Another great student
So, a student of mine flunked. Why? Well, she didn't turn in her last paper which was worth 25% of her grade. Just plain didn't do it.
I liked this student (not that it matters) so I was kind of sad to see that she'd flunked.
Alright so begins the tale.
The director of the program (kind of a vice provost) sends me an email. The student has complained about her grade. She essentially says that on the last day of class (which she missed) she sent me an email with her paper. She never checked to see whether I'd responded and so she is surprised to learn that she has an F. She, by the way, did not send me this email, nor did she send me an email related to her grade.
Intaki, listening? This is what people do in the real world.
So, I receive an email from my boss indicating that I should change her grade. I explain the situation and my boss tells me that she understands completely.
I then receive an email fromt this woman's counsellor explaining to me that the student isn't very good with computers and maybe I could give her an incomplete. Now with a vice provost and a school counsellor advocating for a woman whom I have still yet to hear from, I decide to give her an incomplete.
Holes in the story? Sure. If this paper exists, then where is it? Should it be any bother to get it to me the next day? Have the vice provost and the counsellor seen this paper? Why are they advocating so hard for the student? Basically, I'm being asked to change a student's grade based entirely on the fact that the student doesn't want an F. Even with the paper, the student is going to get a C+ at best. No one's asked me about the student's standing in the class, the student's work, or anything else about the student. Based solely on the fact that she is a student (and a contributer of tuition), I'm being asked to put aside my professional ethics. In other words, I shouldn't flunk the student because she is a student.
Now, let's think about that email. Okay, she sent it to me. Why didn't I get it? Screwed up the address? Well then, either it should have bounced back or the other professor with my name at said college would have gotten it. She generally lets me know when she gets emails that are mine. So, did any of this happen. Also, didn't check up on an email that was worth 25% of her grade? Well, you get the picture.
I'm not actually surprised by the student. She's trying her trick. So be it. I'm surprised that it's working. Basically, the administration at my college will not support me in this, the most basic function of being a teacher. I can't imagine what would happen if someone made up a seriously dangerous story about me.
I think I may soon be quitting that fair institution.
I liked this student (not that it matters) so I was kind of sad to see that she'd flunked.
Alright so begins the tale.
The director of the program (kind of a vice provost) sends me an email. The student has complained about her grade. She essentially says that on the last day of class (which she missed) she sent me an email with her paper. She never checked to see whether I'd responded and so she is surprised to learn that she has an F. She, by the way, did not send me this email, nor did she send me an email related to her grade.
Intaki, listening? This is what people do in the real world.
So, I receive an email from my boss indicating that I should change her grade. I explain the situation and my boss tells me that she understands completely.
I then receive an email fromt this woman's counsellor explaining to me that the student isn't very good with computers and maybe I could give her an incomplete. Now with a vice provost and a school counsellor advocating for a woman whom I have still yet to hear from, I decide to give her an incomplete.
Holes in the story? Sure. If this paper exists, then where is it? Should it be any bother to get it to me the next day? Have the vice provost and the counsellor seen this paper? Why are they advocating so hard for the student? Basically, I'm being asked to change a student's grade based entirely on the fact that the student doesn't want an F. Even with the paper, the student is going to get a C+ at best. No one's asked me about the student's standing in the class, the student's work, or anything else about the student. Based solely on the fact that she is a student (and a contributer of tuition), I'm being asked to put aside my professional ethics. In other words, I shouldn't flunk the student because she is a student.
Now, let's think about that email. Okay, she sent it to me. Why didn't I get it? Screwed up the address? Well then, either it should have bounced back or the other professor with my name at said college would have gotten it. She generally lets me know when she gets emails that are mine. So, did any of this happen. Also, didn't check up on an email that was worth 25% of her grade? Well, you get the picture.
I'm not actually surprised by the student. She's trying her trick. So be it. I'm surprised that it's working. Basically, the administration at my college will not support me in this, the most basic function of being a teacher. I can't imagine what would happen if someone made up a seriously dangerous story about me.
I think I may soon be quitting that fair institution.
posted by Monstro D. Whale | 7:45 AM
5 Comments:
Wow. At least it's June -- perfect time to get your resume in order.
Not really, I start teaching there again Saturday. I have already received an email from a student letting me know the she can't find the book and that she's wondering if its necessary to read the first story.
It's, by the way, a literature class.
My wife e-mailed a paper to her professor. The professor had graded it and returned it. At the end of the semester, the grade didn't show up online, and the professor claimed to have never seen the paper. Fortunately, my wife was able to Forward it from her sent messages folder.
Ask the student to check if it's in her Sent Messages folder, and if so, have her print it out and bring it in. That would be the proof, which would most likely have the date on it and everything. Otherwise, she cannot prove that it was e-mailed in.
Also, you haven't even seen the paper yet? Stick to your guns. If she doesn't have a paper to turn in right now, on the spot, then she didn't have one to start with.
I've seen the paper now. It wasn't very good. Okay, so factor that in to this wondrous chain of events. Now that all of this has been made into a gigantic drama involving numerous faculty and adminstrative positions--after it has been blown up to epic proportion--it is simply not possible to give it the C- that it deserves, because then I will have to explain that grade to five different people as well. It's just a job. It's really not worth the headache. So, I figure out what the highest grade I can give the paper is so that her overall grade won't go up and then I give her that grade. This prevents as much need for explanation as I can possibly avoid...and then I move on with my life.
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