a mentor in your department who can clue you in to how he has behaved in whatever other "tagalong" credit courses he's taken?

[mudskipper]

Hi athena,

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. He isn't a graduate student at my Uni, he's done graduate work at another. He wants my permission to take my class to fulfill some requirement, but he's not accepted or officially enrolled in my Uni--he's an employee there.

So, yes, I can say no. It's completely up to me. I'm concerned about our relationship and making transitions from student/professor to colleagues waiting to use the copier before classes; commenting on his writing when he's an instructor here and should be a strong writer to begin with; and his influence over other students who know him as an instructor and might be intimidated or quieted by his presence.

[mudskipper]

marlborough, those are excellent suggestions! Thank you. I will certainly try to track down other professors who have allowed him in their classes, and I think that asking him what goals he has for the class will help too. I get the feeling that he struggles to get his work done, but I could be mistaken.

[prof_mom]

Tell him you are worried about the perception of other graduate students. The colleague will lose SERIOUS credibility points by sitting in on a lecture with other students. There is almost no way this will end well for you.

[larryc]

Could you suggest that he do an independent study instead? With someone else?

[allbutfoundajob]

I do not think there is much of a problem here.  I have seen full professors take classes from other professors to learn new areas.  I would suggest the colleague take the class pass/fail instead of for a grade.