professors not answering emails

[smugpug]

Hey Guys,

So I'm in a bit of a situation. I had an emergency that caused me to be out for the last few weeks of school. I've sent my professor 4 emails to ask him about my final paper and to meet with him to explain my situation and possibly take a Incomplete, but he's completely ignoring me. I haven't been able to catch him at his office hours and I have no other contact info for him. What should I do? Is it normal for a professor to ignore emails (its been weeks since I sent my first one). Is he just busy? I'm so confused.

It's my first semester and I'm a little lost when it comes to interactions with professors. Any advice would be appreciated!

[fuzzylogician]

Some professors just suck at using email. I'd assume that's the case rather than that he's ignoring you in particular. Are you back on campus? If so, the easiest way to get his attention is stalk him and just corner him somewhere and get him to talk to you. If office hours don't work, try hanging out outside a classroom he teaches in before/after his class. Additionally, the admin people in your department might be able to give you more updated contact info than you have. But if he or you are not on campus, or you've tried and definitely can't reach him, then I think you need outside help. Depending on your program you might want to talk to your advisor or to the DGS. I assume that someone there is aware of your long absence and oked it, so that's probably the person to approach.

[smugpug]

What is a DGS? I've never even met my advisor because she's been on sabbatical so there aren't a lot of people who I can approach in my department. Thanks!

[unacclimated]

I asked some professors for LORs in early October and didn't hear back until late November. By that time I had assumed they were a "no" and moved on. But they were perfectly willing to write the recommendations. One indicated they just had lots on the go and the other uses another institutional e-mail from a previous university he taught at. I would think your prof might just be busy. I think professors have an obligation to let you know where you stand in their class through some sort of response in an email or an offer to meet and discuss the situation.

Edited December 12, 2012 by unacclimated

[fuzzylogician]

DGS - Director of Graduate Studies. It's a professor in your department (not a dean outside it) who is responsible for all graduate students. Who have you been working with if your advisor is on sabbatical? Is there someone you know and feel comfortable asking about this? Any professor could tell you about the procedure of taking an incomplete, or the admin staff probably know too. Maybe you need to go to the head of the department (the chair)? It depends on how your program is structured.

[smugpug]

Everything in my department is so vague. When I asked another professor about the Incomplete process he said Incomplete don't work like they do in undergrad, but didn't explain what he meant by that. A counselor told me grad students can have Incomplete for up to a year. But I don't understand. You finish final project and then you get the grade? Does the Incomplete come off and get replaced with a letter grade?

[smugpug]

I tried to call his office but the number is disconnected. I tried to stalk him outside one of his undergrad class but its finals week so there was no regularly scheduled class. Is it bad form to keep emailing him? I've sent him like 4 emails already, but it's my grade on the line so I'm not sure what to do.

[fuzzylogician]

At my school you can have incompletes indefinitely (you can even graduate with some on your transcript, I think up to three) - so it's obviously different from school to school. Generally it just means you're not going to complete the course requirements on time, but you'll make them up some time after the official deadline - in your case, apparently up to one year into the future. All you need to finish is whatever was the final project/paper/whatever required for the class, not anything beyond what was required of others. Once you complete your class requirements, the professor changes your grade from an "incomplete" to whatever grade they give you. On my transcript those grades show up as I/A, so it shows that it was an incomplete that was changed into a letter grade.

I suppose if you can't call him or find him in person, you should try another email after enough time has passed from the previous one. You might also want to ask around and see what experiences older students have. They might have better ways of dealing with this professor, or someone may have a meeting with him or else know when he's around. Also ask the admin people if they can help you get in touch with him. If all else fails, ask your department chair or other person of authority for help.

[SeriousSillyPutty]

I second the motion to talk to the administrative assistant/ office manager type person. Ours knows everything, and since a variety of people talk to her, she's more likely to know what's up with the professors (and grad students, for that matter). In your dept., she/he should know how to get in touch with the prof, and might even know how to file the paperwork for an incomplete.

[ANDS!]

I tried to call his office but the number is disconnected. I tried to stalk him outside one of his undergrad class but its finals week so there was no regularly scheduled class. Is it bad form to keep emailing him? I've sent him like 4 emails already, but it's my grade on the line so I'm not sure what to do.

Head of graduate studies, or the official in charge of all you graduate students (it's not always the same person). If I had any question related to administrative issues (which the Incomplete is) I would seek them out first.