If your professor is late, don’t leave : Follow this PROF’s advice

About the author

Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.

If your professor is late to class, it is usually customary to wait 15 minutes to see if they have arrived. But with technology so advanced now, it’s unlikely a professor can’t communicate about their absence in a timely manner. Instead of sitting around and waiting, you should check your college email and any online learning platform for a message from your professor, call their office number, visit their office, and as a last resort, visit a nearby Dean’s office to find out any details.

What to do if a professor is late?

Before you jet because your professor didn’t show up, do these things first.

1.) Check for a sign on the classroom door about canceled class

2.) Check your email or online learning website for a message

3.) Call your professor’s office phone

4.) Go by their office in person to see if they’re there

5.) Go to a nearby Dean’s office to inquire about class

You take the time to get up to campus, and go to class, but your professor is a no show. I have been there myself, and honestly, it’s pretty exciting to show up to class and learn that you don’t have it anymore.

But it’s not cool to arrive to campus and find out that your professor isn’t showing up and there isn’t a sign on the door or anything to let you know.

It’s confusing. Do you have class? Or do you just leave? Maybe they are running late and you should wait a little longer.

There are so many questions running through your mind. And I am going to help answer them.

I was a professor, and I know exactly how to help you solve this problem.

What happens if your professor doesn’t show up in 15 minutes?

If your professor doesn’t show up to class and it’s been at least 15 minutes, you should start to check your email to see if they sent a message to students. There is no universal college policy that allows students to leave because their professor hasn’t shown up in 15 minutes.

Here are my suggestions as a former professor.

You could wait around for your professor to show up. This may or may not happen.

Or you could wait the usual 15 minutes for them to show up and leave immediately after that time frame passes.

But there are a few more things to consider first.

Think about it. Technology has really advanced a lot. When I was in college, and everyone didn’t have cellphones, it was the norm to wait 15 minutes. Because we assumed the professor could be stuck in traffic and had no way to tell anyone.

But I have a hard time believing that professors don’t all have access to cellphones and technology to let someone know they’re late.

So, if your professor doesn’t show up to class in 15 minutes, and hasn’t let anyone know that, they probably aren’t coming.

You could safely leave after 15 minutes. But not so fast.

Before you go, check your email and any online learning system your college uses. Is there an email there from your professor about being late or absent?

I would do this myself if I was canceling class.

However, it is also a rule to let your supervisor know you are canceling class too. And then the secretary will come and place a piece of paper on your door notifying students that class was cancelled.

If you don’t see this sign on the door, either the professor never told anyone OR the secretary forgot to put the sign on the door.

If you didn’t get any communication from the professor about class being canceled via email or online, and there is no sign on the door, you need to make a phone call.

Call your professor’s office number to see if they answer. Sometimes professors have their office number forwarded to their cell phone. You might get a response.

But don’t all leave quite yet. Send someone in the class to go to the professor’s office. Yes! Go to their office and see if it’s dark. It there isn’t anyone there, it’s safe to assume no one is showing up.

And look, if all this has failed, you can go to a nearby Dean’s office and ask if the professor is running late. They may not be that professor’s Dean, but they can find out and contact the professor.

Something could be seriously wrong if someone just doesn’t show up to work so let the college know so they can investigate.

Now you know exactly what to do if your professor misses class and is a no show. Don’t just leave right away because they may be running late. Make sure you’ve exhausted all your efforts before heading home. You’d hate for your professor to show up and you and a few other students left.

Can a professor be late to class?

Yes, a professor can be late to a class, but your professor could have too many tardies and face disciplinary action from their supervisor. It isn’t professional for a professor to arrive late to class. It can reflect poorly on the professor during their performance evaluations.

But some professors might have tenure where they have more clout and being late may not have severe consequences.

I have seen professors arrive late to class continually, and most of their bosses will never find out because no one is checking in on them.

However, when students complete the student evaluations at the end of the term, they will probably say something about it and their boss will finally know. You can’t keep it a secret forever.

When I was in college as an undergraduate, I had a professor who showed up late to class often. And when he would come into class, he knew no one could get him in trouble because he had tenure. He’d make comments about it.

This meant that it would be nearly impossible to fire him because he showed up late.

So, not all professors will get in trouble for being late to class because they may have tenure.

Is the 15 minute rule real?

The 15 minute rule is an unwritten rule that allows students to leave class and assume their professor isn’t arriving for class if they are 15 minutes late. The 15 minutes rule is more of a myth, and before you jet, you need to follow all my recommended steps first. So while it may be customary to leave after fifteen minutes, the 15 minute rule doesn’t really exist anywhere.

What can I do if my professor always shows up late?

If your professor is showing up late frequently, you could talk to them about this during office hours and ask them if everything is okay. You could also leave a comment on your student evaluation about their tardiness. If it is a problem, you could go to their Dean and discuss the issue with them directly.

I know it has to be extremely frustrating to have a professor who is always arriving late. They may or may not give you an explanation for why they keep showing up late.

They could just be bad at managing their time, or they may be lazy.

Either way, it is going to effect you and your learning. You paid for your college class and you deserve to have the entire lecture time.

I find that simply asking your professor if everything is okay would be helpful to start a conversation about their late arrivals. They may realize that their students are noticing and are concerned.

If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, you could just wait until the end of the semester and write a comment on their instructor evaluations. Of course this will do nothing about the tardiness right now.

Finally, if it’s a continued problem, you could find out who their Dean is and go talk to them directly. I find this to be the last approach and one that you do ONLY if the tardiness is not explained by your professor OR they are coming to class 10-15 minutes late frequently.

A professor who shows up a few minutes late is not a concern even though I don’t think it is professional.

RECENT POSTS YOU’LL LOVE