Any college educators on the board?

SlugSlinger · Aug 31, 2015

I have a process question that is related to disputing a grade for the following scenario.

Student is told they have a grade of 93% in the class the weekend before the final.

Professor updates online grade book with a quiz score that should not change the overall grade. This is due to the lowest quiz grade is dropped and not counted.

When grade is added, the grade weighting is corrected and student's grade drops from a 93% to a 90%.

Student sees this the Friday before the Monday final and presented it to the professor.

Students final grade is an 88% after final.

Student communicates this and points out the gradebook calculation errors, but professor does nothing.

What options or recourse does the student have to dispute this grade? Student is a graduate student with a 4.0 in all other coursework.

donner · Aug 31, 2015

SlugSlinger said:
I have a process question that is related to disputing a grade for the following scenario.

Student is told they have a grade of 93% in the class the weekend before the final.

Professor updates online grade book with a quiz score that should not change the overall grade. This is due to the lowest quiz grade is dropped and not counted.

When grade is added, the grade weighting is corrected and student's grade drops from a 93% to a 90%.

Student sees this the Friday before the Monday final and presented it to the professor.

Students final grade is an 88% after final.

Student communicates this and points out the gradebook calculation errors, but professor does nothing.

What options or recourse does the student have to dispute this grade? Student is a graduate student with a 4.0 in all other coursework.

My wife is a professor. Short answer is that it varies from professor to professor and school to school. Longer answer is below.

Generally there are a couple of options. First, much of it will really depend on what the syllabus says and whether the grades were available to the student beforehand (i.e. Did they bother to calculate the grade themselves or rely on the professor getting back to them). Keep in mind, sometimes students skip class and miss a quiz, which often fills that 'lowest grade' drop spot. There are often 'participation points,' as well, which can move a grade up or down and often aren't assigned until the end of the class.

Second, many professors get inundated with grade change requests after grades are posted and often are only based on 'i deserve a better grade'. That is to say the professor might be working through the emails and having a hard time distinguishing between the legitimate requests and the others. Especially if it's a big class (think about how many emails a professor gets in a 400 person class, now imagine if they teach two classes that size).

If the professor has office hours then having the student take the time to go visit with the professor will likely go much farther towards resolving the issue than simply emailing and waiting for a response.

If neither of those work, and the student is sure he/she is in the right then the next step is likely to approach the department chair. He or she will be likely reach out to the professor and address the situation.

Finally, some places have a multiple step process for appealing a grade (most of which start with the professor, then the chair and then beyond). If it's a simple math issue then it will get resolved, but if there are subjective points, or questions about why an essay got a C instead of a B, then it could be more difficult to 'win'.

But honestly, if it's just a math issue then it will get corrected. Some schools also have rules in place that don't allow professors to just change grades after they are officially reported (think changing a star athlete's grade from a fail to a pass). It sometimes requires paperwork to get processed up the chain before it is reflected online.

Eagle Eye · Aug 31, 2015

There should be a standard protocol for this situation.

I would contact academic affairs and enquire about a grade dispute. Sooner is better...the student should do it right now!!

Okie4570 · Aug 31, 2015

Was this a summer class or last spring?

SlugSlinger · Aug 31, 2015

Okie4570 said:
Was this a summer class or last spring?

Spring.

The other issue is the professor suggested copying the dean for his opinion during the multiple email communications between the student and professor. The dean was copied and asked for an opinion, which no reply was ever given by the dean.

There is a subjective point of view I will add. The student was so freaked out about the 3 point grade drop, it was impossible for the student to concentrate properly for the final. This only compunded the grade decrease because I believe a higher score would have been attained on the final if the student was in the correct frame of mind.

71buickfreak · Aug 31, 2015

You can take it to the prof, if they won't fix it, then you go to the department head. From there, you have to go to the dean system. Also depends on the school. There should be a board or group that handles grade issues beyond the professor.

donner · Aug 31, 2015

SlugSlinger said:
Spring.

The other issue is the professor suggested copying the dean for his opinion during the multiple email communications between the student and professor. The dean was copied and asked for an opinion, which no reply was ever given by the dean.

There is a subjective point of view I will add. The student was so freaked out about the 3 point grade drop, it was impossible for the student to concentrate properly for the final. This only compunded the grade decrease because I believe a higher score would have been attained on the final if the student was in the correct frame of mind.

There is likely a formal process for the grade appeal. Most schools have a formal process in place whereby the student can appeal to a panel. Most don't get that far because the professor, chair and dean all have a stake in correcting anything that is 'wrong' before it gets that high.

Is the appeal about the miscalculation (i.e. The quiz that should have been dropped is still being counted) or the fact that the student didn't perform well on the exam after seeing the quiz grade being counted?

Rod Snell · Aug 31, 2015

There is a subjective point of view I will add. The student was so freaked out about the 3 point grade drop, it was impossible for the student to concentrate properly for the final. This only compunded the grade decrease because I believe a higher score would have been attained on the final if the student was in the correct frame of mind.

If that's the real issue, then there is no basis for changing the grade. "I was having a bad day because ______________" is one of the hazards of the testing process, not an error the prof can correct.
Any error in grading that a student might find is investigated and corrected immediately: I recall one change that actually resulting in a student passing the course by 1/2 point.
On the few grade challenges that were pushed to a faculty review board, I never attended to defend a grade, just sent the syllabus and grade sheets. None were ever changed.

As an aside, I stopped letting the students drop grades because half the class blew off the first quiz, and toward the end of the class, blew another and forgot about the first. The ones who did their best on all of them didn't need to drop one, and the ones who counted on dropping one to save their grade usually blew two. :oops3:

Any college educators on the board?

SlugSlinger

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donner

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Okie4570

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