In 1979 I was starting my first job in the Department of biology at Livingston College of Rutgers University Livingston College was built on an old Army base - Camp Kilmer. Livingston College opened in 1969 and was intended to be “the college of inclusion,” with a faculty and student body unlike that of any other public institution in the state of New Jersey. Its motto was  "Strength through Diversity.” Livingston College opened in 1969. At that time Rutgers admitted mostly white, middle and upper middle, class students. I want to point out that in 2022, Rutgers University ranks extremely high in diversity. However, when I first started at Rutgers there was pervasive attitude that “faculty and student body unlike that of any other public institution in the state of New Jersey” meant that the students and faculty were inferior.

I was surprised to learn that introductory genetics - the course I was assigned to teach, had a different course number than the same course on the Rutgers College or Douglass College Campuses. This was to denote that it was not at the same level as courses taught by “real professors.” I had to meet with the outgoing professor of genetics (he did not get tenure) because he had my office keys. (Yes that was very awkward!) He wanted to talk. His advice to me was shocking. He told me that his students were stupid and did not belong in college. I should pick a low-level text book and write only the simplest test questions (True/False and multiple choice). His ideas were based on the flawed idea that intelligence was a fixed trait and that Livingston students were just inferior. That idea is based more in scientific racism and eugenics than reality, (I will be writing a blog about this later).

I ignored him and offered a course every bit as rigorous as the ones offered at the other campuses. My students did well. Anecdotally, I never generated a Bell curve. Livingston students were, in fact, different. They tended to generate a U-shaped curve. The least frequent grades were C’s. I had lots of A’s and Bs’ and D’s and F’s. This had more to do with grading policies (D’s and F’s did not appear on the transcript) than student quality.

I continually to run into this attitude. “I would be a great teacher if I only had better students,” As the Vice Chair of Genetics I had to sit in on the lectures of junior faculty members. Sometimes this was to help them become better teachers. Sometimes this was to evaluate them for tenure and promotion. By and large, the worst faculty members were those who arrogantly dismissed their bad teaching ratings as a result of having to teach the terrible students that were admitted to the University. Not only were these faculty members bad teachers but they were extremely reluctant to admit that their teaching was at fault. I had the same excuses offered at SENCER meetings. “You are from Rutgers so of course your students can learn. However I teach at _______________ and my students are terrible.”

It is wrong to blame the students. Once you acknowledge that every student can learn, your job is no longer to sort the students into categories, but rather to help each student learn. The responsibility for poor student performance is yours. My wakeup call came from SENCER. Yours may come from other organizations or from teaching and learning centers on your own campus.

Ironically, although I have always believed that every student can learn. I had fallen into the trap of two midterms and a final exam. This is a guaranteed way to lock students into a poor grade with no possibility of redemption. Once I took seriously my own belief I had to redesign my courses to aid student achievement. (I will write about this in a future blog).

Realistically, not every student will excel in your course. Students have lives and they may not be able to devote the time to your course that it requires. I have had students who worked forty hours a week to pay for their tuition and tried to carry a full load of courses.  Other students were dealing with mental health and physical health problems (thior own or a family member's) .  Other students were single parents with unreliable child care. Finally some students had chosen to put their effort in another course such as organic chemistry and were willing to accept a lower grade in my course.  

Terry R. McGuire - Writing as the Reinvented Professor. (Reinventedprofessor@gmail.com) .

Questions, comments and suggestions welcome.