This could only be an issue in the Ivory Tower.  Paul Secunda* at  Concurring Opinions posts about a new rule at Florida State University where professors who fail to get students’ grades in on time are “fined” or docked pay, according to how one chooses to characterize it, $10 per student.

And these are supposedly smart people. 

Many professors hate grading, and like most human beings, they often put off what they don’t like. So at many colleges, the end of a term results in some proportion of the faculty turning their grades in late, much to the dismay of the registrars whose job it is to process the grades and make them available to students. The outcome can be more than just annoying to the registrars; late grades can delay diplomas, disrupt the awarding of financial aid, or get students into academic trouble . . . .

So professors hate to grade.  They aren’t all that thrilled about teaching either.  And  they don’t like working on Mondays or Fridays, or before 10 or after 2.  Don’t even suggest that they teach when the latte machine is broken.

Puhleeaase.  This is a problem?  Imagine a world where people are offered money to perform a function and then, gasp, are actually expected to do it.  Even when they don’t feel like it! 

As I recall, sometimes students are required to turn thing in to their professors.  They are supposed to do so on time.  Sometimes, they’re told that they will drop a grade if they are late.  Apparently, this might be an empty threat since they won’t be getting a grade regardless. 

I can certainly understand why professors hate to grade.  It’s often subjective, and anything subjective requires an extra degree of effort.  How annoying that must be.  I can picture professors, sitting in their offices looking at a pile of papers, taunting them to “grade me, grade me.”  It’s enough to make their head ache.  I understand.

Grow up.  Aside from the fact that you had no interest in actually teaching when you took on the job of teacher, and thought this would be all about sitting in the faculty lounge with a snifter of brandy discussing brilliant theoretical issues like who had the predominant property right in Lord of the Rings, you still cash the paycheck. 

In all fairness, I suspect that most professors will agree with the comment by Hillel Y. Levin (from Stanford, no less).

But good lord, this is part of the job! Teaching IS the job, and part of teaching is grading. Moreover, a good part of law school is teaching professionalism; how can we expect professionalism of our students if we don’t display it ourselves?

It’s the fact that this is even a discussion that amazes me.  And all these years, I’ve been showing up in court on Friday just because some judge decided it was good for him and my clients, for some inexplicable reason, expected me to be there.  What was I thinking?

* Paul notes that his post was about whether the penalty aspect violated the FLSA, and asserts he does not grade late or drink lattes.  Starbucks has failed to confirm or deny.