Dr. Kluthe's recent post about absenteeism prompted a no-holds-barred dialogue about expectations and protocols amongst Honors students. This is exactly why we set up the Honors Program blogs and created this meta-blog to coordinate our online discussions.
Well, here's another topic that we hope will get every Honors student talking and thinking: the importance of acknowledging academic titles within an institution of higher learning.
Students are sometimes shocked---shocked!--- to learn that professors talk about students amongst themselves in the pretty much the same way students talk about professors---frankly, and sometimes unflatteringly. (Should it really surprise anyone?---after all, NO group has spent more time in the position of being students than those who stayed in school long enough to earn advanced degrees!).
And, in our view at least, there is nothing wrong or hypocritical about this. We show different sides of ourselves when we are in different social contexts. And these different contexts present varying "rules" for referring to and talking about particular people.
That's part of what makes human lives so fascinating and complex---what is appropriate in one venue (late night in the dorms in the company of peers, for instance) is wholly inappropriate in a different setting (whilst onstage addressing the entire university community as class valedictorian). Thus, referrring to the University president as "Old Man so-and-so" in the former context passes without comment, while making the same reference in the latter would cause a scandal.
When it comes to referring to your professors, the same logic applies: what is appropriate amongst yourselves is not necessarily the right choice when addressing faculty directly---or talking about them to other faculty members.
Some faculty prefer the casual approach and will say to students "call me Dave." We support faculty who make that choice, but we ask students not to extrapolate too much. Not every faculty member wants that type of relationship with students. Thus, for faculty who do not specifically give you this "casual" license, your default position for referring to the faculty member, either directly or to other members of the university community, should involve the faculty member's title. If the faculty member holds a doctorate, it's "Dr. Smith," or "Professor Smith" not "Smith" or "Smith-Dawgggg" or "Pimp-daddy Smith" or whatever funky casual construction you toss around for creativity points late night in the dorms or while hanging out in various wholesome soda-pop shops in Joplin where they never, ever, ever serve alcohol. For faculty members not holding PhD's, it's still "Professor Jones"---not just "Jones."
Now those of you who are freshman may recall that we addressed this point quite specifically during freshman orientation. We told you not to presume too much familiarity with faculty, not to take for granted the incredible opportunities you have for one-on-one faculty interaction. And that means always deferring, unless specifically instructed otherwise, to the use of the title.
For many of us, it's virtually ALL we ask for when it comes to deference within this very casual institution. And it's in stark contrast to our
own student experiences, where we dealt with many more "old school" academic types who had a tendancy to be arrogant, haughty, imperious, distant, and had few qualms about verbally humiliating students in public. Almost nobody gets away with this nowadays---and we think that's for the best. But many of us still expect to be addressed by and referred to by our titles.
Why is this? Why do these people make such a big whoop-de-do about a little title? What's the big deal about the difference between "Smith" and "Dr. Smith"? I mean, we're all people---right? We all live in a democracy (ahem) where it says right in the Constitution of Independence that every Bob and Jim-bob and Bobby-Sue is as good as everybody else and that we ain't never had no dukes or barons and we don't take kindly to nobody giving us the high hat with their dang "I'm better'n you" attitude.
We have our own theories and our own reasons for why we think academic titles are an important part of university life. But first we'd like to hear what you think. So we invite you to comment and discuss this topic with us. We also invite you all to take a hint. . . .
p. s. When you contact your professors by e-mail, why not stand out from your peers by simply employing a salutation? You'd be amazed at how much good will you will earn by taking the time to type the three words "Dear Professor Johnson" rather than abruptly spitting out "I need an extension on my paper!!!!!"
