<p>I asked a tenured (full) professor if I could have my midterm paper back from last semester. I could not find a saved copy on my disk or computer, and I wanted to use it as a writing sample for summer internships. What turned into a simple request in mid-February is now almost the end of March. I sent weekly emails and tried to sound polite, but he never replied back. I even went to the department secretary office, and left a message that included my email address and request so that the professor could at least tell me if he found my paper. I am considering a formal complaint to the department (assistant) chair because this is just ridiculous. Most professors usually respond within a week whether or not they have a student’s paper. This is all that I am asking for. What should I do?</p>
<p>P.S. This is the same professor whom I asked to re-check my final grade back in January, and he ignored my request.</p>
<p>Doesn’t he have office hours? go in and see him- but I would just assume it is gone-it sounds like you are attached to this one, but I am sure you have other samples of papers you can use.</p>
<p>Sometimes you can have an expert find files even if you trashed it on your drive, but take a couple hundred dollars and buy a back up drive- you should be backing up your drive regularly, and saving copies of things you might need in the future- good habit to get into. :)</p>
<p>Citygirlsmom, I have been using the correct email address, including the “re:” whenever he sent a reply to me. I am just tired of this. I went to his office, but he was not there. I even told the secretary who wrote my name, message, and everything what I needed. </p>
<p>I may have to email a formal complaint to the department.</p>
<p>I am attached to the paper because it was on a contemporary theme in education. I wanted to apply to education non-profits.</p>
<p>Before you file a formal complaint…is your professor required to keep old papers or return them to you? If the answer is no, then the onus is strictly on you to keep track of copies of valuable papers. (Not trying to be harsh, just practical…this may be one of those ‘hard knocks’ lessons.)</p>
<p>If your complaint is that he hasn’t responded to you, make an appointment if you haven’t already. I’m sure when you make a formal complaint, the department head will ask if this professor refused to meet with you.</p>
<p>Idmom06, if he won’t respond to my emails, what makes you think I can meet him? I don’t think there is a policy to keep papers (professors almost never tell students to pick up papers; it’s all about the grades here), but some professors DO keep papers for up to a semester.</p>
<p>I have been teaching my daughter in high school to make sure she keeps copies of her papers. If it isn’t on a disk then we make a hard copy and file it ( or scan it in)- already it has proved useful for her not to trash her papers as soon as she gets it back ( doesn’t your school hand papers back?), because one paper had been graded, but not marked in the gradebook, -fortunately her teacher has the grades online, so when I asked her about it and she showed it to me, i just emailed him back and asked him if he would like her to bring it in
It really is too much to expect the prof to keep copies, especially of last semesters papers. I bet you could redo a similar piece, you still have your notes right?</p>
<p>Emerald, I thought I had a saved copy since I have copies of papers that date back to freshman year (!) on my laptop. However, I did not save the latest revisions of the paper. Therefore, when I opened the file, I only had 1 page instead of 4 pages (long enough for a writing sample). I can probably retype the paper although I need to make another copy of the journal article. I just wish that he will respond back. Why is this so difficult? I never had a professor to NOT respond back to me in email.</p>
<p>Hazmat, that is a different professor in a different field (political science). Please stop posting previous messages that have nothing to do with this situation (sociology). It is very rude.</p>
<p>Aw why ruin some easy fun??? You wave a red flag and you expect us to ignore your history and pattern? ■■■■■■■■ for new members who cannot remember your history…I shall allow them to respond. Go for it.</p>
<p>What the hell? Hazmat, what is your agenda? Why are you ruining a thread that I need serious input? How would you feel if a professor refused to respond to your email when you sent a polite request? The professor could have said “Sorry, I do not have the paper.” and I would have moved on. If anything, you are the real ■■■■■.</p>
<p>look on the prof’s door for his office hours. at my college all prof’s have to post them on their doors. if it’s not there, look on the prof’s website. if he has office hours, he should be there (otherwise something’s not right). if you go in person he’s not going to just sit there and ignore you.</p>
<p>i don’t think prof’s like to be pested about things like that in email. if i had to ask a prof about something like a paper i would def. stop by his/her office every day until i finally caught them there - that way i may even get it the same day rather than waiting a week for a reply. (although my prof’s always emailed back the same day when I did had to email them about something… usually within a few hours)</p>
<p>Is this an internship you are seeking? Like the one you “maneuvered” last summer? hehehehe I’m done, moving onto a more serious endeavor…NCAA games.</p>
<p>That is the point, fendergirl. Most professors usually respond within 24-48 hours. I rather not show up at his office (I visited his office once but he was not there), since it’s quite obvious he doesn’t want to bother with me at all.</p>
<p>maybe he simply doesn’t check his e-mail. i e-mailed an art prof. one time about getting written into his class and never got a reply, so i moved on and signed up for another art class instead. I wound up running into the guy at an imax movie theatre a few weeks later and mentioned it to him, and he said he never got the e-mail. (i guess he doesn’t check it very often… either that or it got lost). I should of just stopped by his class and asked him then… and that was the one class i needed to finish up my minor in that subject. my fault though for not stopping by his class/office.</p>
<p>He does not have a secretary. The secretary I met made no mention of an appointment book. If a student wants to set an appointment with a professor, the student usually emails the professor. The professor sets the appointment. I cannot even get to step 2 with this teacher.</p>
<p>like i said… look up his office hours and try to stop by during them. he’s bound to be there at some point. i know at my school some prof’s even had meeting times on their door and you could just write your name in there and that time was yours. it sounds like this prof obviously doesn’t have that system, however i would def. stop by his office more than once… also a lot of my prof’s would go to their office after a class (as long as they didn’t have a class immediately afterwords) and that’s a good time to go see them about something… try to look up his class schedule and go to his office then.</p>
<p>the fact is, sitting on here complaining about him not answering emails isn’t going to do anything. i don’t see filing a complaint doing anything either. i’d just go to his office again and see if he has your paper.</p>