Have you ever felt disrespected by a professor or staff at college? You are not alone. Me and many other students have, and it can be hard to know how to react in that kind of situation. You should never be made to feel like you cannot stand up for yourself. You pay to attend school here and be taught by the professors, so you are entitled to receive what you pay for.

The first step is to realize when you have been disrespected. Of course, professors are professional people who deserve respect, but so do students. If a professor says something to you that makes you feel hurt, or ignored, make sure you write it down, if it isn’t already in an email.

Having a paper trail is the best way to make sure you have proof. If something rude was said to you in a meeting with the professor, make sure to email the professor afterward with a recap of the meeting and what was said in it. Louisiana is a one-party consent state when it comes to recording, so as long as you consent to being recorded, you are free to record any conversation that you are in. If you are going into a meeting worried about what may be said, recording may be the best option to protect yourself.

The next step is to figure out who you should report to. Every professor is part of a department and each department has a dean. There are many administrators who want to make sure that you have a good experience at NSU. You deserve to have good college years and should not hate going to class because of one rude professor. Most department deans will want to hear your concerns, and even if they do not result in action against the professor, it is good to have a report made in case of future incidents.

Here is a list of deans of the four colleges at NSU:
Greg Handel, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs; Dean of Graduate School; Professor of Music Education
Francene Lemoine, Professor and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
Mary Stacy, Dean of the College of Business and Technology
Joel Hicks, Dean of the College of Nursing and School of Allied Health

If the disrespect came from a department dean, then you should go above them and reach out to the Vice President for the Student Experience and Dean of Students, Reatha Cox.

Be honest when telling your story to a higher-up. Do not feel discouraged by a rude comment from a professor. You are going to college to get a degree, and you will have a multitude of other professors who you will like and enjoy learning from them. Not everyone is meant to be a teacher, and oftentimes they have something outside of work causing them to have a bad attitude. Whether they are mad about their salary, dealing with personal issues or they just hate the classes they have to teach, they need to put that aside when they come to teach a class.

If you feel like the professor is giving you inaccurate grades because of their issues with you, that definitely needs to be reported. One person who speaks up can stop it from happening to future students.

If a student ever said something disrespectful to a professor, I do not doubt that the professor would be quick to report it and chastise the student, so do not be afraid to do the same to them. This is their job, and you pay for them to do it. Do not let a teacher with a vendetta stop you from earning your degree.