Advice to Higher Education Institutes

“Managing course grading and student feedback is typically ‘included in the hourly teaching rate.’ However students are increasingly asking for precise feedback on their grades.

This is understandable, but giving unique and specific feedback for each student on each assignment is very time consuming and there is not enough time in class.

If students want personalized teacher feedback, and universities want teachers to improve student satisfaction, then universities need to add a payroll component that reflects this extra work.”

– Teacher

“There is not enough content convergence with other teachers.”

-Teachers

“There is too much content convergence and course overlap. The same course shouldn’t be repeated again year after year. Multiple courses could easily be combined into one.”

-Students

“Teachers should include graded and non-graded exercises to challenge us students without putting pressure on us. Let us learn and make mistakes without fear of failing.

Structure classes to promote interaction rather than trying to force it; especially during remote classes.”

– Student

“Universities must consider the personal and professional lives of us students and not only the teacher’s when scheduling classes.

Don’t change class times at the last moment, and keep us students informed of absent teachers more quickly so we can organize our time.

Schedule classes at normal working hours, not late into the night. Respect our employment schedules, travel times and personal lives.

Either book full days on campus or full days remote. Stop booking a distance course and a face-to-face course 10 minutes later. Especially when there’s nowhere quiet on campus for us students to go for the remote class.”

– Student

“Universities must enforce stricter student entrance selection. English-only programs should not allow students who cannot speak English; they slow the class down for the rest of us.

Universities must not accept so many students if they do not have the facilities or know how to manage them.”

– Student

“Teachers must design a more detailed syllabus which clearly sets expectations, explains course prerequisites, project expectations, submission deadlines and grading. Each syllabus must also include a more in-depth teacher profile so we students can research them.

Universities must take greater control over the course content; content should not be solely at the teacher’s discretion.

Universities need to make the course program and syllabuses more readily available to us students at the beginning of the year.”

– Student

“Universities must schedule classes to optimize student learning; the material does not spread over several months. It is very difficult for us students to remember course material when the last class took place months earlier.

But also don’t condense the lessons too much either. We students need time to think, digest and work on the class projects. Organize course deadlines so projects are evenly distributed throughout the semester and aren’t all due at the same time.”

– Student

“Adjunct teachers are not considered ’employees’ nor part of the internal organization and as such, the internal procedures sometimes seem strange to us, cumbersome and above all not within our control.

Universities should offer teachers teaching assistants to provide administrative support; someone who knows the ‘house’.”

– Teacher

“Have empathy. Teachers must keep in mind we students are beginners, not experts like you may be. The course subject may not be our individual strength or our passion.

And understand many of us students have part-time jobs and apprenticeships so our time is short and we have challenges at work outside of class. Even during class days companies sometimes expect us to work.”

– Student

“Enforce academic standards. Teachers are not automatically respected by students. Beginning from their first semester, universities must require students attend workshops that set professional expectations, rules and expected behavior along with consequences.

Students are no longer in high school and their transformation into the professional world may not be obvious to them. Students need to understand, feel and respect this difference, otherwise the student and their teachers are set up for failure.

Give students a sense of responsibility and professionalism, hold them accountable and empower teachers to enforce consequences.”

– Teacher

“Universities need to incorporate teacher recognition. For example, every semester let students vote for their ‘favorite teacher.’ Teaching can be a thankless job.”

– Teacher

“Universities must pool their tools and software together. For us teachers, juggling several usernames and passwords to different systems within the same university is complicated to manage, moreso when teaching at several universities.

Every year universities integrate new ‘innovative’ platforms and abandon others, and teachers are left to figure it out.”

– Teacher

“Classes and course projects should add value to our professional career, not just help us students fulfill basic requirements for our diploma.”

– Student

“As a teacher I’ve had program managers I’ve taught courses for for years suddenly stop responding to my calls and emails, only to discover that that program manager had been posting job announcements on LinkedIn actively recruiting teachers to teach my very course; even stating they have course content to offer (undoubtedly the content I created).”

– Teacher

“When teachers want to stop teaching a course, they should suggest a few contacts in their network to replace them.”

– Program Director

“A teacher’s created content is rarely audited by the university. This flexibility and trust is appreciated, but this often results in teachers exceeding their course content and encroaching on the content of other courses.

As a result, students complain they have already heard the same – or ‘contradictory’ – information.”

– Teacher

“Compared with the pre-COVID-19 period, we teachers are seeing 40% more students per class than other years.

We teachers are doing our best to meet grade submission requirements, taking into account that we must spend our Christmas holidays grading essays. And to be honest it is impossible to achieve the grade submission deadline if the university and it’s students want individualized grading and feedback in all essays.

