Re: tutor absenteeism

[Beth Rapp Young <youngbr@email.uah.edu>]

I agree that this is a problem which will always be present to some
extent.  I've tried to minimize it in three ways (probably things a
lot of us do--certainly some of these have already been mentioned):

1) limit potential damage through creative scheduling.  I used to
schedule people for however many hours they wanted (that would fit in
the budget).  But it's much harder to cover for a suddenly absent
consultant's 10 hours/week rather than 4 hours/week.  So I try to
limit the hours consultants work until they have proven themselves 
to be reliable.  Also, if a consultant is forgetful, I try to schedule
hours when s/he won't be working alone, or when s/he is already in the
building for a class, or all on the same afternoon, or whatever it
takes to minimize the chance that the wctr will be forgotten.

2) Early instruction and frequent reminders about how terrible it is
for the clients & the wctr if a consultant doesn't show up.

3) A consultant last semester told me he preferred to earn forgiveness
rather than be granted forgiveness.  So I think next year, I'm going
to keep a list of jobs a writing consultant can do to earn
forgiveness, such as post flyers, file, substitute for someone else,
help with workshops, etc.  

I look forward to hearing more about what the rest of you do to deal
with absenteeism.

Beth Young

Dr. Beth Rapp Young
U of Alabama in Huntsville
YoungBR@email.uah.edu