Ah, this is a minor ethical dilemma (sorta, not really) about socialising with university teaching staff.
I don’t know which forum to put it in, or even if it will last long enough to matter.
Anyway, I’m a med student and we have some lovely surgical students and post grads who help us out in the anatomy practicals. They’re all very cool and laid back and mostly only 3 or 4 years older than the majority of the class.
So, we go out to the pub and ask them along. We buy them drinks, they buy us drinks, all very friendly and nice.
There is a slight hitch though.
These guys actually give us the viva voce exams at the end of the year. Always supervised by a full professor (who are all 50+, and not so amenable to drinking with us) for objectivity’s sake…
But still.
Is there a problem here?
I honestly know they won’t pass anyone who doesn’t deserve it, but I wonder if I’ll be able to perform properly in the exam if the relationship isn’t totally impersonal and professional.
What do you all think?
Anybody?
Am I being totally paranoid, or are we crossing a line here?
My opinion? This is the key line:
“So, we go out to the pub and ask them along. We buy them drinks, they buy us drinks, all very friendly and nice.”
As long as it’s routine for the whole group of students and staff there’s no reason to worry about it, especially if you just include them in a round. If you bought a special rare Jamesons for a certain post grad the week before your viva it’d look a bit funny of course. Feel free to buy me one though ;).
One of the things I really appreciated about my university days was the way the staff treated us as grown-ups. No doubt you’ll be working hard too, so enjoy yourself and the best of luck to you.
In grad school, many students and many professors would go drinking together. Often. In fact, I recall a certain very drunken Halloween party at which a game of spin-the-bottle broke out among grad students and professors.
(No, I didn’t participate. And yes, I still make fun of those who did.)
I see no problem with it. If you were buying them cars or giving them big money, then there might be an ethics issue. (I love Irish women, you can me drinks anytime.)
