At the beginning of every semester students know that the very first day of classes will be very informative since professors will be handing out their syllabi which is an outline for the new semester. Some professors never hand out syllabi and they just release information on a need-to-know basis as the semester progresses. On the other hand some professors religiously follow their syllabi and if there are any changes to be made to their syllabi they will in fact take the time to re-do the syllabus and post it on BlackBoard or distribute it through other means to students.

History has shown that syllabi can be very helpful in determining the characteristics of any specific professor and the related course. It shows how punctual the professor is, how lenient, how strict, harsh, tough, clear, positive and etc. he/she may be. Often times syllabi are so long that students don’t bother reading it and professors find that very disrespectful. That’s true especially when a student asks a professor a question that was clearly addressed in his/her syllabus.

My first homework assignment at the beginning of every semester is to READ the entire syllabus for every class and make sure I understand it. That way I eliminate any misunderstanding that may arise later on during the semester which may cause a great deal of trouble. For the most part my professors were not able to follow their syllabi and many times had to cross out certain sections of their syllabi due to time constraints. I remember that in Intermediate Accounting 2 (ACCT202) Professor Hornung had to eliminate Chapter 20 which was on pensions, simply because there was no way we could’ve covered that topic.

I exactly don’t know why that is the case but very often professors just cannot cover what’s to be covered on their syllabi. It seems to be that this semester at least 2 of my professors will not cover everything that is on their syllabi. In fact one professor has already announced that certain chapters will not be covered. I know for sure that it is not the professor’s fault. Many time excess amount of days off and class cancellations are the main reason for the common delays that is occurred in classes at Queens College.

In any event, all I know is that all students should read their syllabi and make sure they understand it. They should refer to it once in a while throughout the semester and try to pace themselves accordingly. I for one actually have to do that now, so until my next post take care!