Diminishing Professor – Student Relationships

Vanguard University is a school built off of a caring foundation. The majority of students, including myself, came to Vanguard for the smaller classes, close relationships with professors, and a caring environment. However, it seems like once the COVID-19 pandemic started, a lot of distance was felt physically and emotionally.

With an average of 2,000 students, Vanguard promises a close relationship with professors. However, pandemic professors are continuing to educate on Zoom which is causing a drift in the learning environment. Some students feel like professors are not putting enough effort into their class. This has made students drop classes. There have been cases where there is a lack of communication blocks a potential relationship.

“In one of my classes, one of the professors didn’t reach out at all. I would just see him once a week and all he would do is just read off questions that did not help. Due to the fact, I had to drop the class because I didn’t understand the work. I feel like he would just teach and not care about the students in how they were doing” Israel Velasquez, sophomore.

Lately, students have been experiencing a lack of empathy from their instructors — specifically, those who have had difficulties due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, many students have had to take on more responsibilities in their household. This has made deadlines difficult to fulfill. Even after sending an explanation by email, many professors have not been considerate towards the students.

“I asked if I could get until Sunday to turn in my homework since the weekend it’s pretty much the only time I have to do homework and projects. But all he tells me is that I should be able to make time during the week as I do for all my other classes even though I told him I’m struggling in my classes because of my situation. It’s hurtful how they can’t even comply with the littlest request. It’s not that big a deal to let one student submit homework late given an actual circumstance that can’t be resolved,” said Isaiah Jaramillo, junior.

Students do acknowledge that some professors do continue to interact with students during these difficult times. They are continuing to bring faith into the room by beginning class sessions with prayer requests and giving words of wisdom.

“I have felt that some of my professors have tried their best to keep up the connections with their students over Zoom. They have made sure to ask for prayer requests before class or have a light conversation before diving into the lecture,” said Savannah Poulos, junior.

However, other professors seem to only move forward with content without interacting with students. They are disconnected. And the workload keeps increasing, which is overwhelming for students during a time of need. “I feel that many students have been struggling during this time of online learning and in many of my classes the workload has increased dramatically and we receive no breaks or days off. Many people I have talked to are so drained from all this,” said Paulos.

Vanguard still holds these professors to their responsibilities, and they are feeling just as drained. Both students and professors have dealt with loss in the past year due to Covid-19, which is why relationships should become stronger. There needs to be more interaction over Zoom so class time can result in meaningful relationships.