Obviously this is not your, university employee’s responsibility, however you must bear with us teachers and be a little patient as we are doing the best we can with what we have.“

– Teacher

“Adjunct teachers have similar to superior education and professional experience than full-time teachers yet aren’t offered the same amount of time and compensation to prepare for courses, to grade projects or to create educational content.

Offer adjunct teachers fixed-term contracts with a decent monthly salary as well as the perks that come along with it.”

– Teacher

“It is very difficult for teachers to juggle the planning and get a consistent schedule when teaching in several schools plus other professional obligations.

Universities should recognize this.”

– Teacher

“Universities need to do a better job communicating with their students and us teachers need more constructive meetings because a lot of things tend to be left unsaid.

As teachers we sometimes find ourselves doing after-sales service for students.”

– Teacher

“Teachers should teach less theory, less rote memorization and a lot more practice.

Don’t just assign exercises. Show us students the real objectives of the exercise and link them to what we could do later.

Design interactive, operational courses with role play to prepare us students for our entry into the professional world.”

– Student

“Universities must hire teachers who are actually interested in teaching us students and are not just here for the money.”

– Student

“Universities should hire teachers not only because of their professional experience. Ensure they are also good teachers.

Some classes are better taught by teachers than by actual working professionals.”

– Student

“Universities train your teachers to use Teams because it is not normal that after 2 years of COVID some still cannot connect on time.

Some classes systematically start 20 minutes late because the teacher does not know how to initiate a meeting.”

– Student

“Universities must create events to bring teachers and students together outside of class.

University and teachers must organize more inter-class projects so we can work with new students and not always only with students in our own class.“

– Student

“Universities must align teachers’ hourly rates within schools of the same group. There’s no reason teachers should be paid less to teach the same course at a different campus from the same school.

And improve the slow, unreliable remuneration and of independent teachers. Treat teachers humanely and pay them on time : Payment within 30 days after service should be performed like all other private clients.”

– Teacher

“Universities must communicate their deliverables more clearly, even if they are the same as the previous year. It can be difficult for us teachers to get precise answers from the university.

Academic staff should be more transparent and personable at the management level. Relations with university employees are very random; it depends on the person.”

– Teacher

“Teachers rarely receive student feedback on what is working and what needs improvement for future courses.

Combine this with short-term contracts and (usually) late teacher booking, and this makes it difficult for teachers to plan ahead, manage finances and trust if the university will have them back to teach the following year.”

– Teacher

“University and teachers, simplify and externalize communication to reduce our need to contact you. And when we students must contact you, respond more quickly to our emails, even if the answer is negative.

When responding to us students don’t simply say ‘I don’t know’, and don’t speak poorly to us when responding. We are equals, not inferior. We don’t pay to be spoken poorly to.”

– Student

“Universities should ask for student feedback on courses and teachers more frequently, and show us students proof of how our responses are being implemented.

Listen to the difficulties we students encounter with our teachers, and show you are actually doing something about it.

Be open to negotiating with us students in certain situations.”

– Student

“Universities need to hire experienced professionals from diverse industries who are also competent, passionate teachers that like to share their experience.

Diversify our courses and the teacher profiles because it feels like we students are always hearing the same things and learning the same way.”

– Student

“Universities must make sure there is minimum course content overlap each semester, and the same course shouldn’t be repeated again the following year. Multiple courses could easily be combined into one.”

– Student

“I have seen fellow adjunct teacher’s contracts abruptly broken and the teacher replaced in the middle of the semester with no due process.

Falling out with one program director at a university likely means losing teaching opportunities with the entire university for at least the next couple of years, if not forever.”

– Teacher

“Universities need to automate the contract and compensation processes. Some universities still do not offer electronic paychecks, so teachers must receive paper stubs by mail and digitize them themselves.”

– Teacher

“Course objectives are usually not clearly defined and syllabuses are often oversimplified. Teachers are asked to create and teach 12 to 16+ hours of content using a syllabus theme that is summarized in just 4 lines.

Even when course objectives and intended learning outcomes (ILOs) are clearly defined, syllabuses aren’t designed to reflect student expectations; it is the responsibility of the teacher to uncover this and adapt the content.

It can be hard to balance strict university accreditation requirements with student level and expectations.”

– Teacher

“Universities need better class planning and project submission organization so we students don’t end up with nothing to do for 2 months and then not being able to sleep for 2 weeks.

Busy, intensive schedules and heavy content forces us to ‘rush’ our work, not for lack of interest but for lack of time due to all the other projects due. Teachers should cover less material in each class, but go far deeper into the material covered.”

– Student

“It can be demotivating for teachers knowing that at the end of the semester students can insult their teachers and complain anonymously and without impunity.

I am shocked by the level of hatred and insults some students have felt comfortable leaving anonymously, but won’t participate or speak in class.”

– Teacher

“Most teachers are good, but…

Universities should observe teachers doing a trial lesson before offering them a job, check their skills regularly and be willing to replace teachers.

