Something is definitely not right....
My professor from the last BS Chemistry major (ACS certified) course has yet to grade my last report that was turned in for an independent research course DURING THE SUMMER OF 2006. It was noted, in one of the past post here that I was grateful that he would edit the paper in the first place, however, I haven't heard from him in a while and had called the chair of the Chemistry department out of curiosity. It seems that this isn't the only time this particular professor of mine deliberately cased this type of trouble in the past with students. In fact, it was revealed during a phone call with 'chairman' that he is scheduled to retire by Christmas this year, due to this "quirk" of his....the event was "arranged". The "quirk" in his personality is small, however, it has been deemed unacceptable in consideration of the quality of education that the students in the Chemistry department receive.
It turns out that he hasn't gotten along with the chairman very well in the past. He (the chairman) had stated that this professor does these type of things due to an ego, a very eccentric one indeed, and one that is annoying to the staff as well as the students. He volunteered to meet with the professor right away. However, I had asked he not be reprimanded until early March, should the situation be present then.
Albeit, I'm not so concerned about getting this report graded, which is going to officially end my undergraduate academic session. From the information that was presented to me from the chairman, however, this case seems a bit freaky and disconcerting.
He has a nice personality overall; college has taught me to be open minded, so instead of just concluding that he was "weird", I had dealt with him through a professional manner until now. Maybe he's planning something in his desparate state. He's not senile, I've talked with him a few times about this, and all of it seems deliberate. Perhaps, the reality is that (the non-dramatic one) is that he doesn't want to grade paper.....and that he is just aging, all in all folks, the lesson here is to always pick the right professor for whatever course you take, especially those that involve research.
