My syllabus policy is that I do not allow make up exams, and I told her so. She's now begging me to allow her to make up some of the points so that she won't have to repeat the class.
The (tenured) professor who handles the department's student complaints is notoriously tough; he urged me not to allow any kind of credit and said he sees no way the student can win. In fact, when I forwarded him the email (to warn him of a possible complaint), he laughed at the idea that the student would even try to get credit. Two other profs I asked told me that I need to stay tough on this to avoid getting a reputation as someone who doesn't uphold syllabus policies.
Some considerations:
- If it matters, I'm at a R1 that is pretty tough on undergraduates.
- If I fail the student, she'll likely to RMP and skewers me.
- The student is pretty laid back, but I wouldn't be surprised if she used his complaint opportunity to skewer my teaching. The person who handles complaints says he treats this as sour grapes, but having the guy hear these complaints in person won't exactly help me. (I've done a great deal to improve my evals this semester, but who knows?)
- And is this fair to the student? That's what kept my up last night.
Q: I'm open to hearing any feedback. Should I allow Stoner to make up some of the points, thus getting her up to C-, or teach her a life lesson?
Two days after the final seems awfully late to me for it being an accident. Does she have no friends in this class? I tend to try and base things on the student themselves to a point. If someone really is working hard and trying, I'm much more likely to throw them a lifeline than if they have had a bad attitude about class.
ReplyDeleteAlternately, you can make the make-up assignment a significant amount of work, and that forces the student to either be serious about needing these points or showing that they were lazy in the first place. I do that a lot, give them tough, long, written, critical thinking, make-up work.
1. The exam date was known since the beginning of the semester.
ReplyDelete2. Your syllabus sez no makeups.
3. You seem to be employed be a dept that doesn't bend over backwards to accommodate stupid student bullshit.
Send StonerChick an email back, quoting your policy, and reminding her that the date of the exam wasn't exactly a big secret that everyone knew except her, then pour yourself a nice drink of your choice, and start your holiday.
Not too sure why you're agonizing over this, actually.
Life lesson..
ReplyDeleteWhat everybody said above. Plus, it sounds to me like you're getting a clear and consistent message from at least two people above you in the hierarchy. Unless you have a really strong reason to think that one of them might change his tune at some point, it would behoove you to take the advice you've received (also, what do you do when you show leniency, the student blows off the replacement work and/or doesn't like the grade you give it, and *then* complains? If she thinks the rules don't apply to her now, why do you think she'll accept a new set of rules?)
ReplyDeleteI'd say that both integrity as a teacher and self-preservation point toward giving her the zero she deserves on the exam, and calculating her final grade accordingly.
My understanding is that students no longer frequent RMP as they once did. Even so, a single comment is not going to "skewer" your career, I'm sure. Finally, showing your Chair that you can stand up to students is more valuable in this case than making one student happy.
ReplyDeleteStand strong. Do not cave as so many others have caved.
Agreed! Don't give in! I mean, if she's going to fail because of one exam, she probably wasn't doing that great anyway (unless you only have a few grades). I have the same policy and NO ONE makes it up. Sometimes I think if I ever had a student that worked really hard and then was in an accident or something I might let them, but somehow students that work really hard never seem to get themselves in situations where they miss something they've known about for months. Does anyone really care about what RMP says? I always feel like that's a place where sore losers go - and it shows in their comments since they're always poorly written.
ReplyDeleteDo not give in. Think of your colleagues. They'll get the whining next, and the whiners will say, "But Professor Penny let me make up the exam." Then your colleagues will be pissed at you and see you as an easy mark.
ReplyDeleteLife lesson.
ReplyDeleteI just had a conversation about this with a younger colleague today--he's been a bit more lenient with accepting late work.
I pretty bluntly told him that he's not doing them or the rest of us any favors. He's not under my jurisdiction but he likes me and I think he's a good teacher--so he sheepishly agreed that it probably wasn't a good idea and he's going to take a hard line next semester. I hope so.
Back when I was fresh and new, I accepted late work. Then it got to be chronic among my students, and I started to get annoyed. So yes, they ruined it for subsequent students.
But it's also a CYA thing for me--my office is a maelstrom of books and papers and folders. Late work is apt to get lost in the kipple.
This student's choice to not go to the scheduled final exam is just that - her *choice.* You shouldn't feel bad because she doesn't have her shit together.
