Just need to get this off my chest… idk if this should belong in Rants or Student Life.
I am a part-time university student, currently holding down a full time job. The last time I attended school was quite a while ago before taking on this degree program.
I understand that people in my class are also part-time students who are very likely also holding down full-time jobs and have their own personal commitments, but I have not seen such a lack of communication in a group project. Two of my groupmates are much much younger than me, and I am having so much trouble just even getting them to even respond to discussing the weekly reports that are supposed to be submitted. I can be giving my input days in advance, only for them to drag until 30 minutes before submission time to consolidate and ask for opinions.
Now that it’s time to consolidate all the weekly work into a final report and group presentation, I have been ghosted for the past 3 or 4 days asking to split the work when the deadline is next Saturday. I am working on consolidating the deliverables myself but I have absolutely no confidence that I will be able to even pass this module given that this constitutes a good part of the module’s final grade.
Unlike in a workplace environment where managers will attempt to find ways to resolve similar issues, I can’t seem to find an avenue to resolve this apart from continuously trying like I’m talking to a wall or sending an email to an uncaring lecturer.
Maybe I’m just under the false impression that working adults are supposed to be more communicative and responsible, and I’m just expecting too much.
It sounds like you’re carrying a lot of stress and frustration, trying to juggle your full-time job with the demands of being a part-time student. You’ve put in the effort to communicate and contribute early to your group project, yet your groupmates haven’t matched your level of engagement, which leaves you feeling unsupported and anxious about the outcome. It must be really discouraging to feel like you’re putting in so much effort, only to be left waiting for last-minute responses or, at times, no response at all. The lack of communication from your teammates seems to be weighing heavily on you, especially given how much is at stake with your final grade.
You’re also noticing a stark contrast between your experience in the workplace (where there are usually systems and protocols in place to address issues like this) and your experience at the university (where you feel isolated and unsure where to turn for help).
Questioning whether your expectations are too high or whether working adults should be more responsible is a completely natural reaction when you find yourself in a group that doesn’t share your work ethic or communication style. It’s understandable to feel both disappointed and overwhelmed in this situation, especially when your academic success is on the line, and you feel like you’re out of options.
If you’re open to sharing, how have you been managing your stress while handling both work and school? Have you considered reaching out to a more supportive lecturer or programme coordinator about these challenges, or does it feel like that wouldn’t make a difference? What would an ideal outcome look like for you in this situation, both for your project and for your own peace of mind?
I tend to be able to compartmentalise, so I try to not let stressors from my work, personal life, and school affect each other. Similar to the workplace, breaking down the work required and setting realistic deadlines for each portion of my individual assignments help to deal with this as well.
There is unfortunately no other avenue to address such issues other than the lecturer that is teaching the class.
An ideal outcome would of course for my group mates to be as proactive as I am but I understand that everyone’s commitment levels are different. At the very least, I feel just a message saying, “I’ll pick this up by X date Y time since I’m occupied with something”, along with the actual commitment would be more than sufficient.
It sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into managing your responsibilities, and compartmentalisation + structured planning really does make a difference. Breaking tasks into smaller, realistic deadlines shows a strong level of self-awareness, especially when you’re balancing multiple areas of life at once.
Given that, it might help to gently encourage your groupmates to commit to at least a minimum level of communication and accountability (as you have mentioned). Even something as simple as stating when they’ll take ownership of a task can go a long way in building trust and coordination within the group. Based on what you have shared, it seems that you’re just looking for basic clarity and follow-ups, which is a reasonable expectation in any collaborative setting.
Perhaps it might be possible to have a one-on-one discussion with your groupmates and gently encourage them to do so? And then you can let us know how it worked out.
Hey @tecath, omg..this is so relatable. I am in a uni with part-time students too, and I realise that honestly, this issue is prevalent even with full-timers of all ages and backgrounds. I don’t think age/experience plays a role in making people more diligent, communicative or respectful. At the end of the day, it just depends on their character LOL. I have been in your position before and it is truly so frustrating having to be the one to take responsibility at the end of the day and carry others’ slack. Does this project of yours have peer evaluation? If it does (I hope it does!!), definitely be sure to mark them down. I realised that sometimes, conveying this to the professors can be futile too, as often times the process of investigating unresponsive/uncooperative group mates is arduous and avoided as far as possible. I hope that you are not too burdened by this as I realise that you have both work and school commitments to juggle.
I will be seeing them in class soon so I’ll try to talk to them to cover some of the remaining parts but I have low hopes. In any case I have already proceeded to do much of the work since it’s been a whole week with 0 responses and I can’t afford to wait till next week to start on this given that the submission is the same weekend.
Yeah I guess you’re right that it depends on the person since I’ve had my share of lazy colleagues as well.
This project doesn’t have peer evaluation unfortunately, there is only a submission sheet that everyone has to sign that states the percentage of contribution of each member. Personally I dislike conflict so I’m thinking of just giving them the marks due to this. Unless of course they don’t even bother signing the submission sheet
Thanks for sharing how you’re handling things, and I can imagine how discouraging it must feel to take on all the responsibility when others aren’t responding. It’s tough to keep the momentum going when you’re not getting the support you need, especially with a deadline looming. You’re clearly doing your best to keep the project on track despite the challenges, and that shows dedication.
Given how things have unfolded, what are you hoping to do differently if you find yourself in a similar situation in the future? Are there any new approaches or boundaries you think you might set, based on what you’ve learned from this experience? Sometimes even small adjustments can make a big difference next time around.
