Apologize for returning papers late?

[Vark]

I assigned a paper that was due 3 weeks ago and some students have asked when it will be returned. I am swamped and am wading through them, but I have not yet finished grading them. I might finish this week but I'm not sure that I'll have the time. Some of my students are understandably anxious because this is the first grade that they will have received in my class (a portion have given presentations that were graded) and we are past the halfway point. Is this occasion for apology? If so, what shall I say?

[Parasaurolophus]

I think that whether you should apologize sort of depends on a few things.

Speaking from a purely ethical point of view, I do think an apology might be in order, depending on how long you initially told them it would take you to return grades, how long it normally takes you, what's been eating up your time, why their first grade is showing up a little past the mid-semester mark, etc.

Speaking from a practical perspective, however, apologizing might not be a good idea, depending on your job situation. Suppose you do apologize, and
they latch onto that apology and crucify you for it on your evaluations, will that have any impact on your advancement/retention prospects? If so, then don't do it. Just do what others do and brazenly take forever, and try to avoid the situation in the future. If not, then an apology might be called for, depending on the same kinds of things I outlined from the ethical perspective.

If you do apologize, however, then I think it's important to offer them a realistic timeline for the return of their work. Don't be ambitious about it; better to meet or exceed a target than to fail to meet it.

But also: could you perhaps return the batch of things you've already graded? If it's a significant chunk of them, then that in itself will go some way towards alleviating their stress. You could even fold this into the apology process: I'm sorry it's taking so long, I've been unusually busy, I'll have them done by X but in the meantime, here are the papers I've already graded. That strategy has the added bonus of staggering the visits to your office to cry about their grades.

[Hegemony]

Yes, return the ones you've finished, and apologize profusely (but not abjectly) to everyone.  Meanwhile, grade faster.  Do not do what I am guessing is a careful, punctilious job.  Remember that students just glance at your carefully constructed comments, your philosophical questions in the margin, your weighing of details in great nuance.  They skim them over in 5 seconds, they look at the grade at the bottom, they huff, and they put the paper in the bottom of their backpack.  They would much rather have a paper returned sooner, so they know where their efforts of falling in relation to the difficulty of the class, than have more careful scrutiny and response to their tiny details and errors. Read the paper, put a question mark next to any incomplete sentences and an exclamation mark of appreciation next to any jokes so it's clear that you were actually reading, and at the bottom scrawl something like "Good ideas here but you don't develop the argument fully, and more examples would help me understand your statements.  B."  Done.  5 minutes.  Power through the rest and return them pronto.  This week!  You have surrendered the luxury of being able to wallow in grading any longer than that.

[downer]

I might say something like "Circumstances have prevailed to get me behind with my pile of grading. Sorry about that. I will prioritize your papers and get them back soon."

I'd also plan future semesters so I would be able to get their first graded work back well before midterm. I think that's important.

Whether you apologize or not makes little difference. Same with student apologies. What counts is getting the work done.

[Wahoo Redux]

I apologize to my students and explain that I am "drowning in grading."  They respond to this, I think, because they relate to being overwhelmed with homework. 

I am thereafter conscientious about returning papers and very understanding of their requests for extensions and personal problems that get in the way of their schoolwork.

One thing I also do is prioritize those students that personally ask me for their papers and turn them back to them the next class period or over Blackboard.  I figure they are the most anxious and you can avoid problems by responding to them instead of the students who don't actually care that much.

[fourhats]

At my institution, there is a requirement that all students get back some graded work by the middle of the semester, so that they know where they stand in the course. It's particularly important for them to know this if add/drop dates occur around this time. So here, students are within their rights to complain higher up the chain if a faculty member hasn't returned graded assignments within a reasonable amount of time.

[Ruralguy]

Apologize.

If there is another assignment you were about to get out there, delay it until you get the papers back.

[summers_off]

I once had a semester where this happened to me.  I announced that I was going to be handing the papers back late, but that I assessed myself a late penalty of 2 points (i.e., I added 2 points to all their scores).  They loved it, and it really didn't change the overall class grades.

[dr_codex]

I once had a semester where this happened to me.  I announced that I was going to be handing the papers back late, but that I assessed myself a late penalty of 2 points (i.e., I added 2 points to all their scores).  They loved it, and it really didn't change the overall class grades.

Clever.