Frequently asked
questions, Dave Robinson
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Q: Will you write a Letter of Recommendation for me? A: I understand that writing recommendations is a very important secondary duty of faculty and that recommendations are essential for students hoping to get scholarships, admission to grad school, and so on. To request a Letter of Recommendation, please write me a briefing by e-mail with the following information:
Nothing in the above should preclude you from coming in to Office Hours and discussing your plans or making your case (for example, by bringing in graded papers). But if you come in, I will ask you for the e-mail briefing as well, as I handle Letters of Recommendation from my home computer in my spare time. |
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Q: Will you be a reference for me? A: Just to be picky here, I
will stand as a "Referee" for you, and what I will write is
a reference. (By the way, you are the referand).
I understand that it's often hard to come up with the names of professors who
know you well at Cal. In practice, many firms ask for the names of people who know you . . . and then don't do anything with the information. That is, they ask you for names, but rarely get around to calling. The protocol here is to ask me if I'm prepared to be a referee—you can do this by e-mail: Once you have my agreement, you can give the firm my e-mail and phone number (on the tag line of any e-mail you've received from me). It's a good idea to send a follow-up e-mail to alert me to who may be calling me from each firm. Many firms that handle money (accountants, I-Banks) want me to say that you are honest and trustworthy. No offense, but I don't know that. My experience has been that there are a few people who are delightful in class but who have very disordered personal lives. I can't comment on things I don't know, and will so state. I can only talk about your behavior that I have observed—most often this is in a limited environment in the classroom. Please see my text book, Business
Protocol for more information on references, how to come up with
"three good references" and how to present them. |
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Q: Hi Dave! Would you like to sponsor my internship? I'll be working unpaid 20 hours a week at XYZ brokerage and they said I have to have a faculty sponsor. A: No. Err, no thank you. Explanation: As I like to say, at Berkeley, we give academic credit for academic work (you know, going off to the library, reading books, writing papers). I'm always tempted to write back: "Why don't you ask XYZ firm if they'll pay you to go to school?" Of course they won't—they pay people for work. Here's what's going on: In many industries, it makes sense for firms to offer people unpaid internships. But America is a litigious society, and one day the Xerox-person doesn't show up and your boss says: "Would you run the copy machine today?" People go along with this for a while, and then they realize, "Hey! I'm essentially the unpaid copy-person here. I should at least be making minimum wage." So firms that give unpaid internships are in fear and trembling that an intern will come back after the fact and use the Federal Wage & Hour Law to demand at least minimum wage (more likely, the same salary as the Xerox-person was making). Sometime in the last ten years, one company's law firm discovered that there's a wonderful exception to the Minimum Wage Law: If someone is receiving college credit for an internship then they needn't be paid. Note that it's apparently specific: You get either credit or have to be paid, but once you are enrolled for credit you don't need to be paid. Haas has a clear policy of "no credit for
internships". The Career Center notes that other departments
may be less picky, and the usual work-around is to register for credit at
Community Colleges. Since I don't approve of academic credit for internships,
I will not provide you with any assistance on this. |
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Q: Can you change my grading option to P/NP? Note that advisors almost never give permission for a late change in option after grades have been posted. If you are asked to get the Instructor's approval, I don't think you need it—you can show advisors this web-page. I consider the grading option a matter for the student and college and I take no position on this. (If the advisor insists on a letter from me, you’ll have to see me in Office Hours.) |
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Q: I registered for your course, but haven't been attending. Will you sign this form? A: No. Almost all our courses have waitlists and unseated students. Your failure to tidy up your enrollments wasted a place in one of our courses. I have a firm policy of not signing such forms. If you ask for a letter it will state that I oppose your late withdrawal. Of course, I’m not completely without compassion. If you
need a late withdrawal due to some unfortunate personal circumstance I fully
understand. But as that’s something that affects all your courses it’s my position that it is a matter for a dean,
not the individual instructor. |
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Q: Is it OK to use [another edition] of the textbook? A: I can understand that previous editions are available second hand and cheaper. However, my policy on textbooks is to move quickly to the new edition, when issued by the publisher; but I sometimes temper this by waiting until the end of the academic year before making the switch. While this means that people in the first semester will likely have no used books available, they should get a good price for turning their books in. If we keep the adoption on the old edition, your used books may be worthless at resale. If you choose a previous edition of the book, you should sit down with the current edition and map chapter numbers (usually, it’s largely the examples that have been updated and sometimes publishers move chapters around.) Most international editions are from earlier versions of the text – please don’t ask if the international edition is acceptable as I have no way of knowing what you’re looking at. If you “find a .pdf online” it’s undoubtedly a “bootleg” version that violates © copyright – please don’t use this. Here are some possibilities for managing the costs of textbooks: a. Buy a used book where possible b. Make a “syndicate” of 2 or 3 people in the same class and pass the book around between you (note: It is OK to have joint ownership, it is not OK to Xerox substantial parts of a book owned by someone else.) c. Consider renting, an e-book or renting an e-book. Sadly, these less-than-full purchase options are still much higher priced than they should be, but perhaps in time those prices will come down. |
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Q: I missed lecture—did you cover anything important? A: I'm always tempted to answer this: "No, we just told jokes and I showed vacation pictures." Of course I covered something important, otherwise I would've cancelled class and we all could've taken the day off. Here's what to do: If you have a planned absence from class, arrange in advance for a trusted peer to take good notes that day. [It's a win-win: Your friend will pay better attention knowing that s/he is scribing for you.] If your absence was due to illness or an emergency beyond your control, you should download the lecture notes and go over them. Come into Office Hours for an explanation of anything you don't understand. However, it's unreasonable to expect a complete one-on-one recitation of the entire lecture and there may be one or two points on the test that you'll miss. |
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Q: Do you
think I should take Summer School? A1: [This answer is written for pre-Haas students in ugba-10] In general, it’s helpful for students to take a break from studying. Most business students will try to get an internship, or at least a job that will help them get an internship in future years. That said, there are people who definitely can benefit from Summer School (technically called “Summer Sessions” at Berkeley): 1. Anyone
who has got behind due to illness, athletics or family emergency—it’s a great
way to get back on track. 2. Students
who are planning to double or triple major and want to graduate within 4
years. 3. Students who are planning to graduate early. A2: [More general information for everyone.] There are many advantages to Summer Sessions: ·
Real Berkeley courses with the same course
numbers and proper, transcripted credit ·
In Summer, all pre-reqs for courses are waived, meaning you can take courses
out of sequence. Of course, this is on your own risk—if you take an advanced
course and get overwhelmed you only have yourself to blame. But it does mean
that you can start on Haas courses before you’ve reached Upper Division (60
completed units) status. ·
Usually, smaller classes ·
You cover the same material at a faster rate
(6 weeks instead of 14 weeks in the regular semester) so retaining the
material may be easier ·
Berkeley’s a great place to be in the summer and
the recreational opportunities in the Bay Area are wonderful! · Berkeley students may be able to arrange financial aid. Here’s how Summer classes work at Haas: There are 2 separate six-week sessions (the mid-point comes at the beginning of July, check the Summer Sessions website for the specific dates). The courses meet on more days each week and the classes are longer, so you end up with the same number of hours of instruction as for the regular school year. Most people should be able to take 2 three-unit classes in each of 6 weeks so it’s possible to catch up almost a whole semester over the summer. Alternatively, some people take just one class and have a part-time job or local internship. I teach 106, the core Marketing class in Session D (begins after 4 July). |
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