Column: Professionalism and professors, comfort in the classroom
USC Aiken is consistently ranking as a top public university, this year being #2.
With a mission statement that acknowledges the pursuit of “meaningful work in an enlightened, inclusive” environment and individualized and “high impact” teaching styles, according to the university’s website, USCA promises impactful and personalized learning.
What draws students to this university is its smaller lecture sizes and personable, attentive staff as well as other positive features offered by USCA.
However, the benefit of these class sizes and professor interactions may also be a potential downfall.
Recently, a poll was conducted on the USCA student life page regarding professors making inappropriate and lewd comments on campus.
This poll, as cited in the original Facebook post, was not born from pure curiosity, but from repeated instances of student complaints in conversations and stories warning others of certain professors before advisement.
This poll is not meant to be fully representative of the student body, but rather indicative of a potential problem noted by students. We cannot accept these numbers as conclusive results, but the responses should still be considered as a threat to the university’s promise of professionalism, progressivism and inclusivity.
The poll, with a total of 66 votes, illustrated roughly a third of students who responded as having heard directly, or from other students, of professors making inappropriate or lewd comments while on campus. This includes the classroom setting as well as office hours.
With the promise of anonymity, students that private messaged in response to the poll will not be named. Professors, too, are protected.
The degree of these comments ranges from explicit descriptions of sexual activities, either with a student or another person, to implied flirtatious remarks as well as sexist comments.
If our university is to continue to advertise its excellence, then it should be imperative to the mission that faculty, including professors and other staff, are adequately trained and aware of the expected professional conduct of them for the continued safety of students as well as the whole of the university.
Students should not be made to feel as if they should avoid specific professors and classes because of past advances and disreputable conduct in conversation.
USCA is an honorable school. Respect for students should be a priority, whether it is implied or not within the mission statement.
This column is written with the opinions of one editor and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Pacer Times.