Some teachers are so bad, and their behavior towards us students so unprofessional they should consider changing careers. It damages the school’s reputation.

University should ensure good student/teacher relations & teachers should be held responsible for this.”

– Student

“The invisible, unpaid hours make adjunct teaching untenable and lead to high teacher turnover.

If total pay for a 15-hour course of 40 students at 80€/hour is 1,200€, estimate 25 unpaid hours of class preparation, grading with feedback, student & administrative emails, occasional catch-up exams and teacher meetings, this becomes 30€/hour, before taxes.

Universities that attract and keep quality teachers understand what really attracts teachers to the profession.”

– Teacher

“Teacher pay rate is based on the teacher’s highest level of education, yet pay does not increase according to the teacher’s number of years of teaching experience, professional experience or student satisfaction.”

– Teacher

“Teachers have invested their career building their reputation, skill set and training content.

Adjunct teacher’s temporary university contracts are increasingly including ‘personal release agreements’ so the university can use the teacher’s name, image, voice, training material and remote course recordings in their advertising and branding.

This is not reflected in teacher compensation.“

– Teacher

“University should offer students better internship options than from small, struggling companies nobody has ever heard of.

Offer merit-based internships to motivate students in class and reduce inequality of opportunity.”

– Student

“No superficial courses. In the final years of study, offer more advanced courses on risks that can penalize us in real life: negotiating salary and employment contracts, paying taxes, financial planning…”

– Student

“Workshops on critical thinking, storytelling and ‘soft skills’ are useless; Our personality won’t change because of one class.

Add courses in eloquence and rhetoric every year because it is essential to know how to express ourselves in our professional life and in public.“

– Student

“University must offer more attractive specializations. An English-only program is not a ‘specialization’. Have specializations more relevant than just ‘speaking English’.

And if it is an English-only program, then courses should be taught only in English by teachers who actually speak English fluently.”

– Student

“The same university has needed my teaching services every semester for 21 years, but will not offer me an annual fixed-term contract. Further, over those 21 years the hourly teaching rate has increased by less than 1€, while the cost of living has almost doubled.

Universities should not be surprised when the quality of teaching becomes impoverished to the detriment of the experience of students.”

– Teacher

“French regulations now require higher education teachers obtain 10 hours of ongoing certified training each year just to continue teaching the same course content, and it is the responsibility of the teacher to find, take and pay for these certifications out of pocket.

Teaching becomes less profitable each year.”

– Teacher

“Universities must improve the quality of their on-campus cafeteria with better coffee and food – that’s where we students get our energy from.

Also improve the service of their on-campus cafeteria. Hundreds of students, 1 cash register, 1 coffee machine, 1 microwave, 2 cafeteria employees, and only a 10 minute break in-between classes. The logistics are impossible!”

– Student

Student entrance exams and milestones should be required to take certain courses.

It isn’t fair to the qualified students that have to follow a slowed-down or dumbed-down version of a course so all students can participate.

In group projects qualified students have complained they must also do the work of the unqualified students in order for their grades not to suffer.

– Teacher

“A university’s absolute rigidity of class scheduling makes it difficult to teach, let alone arrive to class on time. As a working professional my clients and employer require significant availability on my part, sometimes last minute.

Inflexible teaching hours and unpaid grading outside of class combined with long, unpaid transportation to and from campus makes me question whether or not I want to continue working with some universities.”

– Teacher

Students are paying customers. University should think of students first because we are the ones who pay.

University should refresh their website and provide more accurate explanation in the brochure because the school is not like what is advertised.

University should align their program sold and the program carried out. And stop changing program names every year.

– Student

Spy on other universities and steal what works. University should see what is happening at other schools and develop specialty programs to improve and stand out from the competition.

Universities should invest more in students and their pedagogical team, not in school advertisements.

– Student

“Get rid of dead weight students. We all pay to have our diploma and in the end we will all have the same diploma.

So let the hard-working students work together and flourish among themselves, and leave those who do not want to work on the side.

We are no longer in high school.”

– Student

“I hate when teachers don’t bring any course content and instead their entire class is spent working on course projects. Or the teacher replaces classes with group presentations and no constructive feedback.

We are not the teachers. I am not paying to be taught by other students.“

– Student

“Universities shouldn’t hire teachers at the end of their career or who are wanting peace and quiet or easy money.

Universities cannot expect motivated students if their teachers aren’t motivating.”

– Student

“I hate hypocritical teachers who plagiarise other people’s content for their lecture and then penalize students for it. It’s obvious the teacher’s images and content is based on the first Google result that pops up, and their PowerPoint slides appear to have been copy/pasted from the internet.“

– Student

“I hate teachers who are unwilling to question themselves and even less their training method.

They believe there is only one truth, that they have it, and are unwilling to consider alternative perspectives.”

– Student