Title has the simple version of this: How do you feel about professors who lock the doors to the lecture hall when they begin teaching and will not allow late students to come in?
Why I ask (the TL;DR version that's just personal stuff and unnecessary ): In my first semester of nursing school, this was a standard policy. I never liked it, but I definitely understood it. Punctuality is a big thing for me, but it isn't for a lot of people these days, and the cohort needed an overarching message that nursing wasn't the profession to get into if you couldn't get it together and arrive on time. None of the other professors we had after that have felt that a locked-door policy was necessary.
That was all good and well, but now I'm on my last semester of nursing school and I have a professor with a personal policy of locking the door when the lecture begins. I disagree with it on principle, because I think it's just childish. We all pay a lot of money for the education we receive. Every moment of it is important to us. We've made it to the final stretch, and I think we've shown the faculty that we're dedicated enough and wouldn't be late without a very good reason. Depriving us of lectures we paid for because that professor refuses to cope with someone quietly coming in and sitting down is kind of ridiculous IMO. But I've always figured, hey, whatever, I'm never late to anything so it won't affect me, and I've shrugged it off.
Well, guess what? It happened. Our class is several hours long, so we get released for 5-10 minute breaks every hour or so. We were released for a 10 minute break at 10 til, and I ended up needing a bit longer in the bathroom than I thought. I got back to the classroom 2 minutes before the 10 minutes was up, and I found myself locked out. I was irate. Ten minutes hadn't even passed yet, and I knew I had to have only missed her shutting the doors by less than a minute. It was unfair and I couldn't do jack squat about it. I couldn't even leave because everything, including my purse, was locked inside the classroom that I was locked out of. It was incredibly upsetting to have to sit outside for an hour knowing I was missing the lecture and being completely powerless to do anything about it.
Now I'm not stupid enough to complain to anybody and make waves about it; you pick your battles wisely, and this one would just be stupid. But I'm definitely still angry that it happened, and I'm going to write about it on that professor's evaluation at the end of the course. It's left me wondering how other students feel about/deal with these kinds of policies, or whether they even have them.
I have an hour commute to work. I always leave about 15 minutes early to account for traffic. If there happened to be a major accident on the way to work and I called to say I would be late I would not be told "don't bother coming, If you clock in after 7:01 the clock wont accept your punch". Life happens. Even the most responsible person can not plan for every random occurrence (including random diarrhea) Not sure why school should be any different. Just because a person is late once does not make them irresponsible.
Exactly, if you're going to be late for work, you call and let them know. I'm sure exceptions are made when advanced notice is given by a student also. It's the habitually late students who just wander in as they please that these policies are really made for. No one here is talking about a student who is late just once.
Do you think a school teaches students accountability and maturity by locking them out of class?
Accountability and maturity, perhaps not. It is, however, teaching that there are consequences to our actions whether our actions are intentional or a result of "life happens" moments.
I think it's a little over the top, and somewhat lazy for a prof to do this. The entire class should not be treated like caged reptiles because a few were late. For the INSANE cost of tuition, these professors need to DO THE WORK of dealing with tardy students individually, in private and on their own time. If they're trying to teach students lessons about the real world, they need to deal with lateness like managers deal with it in the real world: individually, in private, and with due process. No nursing unit gets locked when the shift starts.
And, if anyone locked me away from my purse or personal belongings like that, there would be a VERY steep price to pay! ABSOLUTELY NOT is that ever, ever acceptable unless I have signed an agreement of understanding ahead of time that that is the rule. I would raise holy heck with administration if anyone tried that with me. My purse is my financial info, my medication, my phone and my life. Never would I allow anyone to lock me away from it under any circumstance.
What an utterly ridiculous, lazy and over the top way to deal with tardy students.
Who's tuition is insane? On the other hand do you know how much these professor make? Not much. I certainly wouldn't put up with it.
As far as the initial door-locking at the beginning of class, like I said, I don't mind it although I don't agree with it on principle. Reality trumps my principles on paper though; if you let people get away with being chronically tardy, they will walk all over you. I can see why a professor wouldn't want to deal with that in groups as big as cohorts can be. I wouldn't choose to deal with it the way she does, but I can't argue against it because really with nursing school, there's almost no excuse for it.
