Topic: Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!

[ciao_yall]

God, I'm so pissed right now!!!!!  Somebody either talk me through it or at least bash me in the head with a baseball bat!

(Full disclosure:  I posted this on reddit as well, thinking it would be therapeutic.  It's not working!!!!  I'll post here to see if I can get a richer data set.)

tl;dr - Class A grade grubber decides to take it up a notch and appeal his grade with no grounds. Appeals committee sides with student without even talking to me. I'm pissed as hell and worried that this is a black mark on my record. What happens now?

------

Mostly, I suppose this is just a vent, but perhaps also a request to talk me down as well as a request for some of your own experiences.

Last semester (which ended OVER THREE MONTHS AGO), I had a student in my class of 150 (which I have taught for 15 years now) who was a special kind of grade grubber. This person always had some reason why his grade should be higher, and it never had anything to do with the class. He signed up late, some stuff about his feelings, vague notions of fairness, etc...... I reconsidered EVERY one of his quizzes, exams, assignments, etc. I gave him a HUGE benefit of the doubt on everything because I'm a big softie (an attitude which I resolve to change today). I bent over backwards to give this student as much consideration as possible.

As it turns out, he did quite well in my class, finishing in the middle of the B range. His incessant grubbing brought that up from a borderline B-/B. Apparently that wasn't enough. He wanted an A, so he filed a grade appeal with the university ombudsman - three weeks past when the grade appeals are due. After two months of dealing with this and DAYS of work lost, the ombuds sided with the student and actually raised his grade EVEN MORE. The appeal committee was supposed to call me to get my side of the story, and they didn't. They just listened to the student, who probably gave the same incoherent ramblings he gave me. I never even had a chance to speak to the committee.

I got an email today stating the committe decided that the student's grade was "arbitrarily determined." (Damn right it was! He should have had a LOWER grade!) The student's grade was raised EVEN MORE. When I asked about the rationale for that decision, I got no reply. After all of this:

• I feel professionally insulted more than I've ever been in my life. Like you all, I AGONIZE over the grades I assign. These are not things I take lightly, but this guy wasn't even borderline.



• I'm livid. I can feel my blood pressure in my head, and I can taste blood in my mouth.


• I find myself really hoping this student asks me for a reference letter, so I can write one.


• I want to email the rest of the class to let them know that if they don't like their grade for whatever reason, they should appeal it. At least that would be fair.


• I might as well just turn in ALL of my grading to the appeals committee, because apparently they know more about my field than I do.


• I want to know who was on the grade appeals committee. I want their addresses.


• I have a reputation for being a nice teacher. Those days are now over. From now on, I'm going to be the biggest hard-ass SOB at the university.


• There's no booze left in the house.....


• I want the student to pay for the time he cost me. I want my lost time back!


• I don't want to work at this university anymore. (The last straw was about 200 straws ago.....)

Can I ask you all:

• 
  Is this a black mark on my record?


• Should I let this go?


• Should I talk to my chair?


• I really want to email my whole class and give them the same opportunity that this little weasel got. It sounds like it might be a bad idea, but that's the only fair and ethical thing I can think of. What's your opinion?


• Somebody talk me down, man! Talk me down!


• What is your experience with this sort of thing?

I'm done ranting, and I do NOT feel better.

Stay healthy everyone!

Can you bring this up with your Faculty Senate or Faculty Union? I'm seeing issues of academic freedom.

[the_geneticist]

God, I'm so pissed right now!!!!!  Somebody either talk me through it or at least bash me in the head with a baseball bat!

(Full disclosure:  I posted this on reddit as well, thinking it would be therapeutic.  It's not working!!!!  I'll post here to see if I can get a richer data set.)

tl;dr - Class A grade grubber decides to take it up a notch and appeal his grade with no grounds. Appeals committee sides with student without even talking to me. I'm pissed as hell and worried that this is a black mark on my record. What happens now?

------

Mostly, I suppose this is just a vent, but perhaps also a request to talk me down as well as a request for some of your own experiences.

