After an investigation revealed that a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City “compelled his students to act as his personal servants” (no joke), he resigned before he could be fired. In response, schools around the country have been clarifying their policies concerning the tasks that faculty members can, and CANNOT, ask their graduate assistants to perform. Leading the way is Boston University, which published its first “OK/Not OK” list on March 21st. According to Associate Provost and Dean of Students Galen Hedgerow, it is a work in progress and will be updated periodically.
Here’s what the list contains so far:
OK: Babysitting your kids
Not OK: Serving as a wet nurse
OK: Walking your dog
Not OK: Manually de-worming your dog
OK: Picking up your kids at school
Not OK: Explaining to the kids on the way home that “mommy and daddy have decided not to live together any more, but it’s not your fault”
OK: Watering your lawn
Not OK: Repaving your driveway
OK: Picking up your dry cleaning
Not OK: Stealing containers of tetrachloroethylene from the dry cleaners so you can marinate your marijuana before rolling a joint and lighting up (What….a….RUSH!)
OK: Showing you how to program a DVR to record Red Sox games
Not OK: Wearing nothing but red socks while performing in a home video you’re directing entitled “The Naughty, Naughty Batboy”
Thank you, BU. It’s all about respecting boundaries.