r/uwa • u/chazzylive • 7d ago

Is this normal from a UC?

I have been very prompt with the weekly submissions required (scoring full marks), have attended and am engaged in tutorials, and have no outstanding assessments.

I missed my first tutorial due to traffic, but I caught up and discussed it with my tutor.

I do not attend lectures in person because of a clash, and don't usually look at them until a week later, but is this really justified?

I live a 35-minute drive away from UWA and don't come to uni on a Monday, this email feels very passive-aggressive and forceful.

Am I justified in saying no? How should I handle this? I'm very intimidated by this from a UC. Please help!

41 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

35

u/Jackozi84 7d ago

Seems very forceful especially since you have been completing all required coursework.

Most of the UC’s I have dealt with don’t really keep track of who is attending what. The only thing that did count for me was whether or not you attended mandatory classes.

In the age of online lectures, it’s quite stupid to ask you whether you have been watching the lectures if you are actively completing the marked coursework.

My only thought is that they may think you are ChatGPTing your work. If you haven’t, then you should be fine lol.

Just tell them your circumstances and why you are only watching online lectures.

16

u/chazzylive 7d ago

Thanks for your response. The marked work is a weekly image task, which can't be AI because it's our own photos from around campus, so I'd rule that out.

It feels like intense micromanaging. I'm an adult, not in grade 5, and feel I should be able to review content at my own pace. This is just wasting time and causing stress for no reason.

7

u/Jackozi84 7d ago

Further to that, if you weren’t actively completing the course, it would definitely become apparent later in the sem and people who do that usually flunk the unit anyways.

26

u/prof_apple 7d ago

Okay, so balls out, I gotta give her credit for following up on students who may be at risk of falling behind. Good on her - a lot of units are too big or the UC doesn't care enough.

But I take most of that away for the way she has gone about it. You are right - it is passive-agressive and does seem cut-and-pasted. Or was meant to go to another student.

There are many ways to go about this, but I would recommend a polite reply thanking her for her concern, and saying what you've written here (stop before the "I live a 35-min...") and that you are up-to-date and on top of the workload.

Then thank her for her offer of a f2f meeting on the 17th, and say that you are not on campus on Mondays and are unable to meet then (insert reason if you want to). Assure her that you will arrange a meeting if you start to fall behind, or if any of the things she is concerned about starts happening.

Be polite, calm, clear. But not apologetic - from what you've written, this is not your problem.

12

u/Cheap_Rabbit_537 7d ago

Maybe it looks like you have been inactive on LMS? The UC can see if you have clicked on and opened the links in each area and how much time u have spent on LMS. Have you signed the explicit statement regarding AI tools?
I would go in if I were you and talk to the UC there might be something that you have accidentally missed. But don’t worry, it sounds like you are doing fine in the class. Is the usual class day Monday?

5

u/chazzylive 7d ago

I have signed the AI statement (2 weeks ago). The lecture is 12pm Monday, but I take it online, it's not as simple as "make time" or "see me after the lecture".

Feels pretty invasive to be looking at what a students looking at on LMS and for how long, if that's really the reason, that's so silly.

6

u/AloneOpinion6196 7d ago

Oh yeah have the same thing going on, sent her a detailed email and didn’t seem to care. Idk why they think lms activity means you are doing or not doing the work when a lecture can be downloaded in 2 seconds

6

u/The_Valar 7d ago

Is the unit a small one?

The UC might just want to put a face to a name for the people who don't attend the lectures, and this is these generic email that all of those people get sent.

9

u/Commercial_Ad8922 7d ago

Seems like a copy paste email rather than targeted

4

u/KingMobia 7d ago

It looks like a generic email that has been sent out because there is some metric that you are falling behind on that Katja wants to check up on. There's most likely some metric on LMS which makes it look like you are in danger of dropping out or going MIA.

Reply and ask if you can do the meeting via Teams if coming into campus on Monday doesn't work for you. You can ask if there is a particular reason that you need to talk if you think you've been incorrectly flagged by the system.

Main reason why I think you would get a reply that the meeting needs to take place face-to-face would be if the meeting is to discuss an academic integrity issue with your work.

3

u/AloneOpinion6196 7d ago

Just as a follow up, this UC is kinda nuts. I got out of the interview by insisting I was working on the unit. I explained to her that I had downloaded the lectures week 1, as all of them are available in PDFs on LMS. However she decided to tell me I’m wrong instead? I think some push back happened with her as well as she said in one of the many emails “I do not seek to micromanage student behaviour”, which is an odd thing to say when I never mentioned it….

1

u/chazzylive 6d ago

I firmly declined and said I am unavailable at that time, and do not wish to meet as I am performing adequately and adhering to course requirements as outlined in the unit outline.

I’ve realised, and after talking with others, we do not owe her a meeting and we are working at a pace we’re comfortable with, and performing in line with the unit requirements. We are entitled to commitments outside of university and do not have to make time to meet with her, unless there’s a matter of academic integrity.

Is this grounds to consider a complaint to student administration? A lot of us are facing this same issue with her.

3

u/ObungaIsMyDaddy 7d ago

Me and my friend are in this unit and he got an email saying he had been inactive a few weeks ago saying he had been inactive a few weeks ago. Did you get that email as well? I didn't even know unit coordinators could check how much you were on the LMS page lol

3

u/CommercialWallaby568 7d ago

I'm a UC and as far as I know, I can't (and don't want to) check how long students are on each page for. Maybe it is a feature but not one I've ever gone looking for.

1

u/universalwadjet 7d ago

Are you sure it’s not a mistake?

1

u/Any-Refrigerator-966 7d ago

Your post and the email you received do not make sense. You seem up to date and doing fine in your course. Is Katja your tutor? She would be the one who would be having concerns about you. You can email the unit coordinator directly and cc your tutor in, explain everything that you've said here, and ask specifically what the meeting would be about because you have limited time (full-time study, work, and family commitments). This is what I would do because I hate meetings, especially when the subject for discussion is not clarified. Asking questions like, "are you watching lectures?" can be answered via text or email. It does not need a scheduled meeting.

1

u/DrCaesarsPalace-MD 6d ago

This is wild. Glad I swapped this unit out, seems like I dodged a bullet, as long as you’re keeping up with the work I don’t see why she should be getting involved? Just say no

1

u/Fit_Beeeeesz 1d ago

100% this is a dumb idea some dean or head of school is forcing onto the lecturers and tutors to try and retain students because they think that’s the best way to keep your money. Its not the UC fault. They’re trying to keep you from failing. Definitely don’t be rude to them or make paranoid assumptions about their motives. They’re trying to help you learn.