The lecturer supposed to grade my presentation fell asleep while I held it. Should I complain?

The first thing to note here is that sleeping in such situations is often not a voluntary action, but a physiologically unavoidable response to the situation the body is in - many people die every year after falling asleep at the wheel of a car. I don't think you'd describe the results of that on other people in the car as "rude". In general, if you are in this state of involuntary somnulence, then no amount of caffeine will change anything.

You do not know the circumstances in which this lecturer is in: casual lecturers or adjuncts may be working several other jobs, or may have insufficient income to afford rent and therefore a proper place to sleep. Permanent folks may have so much work that they literally don't have time to sleep and complete everything they are required to do. Or they might have a young child or as you say, mental health problems. My point is these things may not be voluntary choices for the person concerned.

If i had a dollar for every student that fell asleep in a lecture that I had spent days preparing...

But....

None of this is your problem. You deserve not just to get the correct mark for your work, but also the feedback that will help you improve - after all, you are there to learn, not to get grades. As others have said, wait and see what the feedback is (and really you want proper feedback, not just a grade). If it's fine, then I'd wait and see, but even if it is - if this becomes a pattern then it might be in everyone's interest, including the faculty member's (depending on how understanding the Chair is), for people to know what is going on.


I would advise patience, wait until the grades are out.

If the lecturer was actually asleep then that may or may not be something to deal with.

However, if the lecturer was not asleep but not looking at you and perhaps reading the papers on the desk or similar you may be starting something you should not.

Again, patience and see how it goes.


I understand your frustration with a part of your audience sleeping through (some part) of your talk. As many other answers mention, this is unfortunately not an unusual experience for anyone presenting in academia. Members of the audience have different lifestyles and indeed different situations and sometimes the sleep deprivation takes the best of us. It is alright to be frustrated about it but please try not to feel insulted - there is really no evidence that this fact was in any way a response to the quality of your presentation and research.

As for your second question, why do you think the grade will be adversely impacted? If I were the lecturer in this situation, I would feel terrible about it and I would probably be inclined to "make it right" for the student, so I would consciously or subconsciously raise the grade.