What an easy job professors have!

Professors at my school who carry a full load are in the classroom 12 hours a week. What an easy job, huh? But just as you are supposed to put in 2 hours of study for every hour of class, we profs do at least that: preparing lectures, exercises, assignments, etc. and grading homework papers, projects, etc. So that's 36 hours. Still pretty darn good, huh? But wait: teaching is only one of five responsibilities we have. We also have to serve our department by designing new or revised courses, recruiting the occasional new professor, and so on. Our third responsibility is to the University: for example, we serve on various committees such as the University Senate, the curriculum committee, etc. Our fourth responsibility is to the State, being a state university. We teach seminars to businesspeople, for example. Our fifth responsibility is to create new knowledge through research, the "publish or perish" part of our job. If you add all the time we spend on teaching, department chores, University service, community service, and research, most of us spend at least 75 or 80 hours a week. Not that I'm complaining, I'm not. It's still a great job.

Should your instructors require attendance at class?

If your instructor says attendance is mandatory, maybe that forces you to go and you learn more and get better grades. Or maybe you go but zone out or surf the Web, learning little or nothing. I don't require attendance, but almost all of my students come anyway. Why? Because they know the quizzes and tests are likely to focus on topics I've discussed in class. What do you think? Does requiring attendance help you or not?