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Academic ContractWhether you choose to accept it or not, you have entered an academic contract where you will have a give and take relationship with professors. Some may offer you quite a bit and never ask for anything in return. In other instances, you may have to help them with projects for meager short-term returns. In any case, professors may require much from you, they will use you for leg work, a fresh perspective, as well as having an ally amongst their ultimate judges: your fellow students. |
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AdvisorsAdvisors are there to help. But because of their limited resources, they often find themselves shorthanded and tend to give varying degrees of help to different students. |
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Burned-out AcademicThis is the person that has accomplished more than you will in a lifetime. They have taken a break – permanent or temporary – from the business world and have found refuge in the classroom. They are in control of matters now and can go at their own pace. This type has tremendous intellect as well as a mid- to high-level of education that accelerated their career at an early age. But this made them burn both ends of the candle at once. The problem is that at some point in their career, they realized that they had seen eve |
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Business Minded AcademicThis individual is also an academic at heart but they view school as a business. They love school and cherish the purity of the classroom. They like the idea of playing a part in your development. They may have done their thing in business and now wish to give back. Whether they failed or succeeded is not the issue. What is important is that they drill you the way a senior manager would. They view teaching as a job, and your education as a form of military training. Teaching is not so much of a calling for them as it is a mandate. They view the classroom as a department, the class as a project and themself as the division m |
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Challenging ProfessorsParents, friends, professors, colleagues and bosses are human like you. Celebrities, whether they are athletes, entertainers, musicians and actors are also human like you. For this reason, being in awe of their accomplishments will always render you a groupie. You have to wake up thinking that you are the rock star, the guitarist, the bassist or the drummer. But if you have a virtuoso in front of you, then you should pace yourself until the stage is set for you. |
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Good ProfessorsGood Professors take a student's interest and raise it several notches. They also create an environment where students feel free to question the institutional imperative. The best ones even take apathetic students and nearly transform them into interested parties. Good business professors are those that view students as clients. Good non-business professors view students as patients. Fitting, since most are doctors anyway thanks to their Ph.D. They aim to satisf |
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Good, Bad and Ugly ProfessorsProfessors set the tone in class. Two sections of the same course could be radically different depending on who gives it. At times, some students vilify professors without taking the time to better understand them. Like all human beings, professors share good, bad and ugly traits. It is up to you to understand professors in order to benefit from the good traits while eluding the bad and ugly ones. |
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Lifelong AcademicThe lifelong academic usually means well. This is one that has highly idealistic notions of education, school and what a degree ought to be about. While some may at some point go through periods (at times prolonged) of cynicism and sarcasm, they generally revert back to their high sense of idealism. Expect to be tested. They view a student's success as a reflection of their work and will see to it that you succeed – so long as you play the Game. Examples of failing their test include not doing assigned problems only to learn that the exams consisted solely of these. Mo |
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MentorsProfessors make for good mentors, especially if you plan to pursue a Master's or Ph.D. Overconfident individuals seem to think that they do not need a mentor but even the most successful business leaders have one person or numerous people that they turn to for advice. Corporate Board of Director members often adopt a mentoring role to many CEOs. Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett is one such example. As you can imagine, other directors are thorns in their side – as they should be to varying degrees. |
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Outgrowing MentorsAt some point, when your goals exceed their scope, you will realize that you have outgrown your mentor. Even worse, your goals may clash with theirs. They may want you to stay to work on your Ph.D. and help them with their research, but you may wish to "turn pro." |
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