A few years ago, a hardworking student in my personality course got a D. Her mother sent me a letter explaining that an accident during her daughter’s birth had caused her to have difficulty taking multiple choice tests. She asked me to change the grade to a C- so that her daughter could maintain eligibility for her sport.
I found that very, very sad. But I didn’t change the grade. The mom contacted the dean’s office to complain about me. I still didn’t change the grade. The reason is that it wouldn’t have been fair to the rest of the class.
If you see a professor about a grade that you think was somehow unfair, here’s what I recommend that you do. Email the professor to see if you can meet to discuss your grade. When you meet with the professor, explain why you believe you deserve a higher grade. Make your argument so that the professor can increase your grade while still being fair to the rest of the class.
Once and only once did I change a grade in my seminar for a student. She told me that a change from her B- to a B would allow her to graduate with honors. However, that’s not why I changed her grade. I changed it because I had told all the students at the beginning of the semester that if they were between two grades and had performed relatively higher in their oral, as compared with their written, participation then they would get the higher grade. I felt that her oral participation had been slightly better than her papers. This allowed me to be consistent across all the students in the class when I changed her grade.
So the bottom line is make your argument so that your teacher can change your grade while staying consistent and fair to the rest of the class. Oh, and don’t get your parents involved. Professors automatically push back when parents try to influence us.
Please post your experiences and let students know about your successful or unsuccessful attempts to get a grade changed.
Comments
I reread the one about the mom’s request to change a grade. It reminded me of my 23 yr old employee who was terminated after a year of employment. She was the first one put on the RIF list (reduction in force). Two reasons for this had to do with her parents calling in sick for her, not once but twice, and secondly she would walk into work with a large Starbucks at 9:30 am every morning even though most everyone else was there at the latest by 9:00. It seemed to be she was playing by a different set of rules/playbook and I guess I attribute this to a sense of entitlement. Both of her parents are seasoned professionals in their respective areas but they lacked common sense by still trying to coddle their adult child and soften the world we call “reality”.
I guess the problem stems from what you described as consumer mentality. The cost of college is so great that both parent and student expect so much. I come from a generation where you were told that if you work hard in college you’ll have a successful career ahead of you. Parents weren’t a part of the equation. They were just in a hurry for you to finish as soon as possible, and as the student, you wanted the same thing so you could get out from under their cloak and live your own life, on your own terms, and be fully responsible for yourself.
After reading your posts, it seems some of these behaviours extend back to their college years and today’s students are in for a rude awakening when they enter a professional environment. If they expect to get paid that big fat salary, they better be willing to step up to the plate and be ready to handle the responsibilties they’ve been given. The adult child/parent relationship should move towards the “calling your parents on the weekend,” phase of life.
You may say that a 20 yr old has no interest in the make-up of a 40 yr old, but graduates need to consider the demographics of their future managers. We do come from a different time where students showed respect to their professors and many of these childish antics would never have been tolerated at a collegiate level 20 years ago. They certainly won’t be tolerated in the workplace today.
I completely agree. I think it is unfair for students to ask for a higher grade because they felt like they deserved it, because it puts the other students who are respectful enough of the teacher’s given grade to not ask at a disadvantage. And like the person who posted above, for parents to get involved reflects poorly on both the parent and the child. Great post!
