Weez Blog

Elouise,

Two questions that the student's questions give rise to :

Does your institution (RIT) have rules about disclosure of final marks to students? I know some places do not, for a variety of reasons, permit profs to release marks.

What is the appeal mechanism for "disputed" marks?

Perhaps a nice dry administrative letter pointing the student to the relevant policies would be an appropriate response.

The bit about trying to wrap up the process before leaving could, I assume, be addressed by pointing out the time lines associated with the processes and the formal necessity of putting an appeal in writing (which given the technology of wireless fax transmission could be done from a remote fishing vessel at sea).

Hope this helps.

f.

say this:

you'll get what you get when I give it.
and you'll like it.

(I should have been a teacher, no?)

How about this for size:

"Please don't let me hold you up from leaving, you always have until the end of the following quarter to dispute any final grade received. Have a nice quarter break."

I'm laughing too hard to suggest anything useful.

Tell him he got a B in the class, but in your heart he will always be a 4.0 student.

Am HOOTING!!! Ahh...where to begin.

Dear .....

I thank you for your email, and am delighted to know that you set your sights on an "A" grade. Alas, I have little to no control over the grade distribution nor your placement therein, as it is heavily contingent on the work ethic of the group as a whole.

It is wonderful to see that you are proactive enough to determine that you will need to dispute the grade. Therefore I suggest you use your scholarly skills to research the proper procedures for disputing the aforementioned grade, and prepare accordingly.

I shall be adhering to Institute policy and posting my grades on or before 11:59 am throught SIS. I am sure that the final offical grade will be available to you as quickly as the system permits.

I trust this reply satisfactorily addresses your request for a response to your email.

Kindest regards,

THE KEEPER OF THE GRADES!!!!!!

Geez...was that over the top with sarcasm? Liz must be right...it's the grey of November combined with the piles of papers in my office. But HEY! I am DONE grading!! (happy dance happening despite the fact that I cannot hear the music and I am sadly uncoordinated.)

Nyha nyah!!

Hey this wasn't a second year student from New Media was it? It sounds similar to something I got from a student there last year.

Anyway you can always tell her (or him, but it's usually a girl who will make a statement like that) that her grade is determined by he work and if she finds a problem with your arithmetic in adding up her grade then she is more than welcome to argue with you. Otherwise she's welcome to take the course over to get a better grade.

I'm not participating as yet, since I'd like more responsed - but, the student is a dude, not a lady.

Nuts! I'm usually right about those things. Must be my experiences coloring my opinion. My bad. At anyrate the rest of my comment still stands

DEFINITELY a guy......DEFINITELY!!

"DEFINITELY a guy" ???

Hey, I resemble that remark! =P

I assumed it was a guy...not sure why.

I never know what to say to people with this kind of gall. I usually want to send a nice two word response: "Whatever, dude."

While in my heart I so want to use my sister's line, I will instead opt for Jay's.

In any case, what was a "What the..?" has turned into a nice shared moment.

Thanks!

Ah, you should see the lovely series of post-grade-submission e-mails I am exchanging with a student who is convinced that he really deserves an A because he worked so hard.

Silly me, I was going by the quality of his project work and the scores on his exams.

Maybe he's got something there... if we just asked students how they think they did, then it would save us an awful lot of work actually evaluating them.

I have two suggestions:
1) What I'd like to say is: "Just like every other student at this school, you will earn your grade in this class, no more, no less. End of discussion". However, this engages the student into the debate he intends to start and and argue his way through. Especially if you were to address 'the why you deserve an A although so far you've demonstrated a B'. Getting into the details of why you can't fulfill his request will entangle you, which is what you want to avoid. Instead, bypass him. Echoing previous posts, I suggest point (2).

(I've always hated the students who harrassed for more marks after any paper, test, etc. and there was always a handful of the same people harrassing the professor at the end of class. I assume we were all marked identically, but it seems that some people think they deserve to be marked on a different scale than the rest of us.)

(2) Refer the student to the school's policies, and re-iterate your obligation to follow those policies. You want to leave the impression that in this matter you and the student have no recourse except to follow school policy. (I'm assuming this is true). Direct the student to direct all inquiries to whomever the policies indicate. You've extricated yourself from the situation as much as possible, and the student will be forced to deal with the appropriate people. Sometimes taking the higher road can be more satisfying.

Replying to the email, I would enclose the grade policy from the beginning of the semester, your office hours, and if you knew the reference to the university's policy on disputing grades, include the pointer to that as well. I would also print out a copy of the reply and put that in the gradebook, since it seems this person is going to be trouble. I would not include specific remedies in the email (what are they lacking in) as some students may take it to be a contract for a grade (and hold your feet to the fire if they meet what you wrote).

On a different note, I always wondered why some folks put so much energy into getting out of classwork. It appeared that if they put half the energy doing the work they tried to get out of, they would have aced the class.

Reminds me of someone my ex-husband went to school with: he asked for and got an exemption for one section of a class based on previous experience, then warned the teacher that he'd sue the school if he failed the class because of it.
Exemption removed...

Too late, I am sure, but if you are feeling generous you could simply reply by asking why the student feels he or she should expect an A. If he makes a good case (doubtful), you are of course at liberty to adjust the grade. If not, then you already know you have nothing to worry about when he "disputes" it.

I would have bounced the e-mail.

I would have then made sure that the grade "cut-offs" were just above his/her grade, if at all possible.

In general you're much better off communicating with the student in person. There's no paper trail, etc. I have yet to meet a student who could think on his/her feet well enought to justify a better grade. Students like using e-mail because they don't have to face the faculty member, etc.

You'll understand MY anonymous post... just in case any of my students google me... ;-)

I'm remembering the "Advanced Grammer" (?) course that I worked my butt off for, but consistently got Bs. The final grade came in at a surprising "A" and I asked the professor why: "Because you deserved it," she said. I sure didn't dispute that one.

I just had the pleasure of telling a student by email that
a) the grade was respectable and did better than most of the class
b) there were a number of students who had special aptitude caused by their previous experience
c) of the ones that didn't, she was near the top.
d) no-one would care about her grade once she left anyway.

Sad but true.

It is grading time for semester folks, isn't it?

It's the one part of the job that's painful - oh, and meetings.

Nice Blog

Ah, you should see the lovely series of post-grade-submission e-mails I am exchanging with a student who is convinced that he really deserves an A because he worked so hard.

Silly me, I was going by the quality of his project work and the scores on his exams.

Maybe he's got something there... if we just asked students how they think they did, then it would save us an awful lot of work actually evaluating them.

Murphy's Discovery:
Do you know Presidents talk to the country the way men talk to
women? They say, Trust me, go all the way with me, and everything
will be all right. And what happens? Nine months later, you're in
trouble!

Hi - I was looking for some information on weight loss. Do you know a good site to visit?

Thanks for your help
Martin Brown

God isn't dead, he just couldn't find a parking place.
Mortgage Refinancing http://www.refinance-mortgage-com.com

highest quality replica jewelry Rolex watch, wrist watch, Replica Watch purchase your affordable realistic Rolex replica watch today at http://www.pro-rolex-replica-watches.com

As long as the answer is right, who cares if the question is wrong?
Mortgage Refinance http://www.refinance-mortgage-com.com

What other problems do you have besides being unemployed, a moron and a dork?
--------------------------------------------------
Website Hosting Packages - Windows 2003 Server
Web design hosting site
http://www.efextra.net