Do you know a professor who.....
If any of the above are true of a professor in your department, you need to be very careful about becoming too friendly with him or her. These are signs of unprofessional behavior at best, and a predator at worst. Familiarize yourself with your college or university policies on sexual harassment and proceed with caution!
- Has a reputation for being overly friendly with students?
- Has been rumored to have had affairs in the past with students?
- Routinely goes out drinking with students?
- Has openly dated students or recent graduates in the past?
- Has been known to date significantly younger women in the past?
- Tries to get students to meet him/her off-campus for office hours?
- Seems to prefer using only his/her personal email rather than the university email?
- Makes inappropriate sexual jokes in or out of class in the presence of students?
- Seems to push students into visiting her/him during office hours for special, lengthy "chats" ?
- Seems to turn professional discussions onto personal topics?
- Discloses inappropriate details about her/his own relationships or sex life to students?
- Seems to behave in unprofessional and immature ways?
- Speaks disparagingly of other faculty in front of students?
- Seems to be working hard to appear "cool" to students?
- Seems overly attached to certain students, or openly has "favorites"?
- Seems not to socialize much with other faculty?
- Seems not to have the respect of or is disliked by other faculty?
- Gives compliments to students that do not seem genuine or merit-based?
- Grades unreasonably hard in order to force students to come to his/her office hours?
If any of the above are true of a professor in your department, you need to be very careful about becoming too friendly with him or her. These are signs of unprofessional behavior at best, and a predator at worst. Familiarize yourself with your college or university policies on sexual harassment and proceed with caution!