September 28, 2016

We have created this petition in order that our issues may be heard by you, our faculty leadership, and our concerns addressed collectively, as opposed to us coming to see you in a group or singly. We hope that you see this not as an attack, but instead as a plea for help. Our Chemistry 111 class, section M03B, is struggling this semester. Below please find a short description (from our perspective as students) of the events of this semester thus far.

The semester began very well with Dr. Mohajer as our instructor. The first four class periods were informative, well structured, and easily understandable, and Dr. Mohajer was obviously very well prepared for classes. Unfortunately, on Sept. 7th, after we returned from the Labor Day break, we were informed by Dr. Mohajer that he would have to withdraw as our instructor for the semester due to a medical condition. He introduced us to his replacement, Dr. Rahman, at that time, and then left.

Sept. 7th – Scheduled for Chapter 2, Lecture 2. Dr. Rahman introduced himself, then lectured entirely from memory, covering everything from the history of chemistry, to the very basics of science and experimentation. He then proceeded to skip forward to material not due to be covered until chapter 4, and which we were not prepared for.

Sept. 12th – Scheduled for Lab #3. Dr. Rahman was 1 hour late, and the professor who filled in until he arrived had us perform the beginnings of a lab not on our schedule, but which is now understood to be the lab we were actually intended to complete that day. Upon arriving at noon, Dr. Rahman asked us what we were to do. When informed of what was scheduled, he instructed us to begin, then left us to find all of the required lab equipment, set it up, and perform the experiments on our own, all with minimal involvement on his part. We believe this is not due to negligence, but simply that he had no better idea than we did as to where things were located and the flow of that day’s lab in general. He informed us then that, in order to keep things simple and consistent, he would be following the schedule already set by Dr. Mohajer.

Sept. 14th – Scheduled for Chap 3, lecture 1. Dr. Rahman lectured from the PowerPoint slides provided for chapter 2, on the nature of the elements and the periodic table.

Sept. 19th – Scheduled for Lab #4 and Chapter 3, lecture 2. On arriving, we discovered that the lab materials had not been prepared for our scheduled lab that day, due to a lack of communication with the Lab Staff. Dr. Rahman improvised a basic lecture on chapter 3 based on the PowerPoint slides, covering Avogadro’s number, molar mass, and some electron bonding topics. We were informed that test #1 would be given the following Monday (9/26), and would only cover chapters 1 and 2.

Sept. 21st – Scheduled for Chapter 3, lecture 3. We arrived to find that our Lab from 9/19 had been moved to this date. This fact was not communicated to us in any way. We had no way to know to dress appropriately for the lab, or to come prepared for a lab. We were given minimal instruction on procedures, and completed the lab using primarily our lab books. Dr. Rahman informed us that we would now be taking Test 1 on Wednesday, 9/28 so that we could perform another lab on the following Monday.

Sept. 26th – Scheduled for Test 1, on chapters 1-3. Dr. Rahman briefly mentioned Test 1, reiterating that it would cover Chapters 1 and 2 and would be taken the following class period (Wed. 9/28.) Performed Lab #5 with minimal instruction and left.

Sept. 28th – Scheduled for Chapter 4, Lecture 1. We were given Test 1, but upon inspection it was found to be missing multiple pages. A student was dispatched to the office with a complete examination in order to have copies made and brought back. Meanwhile, the class began the test, answering all the available questions. When the copies were delivered it was discovered that the test sent for copying was for a different class altogether, and was unusable. So we continued taking the exam, while Dr. Rahman attempted to email the exam to the department admin for printing. He was unsuccessful, and so we were forced to complete the exam off of the projector. This resulted in the questions being moved off screen while students were still working on them, or not having the opportunity to work on them at all because they were working on other questions when the ones on screen were being shown. In addition, the test included material from chapter 3, after we were repeatedly told that the test would be on chapters 1 and 2 only! The entire ordeal was a mess, and not conducive at all to an effective examination of knowledge on the part of the students. After the Test, Dr. Rahman did a brief review of chapter 3.

The following are issues not tied to any particular day:

• 1-This class has had zero communication from the instructor via blackboard or email since before Labor Day.
• 2-Dr. Rahman changed the homework expectations, declaring Mastering Chemistry to be optional, for extra credit. He handed an optional worksheet provided by Dr. Mohajer to be returned for a grade.
• 3-Outside of the (now optional) Mastering Chemistry scores, we have had zero feedback on our current grade status or performance in the class via blackboard. The labs and worksheets returned graded were all done by Dr. Mohajer before his leave began.
• 4-A mid class break for restrooms/lunch was scheduled at the beginning of the term. Dr. Rahman was informed of this on his first day, and every subsequent class period, as we had to ask and/or remind him of that fact continually.
• 5-MOST IMPORTANTLY – We are now woefully behind on the class material. Due to the nature of the standardized final exam required for course completion, and the breadth and complexity of material to be covered this semester, we have grave concerns as to our preparedness level concerning said exam. At the beginning of the term, Dr. Mohajer made it abundantly clear to us how important keeping a tight schedule would be in order to ensure that all pertinent information would be covered thoroughly. Currently, it feels as though we have hardly covered the material from Chapter 3.

Any one of these days or situations (except the exam on 9/28 and the current state of the schedule) taken by itself would be completely understandable and a minor inconvenience at worst. However, when viewed as a whole, our current class situation is untenable for positive outcomes over the course of the semester. Dr. Rahman, while obviously a brilliant chemist and gifted lecturer, has consistently failed to “steer the ship” of our class back onto a course for success. We feel that without immediate action on the part of our faculty leadership to intervene, we will find ourselves in a terrible position come December.

Please help us. Please help Dr. Rahman, or replace him. It is not fair for our academic careers to suffer due to forces beyond our control. We are doing our parts to give the effort, but feel completely helpless in the face of possibly catastrophic academic outcomes. Below you will find the signatures of all of the students involved who saw fit to join in bringing this issue to your attention. Thank you for your consideration.