Grade appeal for retired professor

[artalot]

I run an interdisciplinary academic program on my campus. Our required introductory course was taught by a professor who retired at the end of last semester. I'm now charged with adjudicating a grade appeal for that course. It's a long story, but basically the student says they submitted the work and the professor says they didn't. It's made more complex by the fact that the professor appears to have granted the student extensions and allowed the student to submit work outside of the CMS.

My question is, to what extent should I involve this retired professor? They forwarded me an email thread about the student's grade, and I've asked the student to provide proof that they submitted the work, so that may be all that I will need. I'd like to leave the retired person to enjoy their retirement, and they've left town and cut ties. But the email thread is confusing and I'm not really sure how long the extensions were nor how the student submitted some of the work.

[mythbuster]

As long as you can be reasonably sure that they did turn in the assignments during the semester in question, I would just grade them, adjust the course grade and move on. Don't involve the happily retired prof.

[the_geneticist]

As long as you can be reasonably sure that they did turn in the assignments during the semester in question, I would just grade them, adjust the course grade and move on. Don't involve the happily retired prof.

That assumes the student saved the work in question.  It's trickier if they can't provide you with their assignments.

[FishProf]

Depending on how the work was submitted, this could be easy.  A hand-written assignment is nigh untraceable, but anything submitted electronically is traceable.

At least in principle.

[downer]

Mostly the LMS becomes unavailable to students after the end of the semester, so they can't submit late work there. (It is possible to change that, and I have done so.)

Do you want to involve the retired professor, and does the professor want to be involved? If the answer to either is no, then don't.

[Caracal]

I run an interdisciplinary academic program on my campus. Our required introductory course was taught by a professor who retired at the end of last semester. I'm now charged with adjudicating a grade appeal for that course. It's a long story, but basically the student says they submitted the work and the professor says they didn't. It's made more complex by the fact that the professor appears to have granted the student extensions and allowed the student to submit work outside of the CMS.

My question is, to what extent should I involve this retired professor? They forwarded me an email thread about the student's grade, and I've asked the student to provide proof that they submitted the work, so that may be all that I will need. I'd like to leave the retired person to enjoy their retirement, and they've left town and cut ties. But the email thread is confusing and I'm not really sure how long the extensions were nor how the student submitted some of the work.

Hmm, is this an email thread where the student and professor were discussing extensions or is just a back and forth about the grade that took place after the class? If it's the latter, it makes sense that it would be confusing, those sorts of discussions are always a mess.

If there's agreement in this email thread between the student and the professor about what extensions were granted, and the professor just says he never got this thing from the student, you probably don't need to bother them anymore. Then it's just a question of whether the student actually sent the professor this thing or not and if they did there should be proof of it. However, since it sounds like you can't figure that out from what you have, you might need to ask the professor to just forward you all the correspondence between them and the student. That shouldn't take more than a few minutes and you don't have to involve this person in the rest of it.

[mamselle]

If this is artwork, there may be more complications involved.

Graphic design files, video films, etc., are easy enough to find, trace, etc., but if a physical piece of work is missing, that's a very different issue.

Can that be clarified? Because if it's a piece of physical work, it's also possible that the retiring/moving? professor has it among their things, or it's been lost in the clear-out.

The thought plickens.

M.

[artalot]

Hmm, is this an email thread where the student and professor were discussing extensions or is just a back and forth about the grade that took place after the class? If it's the latter, it makes sense that it would be confusing, those sorts of discussions are always a mess.

It's the latter, so, yeah, it's a mess. The professor mentions that an extension was granted without naming the date, but it's basically the student freaking out and the professor trying to gently explain what happened.

Can that be clarified? Because if it's a piece of physical work, it's also possible that the retiring/moving?

Not a physical artwork, but one of the missing assignments is some sort of in-class or timed essay. It seems that the student missed class that day and was granted some kind of extension to turn in the work via email (I think).

I don't want to involve the professor, but if I end up overturning the grade, I also don't want them to feel invalidated or as if this is some sort of comment on their legacy. It's not. They were a wonderful professor and colleague.

[marshwiggle]

I don't want to involve the professor, but if I end up overturning the grade, I also don't want them to feel invalidated or as if this is some sort of comment on their legacy. It's not. They were a wonderful professor and colleague.

Unless this is part of a student's submission for their Nobel Prize nomination or Beatification, don't sweat it a lot either way.

[FishProf]

...and was granted some kind of extension to turn in the work via email...

Then there is an email record.  This should be easily solvable.

[Wahoo Redux]

As long as you can be reasonably sure that they did turn in the assignments during the semester in question, I would just grade them, adjust the course grade and move on. Don't involve the happily retired prof.

That assumes the student saved the work in question.  It's trickier if they can't provide you with their assignments.

The burden of proof is on the student in this case.  Hu missed the test.  The nice old professor gave the student a second chance.

As FishProf posts:

Then there is an email record.  This should be easily solvable.

If there is no email with a student assignment in it, you can reasonably assume the student is panicking.  A panicked student will say all sorts of stupid things.  Hu perhaps even thought that, since the prof in question retired, the school would simply take hu at hu's word.

[clean]

2 years after leaving my last job, I got an email from the assistant dean about a grade appeal. the student claimed that he had an A in one of my classes.  Not only did he NOT have an A he didnt even complete the work and I had records from my emails that I saved, that I had warned him that he was not submitting work and would fail.  I told the assistant dean that I would be pleased to join a conference call as well as help process any honesty policy documentation associated with this false claim.  But that was the last I heard from it.  I suppose that the assistant dean, who was a very nice, forgiving guy, informed the student of my reply and let the student withdraw his appeal.

Good luck in your process!

[downer]

More generally, getting in contact with people after they have left the job may be tricky. I taught one place for a couple of years and after I left I didn't check my email there. I doubt I even have an email account with them now.

[Ruralguy]

I think I would offer to involve the retired professor, but if they say no, or don't reply within a reasonable amount of time, don't worry about. But it sounds like without them, there's no proof of anything, and the grade stands.

[mamselle]

Maybe ask the chair or someone who had oversight over the departed one to make contact?

They'd have to look up their coordinates anyway, probably, so you are not putting them out any, and they should know how things stand if the student later files a complaint.

M.