If their spouse is due to give birth mid-semester, (mid-November in case I’m thinking) how would they handle classes and leave?  Could they give students a assignment telling them it’s due by the end of finals? And/or give them a take home final.a

There's a lot that would go into this: Is the professor fulltime/tenure track or part-time? What is the university/college's policy as well as the department's policy? Is there another faculty member qualified to step in and take over the class for a brief period of time? Those are just some of the variables that would determine what would happen. If this is a real situation, you can just ask your professor what the plan is. If they know their spouse is giving birth in November, that means they've known for several months that this was coming and should have a plan in place already. I would be surprised if they replied to you that they weren't sure, haha.

This isn’t a RL sitch. It’s about a story I’m ruminating on. But that was helpful. To answer questions:

1) Pre-tenure
2) full-time
3) Midsize college (NOT R1)

(September 8, 2021, 7:14 pm)knicks There's a lot that would go into this: Is the professor fulltime/tenure track or part-time? What is the university/college's policy as well as the department's policy? Is there another faculty member qualified to step in and take over the class for a brief period of time? Those are just some of the variables that would determine what would happen. If this is a real situation, you can just ask your professor what the plan is. If they know their spouse is giving birth in November, that means they've known for several months that this was coming and should have a plan in place already. I would be surprised if they replied to you that they weren't sure, haha.

I agree.   I would assume there is a plan in place.   I think most can take a couple weeks off give or take.  Plus from what I understand unlike K-12 teachers, college professors can arrange their class schedule.    I normally take about 2 weeks off after each child, but I have a job that allows me to make my own schedule.   I think it would depend on what the professor teaches that would allow for replacements or not.   If it is say the guy Russell Crowe played in a beautiful mind (name is escaping me) I dont think you could replace him.  If it is a Poli Sci class where you have nut ramble on and on I think you could have someone cover the class for a few weeks.

TY @alexnj that was helpful. My character is a Astronomy prof. She could take time between birth and Thanksgiving. BTW: the professor you’re thinking of was John Nash (economics IIRC)

(September 9, 2021, 12:50 am)Thebige TY @alexnj that was helpful. My character is a Astronomy prof.  She could take time between birth and Thanksgiving. BTW: the professor you’re thinking of was John Nash (economics IIRC)

Thanks. Sorry post lax in 100 degrees brain..  By the way you worded it made it sound like it was a male professor  whose wife was pregnant.   If it is a female professor than I dont think she starts the semester.  I think most professors work off an individual contract so she could write in what she needs in terms of time.   Ironically my 8th grade science  teacher also taught Astronomy at a D1 university so I'm pretty sure he had it to where he wouldn't have classes there between 8 and 4.  I didnt go to college (my 1 college credit I got in 7th grade) but I'm 98% sure that is how that works

(September 9, 2021, 12:50 am)Thebige TY @alexnj that was helpful. My character is a Astronomy prof.  She could take time between birth and Thanksgiving. BTW: the professor you’re thinking of was John Nash (economics IIRC)

Oh, you're writing a story; I thought that this would have been an odd scenario since a professor would absolutely have a plan in-place for an expected absence. I also got the impression that this was a male professor and it was the professor's spouse that was pregnant, you did say "if their spouse..." implying that it wasn't the professor but the spouse.

Anyways, if this is a pre-tenure/full time faculty member the short answer is that she probably wouldn't get pregnant, haha. Pre-tenure is a very stressful time career-wise, you are under the gun to serve on committees, teach some courses, and above all publish, like A LOT, the old saying in academia is, you publish or perish! So, in your story I would definitely address how the character wants a family but has to deal with the pressure of not taking an extended amount of time off and trying to make it work. My guess is that the professor would work hard to essentially finish everything for the term by the due date and then take the rest of the semester off with the department chair and dean's approval. Depending on the course, the department chair would probably arrange for another faculty member to cover the rest of the class, which post-Thanksgiving is probably going to be barely more than a remaining assignment or two and the final exam; unless it's a research oriented course or some other type of course that requires some sort of "capstone" project. In that case, it would be tricky, things get weird when you're asking a new person to grade major assignments for students they haven't spent the semester instructing and working with. I'd recommend just having the courses that she's teaching to be introduction level, those are easier to cover.

I don't think the physical size of the school would matter in this scenario. The prestige and if it's a public or private university may depending on what details you want to provide. Prestigious schools (think Ivy League, Stanford, Northwestern, etc.) will have a lot of doctorate students who could step in the cover the class; your professor may even be mentoring a doctorate student. Less prestigious schools with few or no doctorate students won't have that type of setup and it'll be all tenure track faculty or part-time lecturers teaching. As for if the school is public or private, a public school will have a union involved, private schools will not have a union, although some may have a private faculty union or sorts; state schools have public sector unions. If you wanted to have the school threatening your pregnant professor with possibly losing her job, she may turn to the faculty union (assuming state school) and they'd defend her, provide legal support, etc. Otherwise, I don't see why the union would get involved, if the professor has a good relationship with the department chair, an arrangement would probably be easily worked out.

Anyways, I hope that helps, good luck with the writing!

John Nash was a mathematician who contributed to the field of game theory e.g. the eponymous nash equilibrium in which each of a game's players have arrived at an optimal strategy. ...and I'm kind of pleasantly surprised to find this topic of conversation here.

Thanks everyone! To clarify things: it’s a lesbian couple having a baby, and the professor is the non-gestational mom. You’re right that after Thanksgiving it’s basically Finals time, which is why I thought a take home assignment due during Finals made sense

(September 9, 2021, 12:52 pm)Thebige Thanks everyone! To clarify things: it’s a lesbian couple having a baby, and the professor is the non-gestational mom.  You’re right that after Thanksgiving it’s basically Finals time, which is why I thought a take home assignment due during Finals made sense

I didnt go to college although I'm not sure if they could do the same, but where I went to high school teachers had the option of giving a final or a paper.   My sophomore year for math in lieu of a final we had to write a paper on a famous Mathematican.  I guess she could do that.