ReplyDeleteStay strong, and don't give into the whining! She may thank you for it someday (you probably just won't know it).
Thanks everyone. I had already sent an email similar to Cranky's before I posted this. The student responded by begging for a way to make up some of the points to avoid "having a semester's hard work." Some nerve, huh?
ReplyDeleteThe reason this kept me up is that I'm forgetful, and I could see something like that happening to me.
BTW, in terms of having to take his advice: he's not senior to me in the sense of having a vote on my tenure case, since he's got tenure on the teaching side. But he's one of the best known teachers in the department, and his toughness does set the tone for everyone else.
Oh, and regarding whether he might change his mind and going lenient on the student: From what I've seen of him, that would be akin to Michael Vick becoming a vegetarian.
"Agreed! Don't give in! I mean, if she's going to fail because of one exam, she probably wasn't doing that great anyway (unless you only have a few grades)."
ReplyDeleteThe final is almost a quarter of the grade. The rest of his scores were below average, so I don't see this coming out to be more than a D+ (which means he must repeat the course).
If you feel compelled to give in for the above mentioned RMP reasons, you can always give the student a final he can't possibly pass. You can say that since so much time has passed you need to give a different exam. Then tell the student that he will be at your office at 9AM tomorrow morning or he will lose this one time only totally against department regulation opportunity. Chances are he's already home and can't/won't show. And if he does? Well, he'll never pass the class because the final is too damn hard for the slacker.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm in agreement with everyone else. Stick to your guns.
Nobody reads or cares about RMP.
ReplyDeleteThe student has presumably already handed in their student evaluation of your teaching, so your score isn't going to change now. Even if they do complain, you've already been told it's not going to matter.
Your department has told you not to give in.
II think all the votes are in.
What everyone else said.
ReplyDelete- My RMP gets VERY little new input. Only one new entry over the past year, plus one entry I did myself. I agree with the others that RMP is dead.
- It sounds like your hierarchy supports you.
- At an R1, teaching evals from the students won't carry all that much weight.
- If you're going to take Dr. Cranky's advice about pouring yourself a drink, I recommend a single malt at room temperature. Two fingers deep. Enjoy it slowly.
I had a similar situation a few years back. Hang tough, pour yourself a drink, and write some Haiku like I did for the old site:
ReplyDeletehttp://rateyourstudents.blogspot.com/2007/12/ode-to-f_9083.html
I saw a slightly different example happen this week. A student e-mailed in the PM the day of the exam (which had been bright and early) to ask if he was in the right room. He had, apparently, never updated his syllabus from the original one, which did have misinformation. The syllabus had been revised about one month into the semester.
ReplyDeleteIn this situation the student appeared to have been actually mistaken. The student acknowledged the possibility of his mistake, and was quite happy to take the exam at the same bright and early the next morning, when a colleague was administering an exam.
On the other hand, I also remember an incident from my undergrad career. I don't think it was a final, though the details elude me now. I slept through an exam, and showed up to the professor's office at the end of the scheduled period. I frantically apologized for sleeping in, and was permitted to sit for the exam. I'm not sure why, and I'm unsure of how I'd deal with that now.
Both of these instances have a timeliness to them that yours doesn't seem to indicate. It makes me doubt the credibility of the story, though I suppose it could be conflict avoidance behavior.
What everyone else said. I understand about being forgetful; I am, myself. But actions, and inactions, have consequences.
ReplyDeleteDon't beat yourself up. Instead, beat it out to your stash and get yourself a good bottle of porter. Take the dog for a walk. Relax, dammit!
Yeah, I let an otherwise "A" student make up an exam for which she'd gotten the wrong time. That seemed reasonable to me, as she'd come to every class and pulled her weight.
ReplyDeleteMy policy is: if you are frequently late or absent or you frequently leave early, if you contribute absolutely nothing to class discussion, and/or if you hand in things late, you will never get the benefit of the doubt from me.
Burnt Chrome wrote: "Back when I was fresh and new, I accepted late work. Then it got to be chronic among my students, and I started to get annoyed. So yes, they ruined it for subsequent students."
ReplyDeleteThis is me right now. I am starting a new policy next semester. I have made a visible list of policies that I am hanging in my office--not only for the students to see, but perhaps more importantly, for me to see. So when I feel that urge to give in, I am hoping it will remind me of how annoyed I am at this very moment, still dealing with late work and unable to meet my own research deadlines.