Sex ploys seek the grades

Clad in a miniskirt and a mesh top, a chemistry student waltzed into Kenneth Merz's office at the end of finals week.

Merz, then at Pennsylvania State University, wondered if her intentions were to use her feminine wiles to get a better grade.

Merz, now a UF chemistry professor, rushed to his office door, avoiding a potentially incriminating - or awkward - situation.

The college cliché of women using their assets to improve their grades might just be true. And, if Merz had succumbed to mesh and mini, his university would have allowed it - with a frown.

UF, like Penn State, allows relationships between faculty and students, but they are strongly discouraged, according to the UF General Counsel Web site and the Penn State staff handbook.

The General Counsel Web site lists the only requirement: If a conflict of interests arises, there must be a "resolution."

UF Provost Janie Fouke said that if a professor had an amorous or sexual relationship with a student, he or she would be using "extremely poor judgment."

"If our policies allow it, I would think they need to be reviewed," Fouke said.

Merz, whose experience at Penn State happened 10 to 12 years ago, said that even though the student was not wearing the correct attire, the situation remains apocryphal.

"So much of it is a he-said, she-said type of situation," Merz said.

In the past, student-teacher relationships were commonplace, said Larry Schnell, a UF journalism professor.

"When I was in school, it happened all the time," he said. "We didn't think the same in the '70s. We have totally different standards now."

About 25 years ago, David Denslow, a UF economics professor, received a rare solicitation. A student walked into his office and asked him if he knew of anyone who could photograph her for a medical textbook.

Denslow said this was the most overt and only directly sexual come-on he has ever received for a better grade.

Schnell said the problem with a student-teacher relationship is that it presents a conflict of interest. The professor would have to abstain from evaluating that person in order for the relationship to continue, he said. As long as there is any real involvement in a close relationship, the teacher should not instruct the student, he said.

However, some students do not take no for an answer.

"I'll do anything - anything," a student said.

David Leverenz, an English professor at UF, recalled a retired colleague's risqué story of a female student trying to use her sexuality to get a better grade.

The story shocked Leverenz when he heard it, but he recalled the "faculty flasher" when he was at Rutgers University and quickly changed his mind. The student at Rutgers used to run across the quad and flash faculty for fun.

Leverenz said no instances of sexual innuendo have happened to him because of how he approaches his students.

"It's all about setting boundaries," Leverenz said.

Even with set boundaries, the relationship can still be ambiguous.

A student, who wished to remain anonymous, already had an A in her class - and a relationship with her instructor. She said it was just a one-time thing.

"It was just a thing, and then it happened," she said. "I knew better than to pursue anything. It was just one crazy night."

She added that if she had another good-looking instructor that she met outside of class, she might do it again.

Because most professors agree dating one of their students would make it harder to objectively evaluate them, Web sites such as www.rateyourprofessors.com present an entirely new side of student evaluation toward their teachers.

The site is designed to evaluate a professor or teaching assistant's teaching and grading ability, but comments sometimes sneak into the steamy side. The chili-pepper icon on the Web site signifies that a teacher is "hot." This direct innuendo could be simply due to the quality of teaching or how the instructor looks.

Prabhu Venkataraman, a TA who has a "hot" rating on the Web site, said the scale is measured by the vibe a teacher gives off. Venkataraman said a student tried to bribe him with money, and he hopes that he did not give off that vibe.

"Students are pretty good at reading their professors," he said.

However, Matthew Blake, a UF journalism professor who received an average rating on the Web site, said the authority figure versus pupil presents an unusual relationship.

"Sometimes it is difficult to tell if it's flirting or if they are just being friendly," Blake said.