Last semester (which ended OVER THREE MONTHS AGO), I had a student in my class of 150 (which I have taught for 15 years now) who was a special kind of grade grubber. This person always had some reason why his grade should be higher, and it never had anything to do with the class. He signed up late, some stuff about his feelings, vague notions of fairness, etc...... I reconsidered EVERY one of his quizzes, exams, assignments, etc. I gave him a HUGE benefit of the doubt on everything because I'm a big softie (an attitude which I resolve to change today). I bent over backwards to give this student as much consideration as possible.

As it turns out, he did quite well in my class, finishing in the middle of the B range. His incessant grubbing brought that up from a borderline B-/B. Apparently that wasn't enough. He wanted an A, so he filed a grade appeal with the university ombudsman - three weeks past when the grade appeals are due. After two months of dealing with this and DAYS of work lost, the ombuds sided with the student and actually raised his grade EVEN MORE. The appeal committee was supposed to call me to get my side of the story, and they didn't. They just listened to the student, who probably gave the same incoherent ramblings he gave me. I never even had a chance to speak to the committee.

I got an email today stating the committe decided that the student's grade was "arbitrarily determined." (Damn right it was! He should have had a LOWER grade!) The student's grade was raised EVEN MORE. When I asked about the rationale for that decision, I got no reply. After all of this:

• I feel professionally insulted more than I've ever been in my life. Like you all, I AGONIZE over the grades I assign. These are not things I take lightly, but this guy wasn't even borderline.



• I'm livid. I can feel my blood pressure in my head, and I can taste blood in my mouth.


• I find myself really hoping this student asks me for a reference letter, so I can write one.


• I want to email the rest of the class to let them know that if they don't like their grade for whatever reason, they should appeal it. At least that would be fair.


• I might as well just turn in ALL of my grading to the appeals committee, because apparently they know more about my field than I do.


• I want to know who was on the grade appeals committee. I want their addresses.


• I have a reputation for being a nice teacher. Those days are now over. From now on, I'm going to be the biggest hard-ass SOB at the university.


• There's no booze left in the house.....


• I want the student to pay for the time he cost me. I want my lost time back!


• I don't want to work at this university anymore. (The last straw was about 200 straws ago.....)

Can I ask you all:

• 
  Is this a black mark on my record?


• Should I let this go?


• Should I talk to my chair?


• I really want to email my whole class and give them the same opportunity that this little weasel got. It sounds like it might be a bad idea, but that's the only fair and ethical thing I can think of. What's your opinion?


• Somebody talk me down, man! Talk me down!


• What is your experience with this sort of thing?

I'm done ranting, and I do NOT feel better.

Stay healthy everyone!

Can you bring this up with your Faculty Senate or Faculty Union? I'm seeing issues of academic freedom.

I'm seeing issues of not following established policy for grade appeals.  The Ombusperson does not have the authority to personally change grades (at least not where I work).
But, take a step back.
Has giving this one student an A when they barely earned a B opened any doors for them that should have stayed closed?  No
Do you really want to spend any more time/energy/brainspace on what has already been a long, miserable experience?  Probably not.
I'd say you should be upset, feel the heck out of your feelings, and walk away.

[sprout]

Have you brought this up with your chair or dean?  At the very least, it seems like the policy for investigating the appeal has not been followed.

And, work out a fair, consistent policy for considering regrade requests.  I tell my students I'll consider it, but they have to make their request in writing, and they have to provide me with evidence to support their claim.  (In my field, this could be from my textbook, lecture notes, or a reputable online source.  In a humanities field, perhaps this could be evidence from their paper or something like that?)

[dismalist]

A standard stratagem is to receive the appeal in writing, with objections to the grade being specific, and then to state that the whole exam would be regraded.  Worked wonders!

[marshwiggle]

• I want to email the rest of the class to let them know that if they don't like their grade for whatever reason, they should appeal it. At least that would be fair.


• I have a reputation for being a nice teacher. Those days are now over. From now on, I'm going to be the biggest hard-ass SOB at the university.

Don't let all kinds of other students pay the price for the actions of one jerk and several clueless decision-makers.  They dont deserve it, and most of them probably would have sided with you anyway.

