Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Pratt Institute
University of Southern California (USC)
Tulane University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Temple University
University of Oregon
Cranbrook Academy of Art
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
Kansas State University
Thesis predicament
There is a lot to the situation, but here is a quick summary:
So my studio-mates and I had a good time with thesis last semester. Everything seemed to be going good, the reviews were overall decent (half the students usually did well, other half needed some obvious work).
We just started the second half of thesis two weeks ago and we had some crappy news. The week we began, she received a job offer from her previous starchitect firm and she was glad to accept. Our replacement professor is brand new at the university, young guy, brilliant, but hard to work with. (colleagues describe him as egotistical, condescending, straight up rude, and way too ambiguous)
So far the new guy acts more like a critic and less like a professor. He has taken all of our work and bascially rendered it completely useless from last semester. Its hard to have constructive communication with him. Every one of our thesis' is changing dramatically.
Just about everyone in the class wants to talk to the head of the department about the situation to either replace him or straighten him out. Personally, I would be fine working with him if he told us what he thought we needed to fill in the gaps to reinforce the validity of our thesis.
Has anyone else had anything similar happen in the past? Can someone actually get away with failing a person who has something to show at the end of the semester?
I'm willing to try the communication route; have a sit down as a collective, come up with a work plan, and discuss our concerns.
Advice?
i guess "she" is someone who was your advisor ?
Yes "she" was our old advisor. Sorry about that, mind wasn't 100% there
I support going to the head of department, or if there is one the thesis coordinator (you know, when all the thesis chairs get together, is there one of them that organizes the rest?). You've got a unique situation that is hard on all of you and the new prof should be encouraged (read: pushed by administration) to support your projects through this transition in a way that lets you build something better based on what you've already done, not trash it and act like your previous work is all useless.
i had this problem once, but it was in 3rd year. the professor had a reputation for being an ass. i let him know how i felt one day, then others followed. he ended up almost ignoring some of us the rest of the semester. A few other students complained to department heads about his teaching style. I did well in the class, but it was all because he didnt bother me anymore and i sought input from other professors i knew. Im glad to know he got fired a year later. Too many other students later complained about him as well and he didnt straighten out his act. It happens a lot with young guys that get a teaching gig, they assume too soon that theyre on their way to stardom. bigger egos get hurt the most.
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