By Dennis O’Neil
Jacob Stratton’s Physics 299 class this summer at the University of Louisville didn’t go as he had planned.
According to Stratton and several of his classmates, Dr. Syed Ahmad’s Physics 299 class was an unorganized and unprofessional learning environment. The students cited poor explanation, lack of preparation, and a surly attitude as consistent problems with Ahmad, a visiting professor who is head of the physics department at Bellarmine University.
Stratton recalled one incident that involved Ahmad showing up for an examination 10 minutes late with not enough test copies, subsequently leaving the classroom and returning 30 minutes later with the remaining tests. According to Stratton, Ahmad expected the entire class to finish within the allotted class time.
“His whole approach seemed unorganized and illogical,” Stratton, a sophomore bioengineering major, said. “He spent the entire first day taking roll in a 160 student class. On the second day, he spent 15 minutes organizing his notes.”
“The instruction period was a waste of time,” sophomore electrical engineering major Ryan Ray said. “His lecture consisted of paraphrased quotes from the textbook and examples that were worked out in the book already. He didn’t add anything to the instruction of the subject.”
Ray also said that Ahmad was difficult to approach with questions or misunderstandings, often becoming defensive when a student would point out a mistake he had made.
“He was very hostile about correcting grading errors on homework, quizzes, and tests,” Ray said. “There would always be a line of students after a lecture that wanted to talk to him about grading errors. Most of the time it would end in a shouting match with nothing resolved.”
Stratton, who must keep a 3.0 GPA for his scholarship, was troubled by the low grade he expected to receive in the class, partially due to Ahmad’s negligence. He said that the class knew less than ten percent of its total grade by the drop date, despite having taken a test three weeks prior that Ahmad had yet to return.
Other students said that Ahmad’s tests were formatted poorly and riddled with typos.
“There were multiple choice questions on our first exam, but often we wouldn’t know what letter was associated with what option on a diagram or even what he was talking about,” Justin Kaffenberger, a sophomore computer science and computer engineering major, said. “The class average on the first test was a 54 percent.”
Stratton, in an effort to get the class’s grades improved, started a Facebook group petitioning against Ahmad who, despite several phone calls and e-mails by The Louisville Cardinal, was unavailable for comment. Stratton also contacted the head of the U of L Physics department, Dr. David Brown, with his grievances. Brown said that he met with Ahmad about the situation.
“We both agreed that certain incidents could have been handled better throughout the course of the semester,” Brown said in an e-mailed statement. “But in the end I hope and believe that students find their final grades fair.”
Most of the students agree that, regardless of their final grade, something more needs to be done about the situation. Stratton, who wound up with a C-plus in the class, has entered into the grievance process against Ahmad and intends to see it through. At press time, the Student Grievance Officer is still trying to contact the professor.
“We need to let people know that sometimes there are professors who aren’t really doing an adequate job,” Stratton said. “If I had gotten an awesome grade that I wasn’t expecting, things wouldn’t have stopped there.”
Stratton also took issue with Ahmad’s status as a visiting professor and the fact that the university allowed him to teach here. When asked about the hiring process for visiting professors, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Blaine Hudson admitted that it can be less intensive than one for a regular staff member.
“We would not go through as long or as rigorous a search for a visiting faculty member,” Hudson said. “It is a different kind of process though, because you are often looking at someone who has already gained a degree of notoriety in the field. We look at it in a different way.”
Ray said that he has known several people who have had Ahmad’s class in the past, and all of them have had a similar experience to his. He also said he feels the situation requires serious action from the university.
“I feel like something should be done about this situation in the form of a reprimand for this instructor,” Ray said. “We need to solve this problem now before it affects future students.”