Remember the main reason to do this job is for the people who actually care enough to take it seriously. The boneheads are more obvious, but they're not the majority. (At least in my experience.)

[spork]

It's possible that the student is a child of a major donor.

[ciao_yall]

It's possible that the student is a child of a major donor.

I would imagine that that major donor would be horrified to learn their progeny was behaving this way. Not everyone grew up in the Trump household.

[Clark_Kent]

Appreciate the advice everyone!  The whole situation is getting more sordid as I investigate further.  While the appeals committee refuses to share their reason behind the decision, I did find out that they changed the original accusation against me without telling me.  In short, they made an entirely new appeals case on the fly.  It's as though they were searching for an excuse to raise this kid's grade.

I never thought about the parents being major donors scenario.  I'm a bit sorry I started thinking about it, because - being the typical academic - I got curious and started researching.  While I don't know if this kid's parents are donors, it turns out he's quite well off.  This pisses me off further because midway through the semester, he didn't turn in a homework assignment.  His excuse was that he couldn't afford the online homework subscription.  Indeed it is steep, but his online presence indicates he could have afforded it (think Rich Kids of Instagram).  Being the big wuss that I am, I managed to get him one myself.  I want my money back.....  This kid played me good!  I can only assume that he lied to the appeals committee as well.

This planet needs a good, solid asteroid strike. 

[mamselle]

The kryptonite he dangled before your eyes made you do it.

;--}

M.

[spork]

Appreciate the advice everyone!  The whole situation is getting more sordid as I investigate further.  While the appeals committee refuses to share their reason behind the decision, I did find out that they changed the original accusation against me without telling me.  In short, they made an entirely new appeals case on the fly.  It's as though they were searching for an excuse to raise this kid's grade.

I never thought about the parents being major donors scenario.  I'm a bit sorry I started thinking about it, because - being the typical academic - I got curious and started researching.  While I don't know if this kid's parents are donors, it turns out he's quite well off.  This pisses me off further because midway through the semester, he didn't turn in a homework assignment.  His excuse was that he couldn't afford the online homework subscription.  Indeed it is steep, but his online presence indicates he could have afforded it (think Rich Kids of Instagram).  Being the big wuss that I am, I managed to get him one myself.  I want my money back.....  This kid played me good!  I can only assume that he lied to the appeals committee as well.

This planet needs a good, solid asteroid strike.

Are you tenured? If so, is there a grievance process for filing a complaint about policy not being followed?

[Clark_Kent]

Yeah, tenured and full.  I'm tenured enough to just send all my grading next year to the grade appeals committee and tell them to assign whatever grade they like and see how that goes over.  It's only 750 exams.......

[Parasaurolophus]

For a second-year class...

The essay prompts and instructions I gave you exist for a reason. Just. Follow. The. Instructions. ARGH!

[FishProf]

Digital Native my %$.

I have held 8 advising meetings so far.  Students were emails a link to sign up, a link to download the fillable PDF form for registration, and an attached version of the form.  So far 2 of the 8 have managed to fill out the form and send it to me (4 sent back blank forms, 2 could't "find" the forms").  And one student just emailed me that she went to the Zoom website but I wasn't there (I am not using Zoom for these meetings).

[FishProf]

The tech idiocy continues.  Send me the filled form as an attachment does NOT mean:

Send me a google link
Send me a screenshot of your screen
Send me a picture of your screen
Send me a scan of the printed out form
Send me a picture of a handwritten form
Email me a list of courses you want

Again: 1) Save the form.  2) Fill out the form. 3) Save it with the name I sent in the email.  4) Email me that saved form.

On the plus side, online advising means no form = no emailed link.  I don't allow advisees to meet without the form.  Harder to do in an office setting (they just show ip)

[the_geneticist]

I am many things, but I am not psychic!  I do not get notified when/if students appear or disappear on my class waitlists.  If you decide to try and register for a class on the FRIDAY of week 2 of the quarter, DO NOT act shocked that you have missed class materials.  Welcome to college!