"Also, please note that it's inappropriate to issue demands to academic staff regarding how we conduct our teaching work." --> Interesting take here on a consumer (student pays)/provider (gets paid) relationship. We're all adults here - yes some are fresh now ones, yet their votes, prof and my vote all count the same on election day.

I get it that the prof is busy (but that is not the student's fault), yet the Prof's feedback loop does sound a tad long. Prof would not likely accept a student's I'm busy so my report will be late announcement. Yes, we should be courteous too.

". Please let me know promptly about the feedback on my first essay, ..." certainly sounds like a request and not a demand.

Yes a tad curt, but not in a demanding voice.

@chux two weeks is, in my world, a very short timeline for feedback.My institution promises three, and I often struggle to manage that.

@SemidiurnalSimon Whenever I teach students the course is structured such that they have feedback, a tutorial, and an opportunity to ask questions in the office hours, before they have to do the next assignment. I realize that the above essays are probably not related to mathematics/computer science, but writing the second essay with no feedback still sounds suboptimal. That said, the question isn't really about that.

@lightxbulb Where I teach, office hours seem to work only as long as students don't use them. They provide nominal opportunities for students, but if all students decide to use them, lecturer's won't be able to deal with the requests in a meaningful and useful way. It is better than nothing, but also it not quite fair to say that office hours can really help mitigate a flawed course structure.

@DmitrySavostyanov My intention wasn't to imply that office hours are supposed to "mitigate a flawed course structure", it was just an example of what I consider a good course structure if there are assignments involved. Before every new submission the students should get feedback on the previous submission, tutorial work, and the opportunity to ask even more questions in the office hours.

Of course, sometimes things happen that are outside of our control. But in such a scenario the fair thing to do is to postpone the next assignment, and if I do not do so, I would consider it justified if students complain or write me e-mails to promptly give them feedback.

This is especially true if the assignments are mandatory. If they are not mandatory, this is not as much as an issue, since students have the option to not do it if they believe it is counterproductive.

@lightxbulb Fully agree with all your points