Lecturers who are up for a bit of Craic

griffdaddy

Everyone seems a bit down with exams at the moment so i thought i'd start a thread about the good times people have gone drinking or partying and ended up having fun with a lecturer as if they were a normal mate or something. One of my mates from engineering was telling me that he was out the other night in town and ran into one of his lecturers and ended up getting absolutely shítfaced, talking nonsense to each other for hours. Last night i was at a party in one of my lecturers houses and when everyone had left me and an American guy got totally stoned with him and his wife and spent about 2 hours discussing Dutch society and Nietzsche. Was so weird to pass a joint to someone who'd been lecturing to me for the year and tell them it's a 3-toke! Anyone else got any funny stories of drinking or things like that with lecturers? obviously mentioning names or making people identifiable might not be such a hot idea

Red Alert

I'm suffering this morning from a night out with the lecturers! I think people forget that they're people too and like to enjoy themselves

Stabshauptmann

tutors maybe, but never drank with lecturers. Culture of different colleges might be one reason

ucdperson

Of course lecturers are people, usually very nice intelligent people, and of course they like to enjoy themselves. The only question is whether it is enjoyable to hang out with drunken students.

jimi_t

Been out with the class + tutor alright, but never the lecturer (300+ students in English/Sociology lectures :rolleyes:)

gubbie

Red Alert wrote: »

I'm suffering this morning from a night out with the lecturers! I think people forget that they're people too and like to enjoy themselves

Plus they buy us drinks
I've been out twice for drinks with my class and lecturer. The second time we got whiskey Elecs rock

Stepherunie

Our lecturers took us for drinks last Christmas - they were going to do the same this year but schedules didn't work out.

Went to a conference with a few lecturers so I've partied with them there and when I was on Erasmus we went out with the lecturers a couple of times - great craic!

Fionnanc

The lecture is meant to teach their students, not be their friend.
I consider it unethical to socialise or drink with students. As a lecturer is in a position of power compared to the student there is a certain mismatch.
Lastly socialising with students is a bad idea because the lecturer may be accused of favouritism by other disgruntled students.

Red Alert

It's a slightly different matter with postgrads though in that regard.

Fionnanc

If the postgraduate student is involved in the teaching of undergraduates, running of practicals or setting examination questions, it is inappropriate. Othwerwise the tasty undergrads are fair game.( For a few drinks naturally)

convert

Fionnanc wrote: »

If the postgraduate student is involved in the teaching of undergraduates, running of practicals or setting examination questions, it is inappropriate.

Fionnanc wrote: »

The lecture is meant to teach their students, not be their friend.
I consider it unethical to socialise or drink with students. As a lecturer is in a position of power compared to the student there is a certain mismatch.
Lastly socialising with students is a bad idea because the lecturer may be accused of favouritism by other disgruntled students.

I don't know where you went to college, but here in some UCD schools it is tradition for a lecturer or tutor to bring their students to the bar for a drink at the end of term, numbers permitting, of course.

There were only 16 students on my course and our lecturers brought us to the bar at the end of term. I have done that for my students, too, at the end of the semester (granted, I only had a group of 20, not 200+). If every student is invited and there's more than one lecturer/tutor, then I don't see the problem.

This is the problem with the introduction of PC - it's actually destroying the sense of community between lecturers/tutors and students. (And I mean that in a platonic way, just incase anybody misinterpets what I mean!!! )

Fionnanc

Convert. I most definately am not politically correct, I just think having any type of social interaction with your student leaves you open to all sorts of trouble/false accusations. Most of the students are great, but as in all walks of life there are people that will take advantage, the prime example being the failing student that will complain about favouritism.

Stabshauptmann

AFAIK the engineering socials / dinners are at the end of term so I dont think you can claim favourtism there.

pretty*monster

Fionnanc wrote: »

Convert. I most definately am not politically correct, I just think having any type of social interaction with your student leaves you open to all sorts of trouble/false accusations. Most of the students are great, but as in all walks of life there are people that will take advantage, the prime example being the failing student that will complain about favouritism.

I think it's important to resist the threat of the few being allowed to destroy the fun of the many.

I went for drinks with lecturers a good number of times as an undergrad and more times as a post grad, without exception all of them were able to be good craic while maintaining a level of professionalism (insofar as not giving us an unfair academic advantage).

It'll be a sad day when lecturers don't feel able to take their post-gra class to the bar, or have farewell drinks with their final years, or attent society functions.

Pride Fighter

Fionnanc wrote: »

The lecture is meant to teach their students, not be their friend.
I consider it unethical to socialise or drink with students. As a lecturer is in a position of power compared to the student there is a certain mismatch.
Lastly socialising with students is a bad idea because the lecturer may be accused of favouritism by other disgruntled students.

Someone fell out the wrong side of the bed this morning. Get a grip.

Fionnanc

I always get out of bed on the wrong side. And don't tell me to get a grip. All it takes is one complaint and you are on the defensive. A personal opinion given over a few pints to students can be a grounds for complaint. 2of my colleagues recieved complaints because of bad language and an off the cuff remark, and it wasn;t the passing students that complained.

MuddyDog

Fionnanc, why have you recently started posting regularly on the UCD forum voicing an opinion about matters that you can't possibly know much about unless you are/were a student here such as UCD Lecturers who drink with their students and Pulse Security on campus?

convert

Fionnanc wrote: »

Convert. I most definately am not politically correct, I just think having any type of social interaction with your student leaves you open to all sorts of trouble/false accusations. Most of the students are great, but as in all walks of life there are people that will take advantage, the prime example being the failing student that will complain about favouritism.

As I said, I've taken students for drinks, I've not been the only 'staff' member there, and I haven't bought any students a drink. It's been at the end of term, after I've graded assignments, etc. so there can be no grounds for accusations of favouratism. Moreover, so long as the tutor/lecturer behaves appropriately there should be no problems.

Stepherunie

I think it's different strokes for different folks.

My class only had 40 students in it so we got to know our lecturers extremely well, on top of that we worked with some of them in practice so you end up on first name terms with all of the staff.

It's normal practice for us to have staff drinks at the end of term and had no issue with it. People see it for what it is, a way to chat and wind down after a a semester and a way to get to know other students in other years.

I think losing traditions like this would be shame.