Students - your opinions

[velochic]

My dh is a tenured professor at an urban public university that has *a lot* of professional/adult students, but also younger kids right out of high school. This is going to sound like a funny question, but I'm wondering how you would feel about this.

Dd is selling girl scout cookies. I asked dh if he wanted to ask his students if any of them want to buy some. Now, dh is EXTREMELY ethical and a very morally upstanding person. He would never, and I mean NEVER do anything that he thought might be improprietous. His reaction was to immediately say, "No way! That's an abuse of power." We talked about it and he said that it would make his students feel obligated to buy the cookies. I told him that a lot of people don't have a source to purchase from and that they may actually just *want* to buy some, not for some ulterior motive. In the end, I totally understood his position and agreed with it. He is a notoriously hard grader (Computer Science), but a very fair and just man.

Obviously, we're not going to do this now, but I'm curious what others think? Would you feel pressure to buy cookies because the professor's kid is selling them? I wasn't thinking along those lines, but he immediately dismissed it as "wrong". Thoughts?

[outlier]

I agree with your dh. Even if he stated otherwise to his students, I can see some students feeling that buying cookies would be like buying extra points or more lenient grading on exams. I think it's far better for some students to go without having Girl Scout cookies this season than for your dh to risk getting slammed on his teacher evaluations for a perceived abuse of power or even favoritism.

Speaking as a recent college student, I personally wouldn't feel obligated to buy cookies, but it would make me feel uncomfortable that the teacher was selling them. Students are required to spend so much on college classes anyway, you know? It's probably best not to risk creating any more resentment than is already there.

[~pi]

I agree with your DH.

I might not have personally felt pressure, but I would definitely have thought it was inappropriate. There really isn't much gray area here.

In a casual lab with grad students, maybe it would be ok. It depends on the lab. In classes of undergrads, definitely not.

[pumpkin]

I agree with your husband. Absolutely not acceptable.

[Ornery]

Not a good idea. As a student, it would make me feel uncomfortable and awkward to have a professor ask me if I wanted to buy cookies from his dd.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Yeah not a good idea. But he could causally bring up in conversation that his daughter is selling cookies "Uh all I've eaten today is Girl Scout cookies, because dd is a girl scout, so forgive me if I seem a little unfocused/hyper etc" and then if anyone really wanted cookies, and didn't know where to get some (because they don't ever go to stores, walk down the street, take the subway or anything b/c the girl scouts are EVERYWHERE right now) Then the student would take the innative to ask for cookies, which is different, "whoa prof can you hook me up with some cookies???" (eg prof doing student a favor, not student doing prof's kid a favor)

[velochic]

Thanks for the responses. I have always admired dh for his moral compass. I almost always defer to that and glad I did again. Not that mine is off, but he certainly takes his responsibility as a professor very seriously.

[Geofizz]

I agree with the above -- however, I had no problem with DD bringing the order form to work and going door to door amongst my colleagues. She may also get a few extra cases to sell out in the atrium of the building between classes in March when the cookies come in with my DH sitting nearby. She won't be selling directly to my students, though.

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by velochic

His reaction was to immediately say, "No way! That's an abuse of power." We talked about it and he said that it would make his students feel obligated to buy the cookies.

He's right. I always hated it in HS when my teachers would want pledges for running so many miles to raise money for X thing.

[Carita]

ITA with your DH - but many commuter schools have common lunchrooms, and you could just leave out the order form there w/just a first name, no last name. Then students wouldn't know which family. But I agree, I wouldn't announce it during class or anything.

[Icehockey18]

I agree with dh. In fact, it is against the rules at my university. A tenured professor was fired for soliciting (well not just the soliciting, but that was part of it).

[spedteacher30]

I had a professor whose daughter would sell in the common area, but the professor wasn't present. I think that is fine. As a college student, I had no access to girl scout cookies. Now, I have hookups coming out my ears.

[One_Girl]

I completely agree with your dh. I would feel very pressured. There is probably a policy against this sort of things also.

[MamaChicken]

As soon as I became a manager at work, I quit bringing fundraising stuff from my DS to work. I felt the same way - one of my employees might feel obligated. A couple of people asked (they knew he was in boys scouts and wanted the popcorn), but that was different IMO.

[ameliabedelia]

In a casual lab with grad students, maybe it would be ok. It depends on the lab. In classes of undergrads, definitely not.

I remember buying girl scout cookies for the very FIRST time as a graduate student, since one of my professor's daughters was selling them and I felt obligated to buy a box.

I would think it would be okay for him to ask his colleagues, but definitely not his students nor his grad students

I honestly can't imagine anyone not being able to get girl scout cookies if they wanted them. Around here, girls are always selling them outside grocery stores, etc., on weekends.

[spiderdust]

Now, selling to his co-workers.. that's another story!

[Ola_]

The only way I'd feel okay about it is if he was going to put a poster on a bulletin board or something. At my school there were big school-wide boards but also smaller ones at each of the departments (as long as it fits within the posting guidelines of course). Definitely don't announce it in class.

I have to admit I'd also be quite annoyed if someone brought their child to work to try and sell cookies to us. I don't work in an academic setting though.

[AndVeeGeeMakes3]

I'm a professor too, and I'd feel really uncomfortable with that. I think some of my students would perceive it as a quid-pro-quo situation.

I generally don't like adults to try to sell me something for their kiddos. It seems to me that these sales are set up not just as fundraisers, but also to teach children about salesmanship, communication, etc. Having a parent do the work is counter-productive. If a colleague wants to bring his child to the department (late in the afternoon) and tell her the rules about not interrupting conferences or whatever, I don't mind her knocking on my door. I'd be far more likely to buy whatever from a child than his or her parent. Maybe that's too nit-picky an answer, but there ya go.

Good luck!