tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post5137816110830485909..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Grade Inflation Rant, Issue One. From the Tuba-Playing Prof.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-25024926305153884122012-11-14T02:31:29.583-05:002012-11-14T02:31:29.583-05:00Our W policy is similar (up to last day of class),...Our W policy is similar (up to last day of class), but there is a cap on the maximum number of Ws a student can get over the course of hir degree -- it's four or five, I'm not sure exactly, but countable on one hand anyhow. <br /><br />Thanks to the limit, anyone flakey enough to pull a retroactive W (or even an on-time W) will no doubt wind up with at least as many Fs on the transcript Edna Expathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11438002061912782295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-1413970375811301512012-11-13T20:12:04.707-05:002012-11-13T20:12:04.707-05:00I smell fraud.I smell fraud.Emergency Mathematical Hologramhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15873569623797587860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-87764522552833010662012-11-13T17:11:13.525-05:002012-11-13T17:11:13.525-05:00Our school let's the little snowflakes drop on...Our school let's the little snowflakes drop on the last day of classes. This probably won't surprise you, but the people who are guaranteed to fail still don't drop the class. They pray the magical bell-curve fairy will save their smarmy asses.The Naughty Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11234624349205271144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-17630786848056030972012-11-13T16:41:13.613-05:002012-11-13T16:41:13.613-05:00At my school, the current associate dean has no sp...At my school, the current associate dean has no spine and will approve a late withdrawal petition for any student that comes with a sob story. Of course, there is always a sob story. A student took the same class from me two semesters in a row and failed both times, but was allowed to withdraw after both Fs were assigned. We aren't notified when this happens, I just noticed that he was no Addledhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10730874477163369453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-82475390625366937192012-11-13T16:20:11.997-05:002012-11-13T16:20:11.997-05:00In 2001, the policy at our local state school was ...In 2001, the policy at our local state school was academic probation after one failing semester and mandatory time-off (a year, I think) after two. The student could petition to apply before the year was up if they could present evidence of substantial improvement (not sure how often these were granted; my guess is not often).<br /><br />Students could retake a course at least once (maybe more),Old School NESterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18331789100255928595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-72046836205918360792012-11-13T16:04:58.257-05:002012-11-13T16:04:58.257-05:00And, as noted above, mounting loan debt can consti...And, as noted above, mounting loan debt can constitute a growing pile all its own. Allowing/inviting them to borrow semester after failed semester, on the presumed assumption that doing so will eventually help them financially, strikes me as something close to malpractice. Someone who is borrowing for school (and that's the majority these days, I'm pretty sure) needs to be especially Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-79011111201718521482012-11-13T15:49:35.402-05:002012-11-13T15:49:35.402-05:00At my small SLAC, withdrawal from classes for acad...At my small SLAC, withdrawal from classes for academic purposes was only allowed for first-semester freshmen. After that, you were stuck with your classes, for better or worse. The only other time you could get a W was for medical reasons--and to do that you had to withdraw from the university entirely. Basically, there was no such thing as flaking out of a class because your grade was going to Gone Gradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17545285786616979495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-19064476921644038942012-11-13T13:17:36.595-05:002012-11-13T13:17:36.595-05:00I'm hesitant to completely disallow retroactiv...I'm hesitant to completely disallow retroactive W grades, because sometimes, shit happens. <br /><br />That being said, real true stinking horseshit doesn't happen nearly as often as the W grades are issued, and at least some of the time, those students who get a giant pile dumped on them manage to pass anyway.Irritated Isishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15415532947857584043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-41285439597630636352012-11-13T12:01:01.724-05:002012-11-13T12:01:01.724-05:00Ah, okay. I read it wrong/too fast. I'd though...Ah, okay. I read it wrong/too fast. I'd thought that they'd wiped out practically ALL of her grades and that she was going to graduate NOW, which didn't make any sense in my head.Snarky Writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196509615328045888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-81690784742040380312012-11-13T12:00:17.310-05:002012-11-13T12:00:17.310-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Snarky Writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196509615328045888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-85852676155800103882012-11-13T11:15:02.482-05:002012-11-13T11:15:02.482-05:00I'm not so incensed about the ability to repla...I'm not so incensed about the ability to replace a grade by retaking the class (though I think a notation of how many times the student took the class to achieve the grade on the transcript might be appropriate, and fair to other students who took it once), or even by the idea of academic bankruptcy, but I *am* puzzled, disturbed, etc. by the idea of letting a student fail semester after Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-17382120232565562502012-11-13T09:28:38.553-05:002012-11-13T09:28:38.553-05:00Ah ha! your point about FA is interesting: the of...Ah ha! your point about FA is interesting: the officers in FA aren't helping students in the long run. Thanks for your comment.TubaPlayingProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06524484569241433720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-72275520892119500422012-11-13T09:26:27.379-05:002012-11-13T09:26:27.379-05:00The student in question had to retake required cou...The student in question had to retake required courses, and as I stated, her second grades replace the first. The issue for me is that the courses for which she received failing grades that aren't required no longer factor in her overall GPA, that is, her GPA is higher.TubaPlayingProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06524484569241433720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-64870621036239645682012-11-13T08:48:56.336-05:002012-11-13T08:48:56.336-05:00Hmmmm... some of my colleagues would have thought ...Hmmmm... some of my colleagues would have thought that I had written the above. Our institution allows pretty flexible use of the "W" for students who know how to work the system and, recently, we encountered a case where administrators had changed a F to a W before giving us time to respond (Like 4 hrs. On a Friday. In the Summer.).<br /><br />However, some of this is related to Dr Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10444414777736734711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-49597241476225227492012-11-13T07:52:39.633-05:002012-11-13T07:52:39.633-05:00How does changing all their grades to W not then r...How does changing all their grades to W not then require them to take those classes over again? Or does W stand for something other than Withdraw?Snarky Writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196509615328045888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-18141766826740429792012-11-13T06:23:10.029-05:002012-11-13T06:23:10.029-05:00"Was I sure that the student hadn’t attended ..."Was I sure that the student hadn’t attended classes? For the student assured the advisor that she had indeed attended all classes and turned in all assignments." <-- This is why I have a sign-in sheet for all class hours. Signature = attendance, which I try to verify with a head count every class. I also have them submit every written assignment on the CMS so that the paper trail isEdna Expathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11438002061912782295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-58375801805712075062012-11-13T04:14:35.051-05:002012-11-13T04:14:35.051-05:00
Not sure how someone can change a grade for someo...<br />Not sure how someone can change a grade for someone else unless there is evidence of manifest unfairness or incompetence on the part of the instructor.<br /><br />In which case there should be much more discussion on the matter than a simple information notice via email.<br /><br />Vog3lfr3ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07498874776211940606noreply@blogger.com