Favorite student emails

[marshwiggle]

Universities gave up so long ago on the en loco parentis thing that they forgot that they are actually an institutionalized setting and can exert huge amounts of control over students lives.

Well, since the students are legal adults the only real "control" institutions have is similar to a private club; "follow the rules or get kicked out". Even parents don't have any "official" control once their children reach the age of majority.

[Caracal]

Universities gave up so long ago on the en loco parentis thing that they forgot that they are actually an institutionalized setting and can exert huge amounts of control over students lives.

Well, since the students are legal adults the only real "control" institutions have is similar to a private club; "follow the rules or get kicked out". Even parents don't have any "official" control once their children reach the age of majority.

That was always true though, or at least was true in the 50s when schools had curfews, prohibitions on opposite sex guest, required dining room attire and all the rest.

[marshwiggle]

Universities gave up so long ago on the en loco parentis thing that they forgot that they are actually an institutionalized setting and can exert huge amounts of control over students lives.

Well, since the students are legal adults the only real "control" institutions have is similar to a private club; "follow the rules or get kicked out". Even parents don't have any "official" control once their children reach the age of majority.

That was always true though, or at least was true in the 50s when schools had curfews, prohibitions on opposite sex guest, required dining room attire and all the rest.

Which is long before any current faculty or administrators would remember. By the 70's, (about as early as any non-retired faculty would have experienced), "Animal house" was a more representative (if wildly exaggerated) image.

[AvidReader]

I won't quote a specific email, but a recurring issue I am having this semester is with students who make the same request multiple times without seeming to pay any attention to the answer. One student has emailed every week to see if I will accept the previous week's work. If it wasn't allowed in the last eight weeks, why would it be an option this week? Another student emailed at the beginning of the term to see if student could do extra work for bonus points (no, with a reminder of the syllabus), and has just written again to request the same thing.

My policies don't change. I don't accept late work one week after never having accepted it before. I don't change my mind about offering bonus points or extra credit. I don't change the rubrics for students who don't think they should be evaluated on certain (departmentally established) criteria. No. Still no.

I don't mind answering the same question multiple times, but having the same question asked by the same student multiple times is exhausting.

(Still no.)

AR.

[mamselle]

Class memo/reminder?

Oh, wait...they'd have to read that...

M.

[the_geneticist]

I got a set of 2 emails.

One from the student

Hello!

I am contacting you because I am concerned about my grade on the exam. For question 8 I clearly, remember matching my answers for [Category 1] and the [Category 2], but I saw that they were switched. I wrote it down in my notebook to make sure that I put it in the right box but somehow, it was switched. That would change my grade by missing one point on that problem instead of four points. Could it be possible for me to get back these points? Please let me know and thank you!
Switch-a-roo Student

And this one from their TA

Do you think we should give the points back to this student?

Dear Switch-a-roo Student,
Thank you for your email.  We can only grade students based on the answers they submitted.
Best,
Dr. Geneticist

Dear TA,
Are you KIDDING ME?  No.  Just no.

Sigh.  At least the TA asked before just giving the student more points.

[kaysixteen]

Student is probably operating on high school standards these days, where asking for stuff like this is normative, and mom and dad are usually there to induce admins to play ball.  TA is probably afraid of complaints.

[research_prof]

Student did not submit his responses for a homework. TA emailed the student without asking me to ask "if this was a mistake", then telling me and arguing with me that "we did that for another student".

First of all, we did not do that for another student: the student contacted us, because he submitted the wrong homework and provided proof that he had completed the homework before the deadline--still this proof was not bulletproof, but in a good faith effort, I (the primary instructor), decided to grant the student the benefit of the doubt.

It is different for us to proactively contact a student and having a student that messes things up contacting us. And, in any case, you are a TA and that means you are not getting paid to be "creative", but you need to run things by me before you take action. Next time, something like that might get you fired.

[ergative]

I got a set of 2 emails.

One from the student

Hello!

I am contacting you because I am concerned about my grade on the exam. For question 8 I clearly, remember matching my answers for [Category 1] and the [Category 2], but I saw that they were switched. I wrote it down in my notebook to make sure that I put it in the right box but somehow, it was switched. That would change my grade by missing one point on that problem instead of four points. Could it be possible for me to get back these points? Please let me know and thank you!
Switch-a-roo Student

And this one from their TA

Do you think we should give the points back to this student?

Dear Switch-a-roo Student,
Thank you for your email.  We can only grade students based on the answers they submitted.
Best,
Dr. Geneticist

Dear TA,
Are you KIDDING ME?  No.  Just no.

Sigh.  At least the TA asked before just giving the student more points.

Did you double-check to make sure you sent the right email to the right person? I always worry that I'll get my wires crossed in a situation like this.

[Aster]

Stu Dent: "After checking my grade, I realized I am a little short of an A in your class. I do not expect special treatment, but I am hoping this email would encourage you to reconsider my grade."

So I checked this guy's records. He has a mid-range B. I don't believe that falls anywhere close to "little short of an A".

[apl68]

Stu Dent: "After checking my grade, I realized I am a little short of an A in your class. I do not expect special treatment, but I am hoping this email would encourage you to reconsider my grade."

So I checked this guy's records. He has a mid-range B. I don't believe that falls anywhere close to "little short of an A".

"I do not expect special treatment...but could you give me some anyway?"

[marshwiggle]

Stu Dent: "After checking my grade, I realized I am a little short of an A in your class. I do not expect special treatment, but I am hoping this email would encourage you to reconsider my grade."

So I checked this guy's records. He has a mid-range B. I don't believe that falls anywhere close to "little short of an A".

"I do not expect special treatment...but could you give me some anyway?"

Not special special; just ordinary special

[Langue_doc]

Students have been sending me pleading requests not through emails, but by writing me notes in the Comment boxes for their assignments. For the most part, these are requests to submit missed or late assignments. Since the pleading requests now consist of complete sentences that are grammatical, I caved in on the grounds that these students have learned professional academic writing and therefore deserve an extension.

[the_geneticist]

I got an inadvertently almost funny one today.  I wrote to a student to say that I had a report that showed they viewed the answer to an exam question that was posted on Chegg.  Note: I didn't say which question, just that is was on their midterm.

They wrote back to say that they only wanted to "double check" their answer to the question on [Topic B] because they were confused.

I had evidence that they looked at a [Topic M] question, but now I have an admission of misconduct for the [Topic B] question too.

[science.expat]

I got an inadvertently almost funny one today.  I wrote to a student to say that I had a report that showed they viewed the answer to an exam question that was posted on Chegg.  Note: I didn't say which question, just that is was on their midterm.

They wrote back to say that they only wanted to "double check" their answer to the question on [Topic B] because they were confused.

I had evidence that they looked at a [Topic M] question, but now I have an admission of misconduct for the [Topic B] question too.

I know nothing about Chegg but can guess what it is. How though do you get a report on what has been viewed, or were you bluffing?