I really like the idea about the egg timer. I am very anal about punctuality because I come from a family where I'm often stuck waiting at places for 20+ minutes because my family members are chronically late for "running late" . I'm always very aware of how much time I have, and the egg timer will ensure that I get every second of it (and so does everybody else) before being locked out. It doesn't change a policy that I feel is unfair (locking the door for bathroom breaks), but it does provide a compromise I can live with.
As for my purse, I was less worried that somebody was going to steal from me and much more perturbed that it had my wallet and keys in it so I was literally stuck and could go nowhere. I trust all of the people who sit around me after the last few years together, and I know they know I have nothing left to steal by the end of nursing school . I'll likely be more vigilant about keeping my purse on me in the future though.
I have read a lot about programs where if you miss even one clinical or more than one class, you're kicked out of the program. I think the programs that do this are generally in much more competitive areas, so they can afford to be that strict because it's so tough to even get in. I remember first hearing about there being years-long waiting lists to get into programs, and about lottery systems, and being shocked that anyone would put themselves through that. There's always something new to hear about. It's part of why I love reading posts here on AN :).
I think it's brilliant! My microbiology professor had that policy: he told us all about it on the first day--plus it was in the syllabus--so we knew what was expected from us. If you were late, you had to wait until the break to get in. He also had a policy that if your cell phone went off (either ringer or vibrate), that you had to leave the classroom to take the call...and that meant you couldn't come back in until break.
AND he enforced that policy. After a couple of classes of seeing him stand behind his words, everyone realized that he meant business. And they fell over themselves to get there on time and have those phones off.
It was very nice to be able to enjoy class without the interruptions of latecomers and buzzing cell phones! I often wish more instructors would do it.
I can certainly understand the principle of it, and I do agree that it's a little unfair. But I definitely understand why some professors feel the need to do this. I think it's something you just have to deal with when you have that particular professor and work hard to show up on time. In your case, however, I think they were being entirely unreasonable. Giving the students a ten minute break and locking the doors before the ten minutes is up is pretty cheap, especially without any warning. I had a teacher in high school who locked her door when class started, but if the class was at 1:35, she'd lock up at 1:36. Her philosophy was that if someone shows up at 1:35, they're still technically on time. I always thought that was a very reasonable way of looking at it. It's a shame that your professor doesn't feel the same way.
Locking the doors is BS. Teaching punctuality is accomplished in a better way. For example, coming in late on test day gets you an automatic 10 point deduction if you don't have a valid excuse. Our class doesn't experience tardiness so far. But sometimes you're running late through no fault of your own. And locking the door following a break is childish.
For every student arguing "these are my tuition dollars and I should not be locked out of a class I'm paying for!" there are two saying "these are my tuition dollars and I deserve the full hour of instruction without rude disruption of my peers". I'm in the latter group, if anyone is polling
I'm a boomer and I find nothing wrong with following the rules and being held accountable.
I don't like negotiating rules.
I had a professor who did exactly what is described in the OP.
That was a long time ago and the argument was the same as what we're having here.
Maybe it's not a generational thing, but an entitlement thing. "I pay my tuition so I'm entitled to break the rules". "I pay your wage, so you have to let me do what I want".
"If I weren't here, you wouldn't have a job, so I don't have to do what you want".
Does any of that sound familiar to my fellow nurses?
): In my first semester of nursing school, this was a standard policy. I never liked it, but I definitely understood it. Punctuality is a big thing for me, but it isn't for a lot of people these days, and the cohort needed an overarching message that nursing wasn't the profession to get into if you couldn't get it together and arrive on time. None of the other professors we had after that have felt that a locked-door policy was necessary. .thumb.jpg.1a244cedeaa5f9fabd6836ced9c0b3f7.jpg){kind=small}
I could always pick out the kids of people who thought like this at story time, birthday parties, the park, etc.....
. I'll likely be more vigilant about keeping my purse on me in the future though. 
Boog'sCRRN246, RN
784 Posts
Exactly, if you're going to be late for work, you call and let them know. I'm sure exceptions are made when advanced notice is given by a student also. It's the habitually late students who just wander in as they please that these policies are really made for. No one here is talking about a student who is late just once.