Comments | academics_anon: Student Sues University Over Grade

bourbonblues in academics_anon

Student Sues University Over Grade

Feb 09, 2007 02:42

Apparently the University of Massachusetts is being sued by a student over a contested grade:

I guess he really, REALLY wants that A-.I feel bad for the TA. I was at a workshop for graduate assistants the other day and one of my professors mentioned how lawyers are increasingly showing up in disputes over grades. At the time I imagined this ( Read more... )

teaching-assistant-stuff, general-musings-on-academia

Comments 58

gaburieru_ February 9 2007, 09:45:53 UTC

ughhh, resume whores.

trundle February 9 2007, 09:58:32 UTC

I find it interesting that it's a "re-entering" student (is that still the terminology?).

The article also makes it sound like the TA switched the grading scale after the coursework was all completed -- which seems like rather poor form.

Obviously, the whole thing is a bit sparse on details so far, but I find this case more intriguing than the usual "if I don't get a 4.0, my parents won't buy me the Mercedes I want" situations.

ewaeva February 9 2007, 15:25:24 UTC

I witnessed a "re-entering" student threaten my advisor with his lawyer when he was asking to take a midterm late because he was "ill." This was after missing half her lectures, having obvious authority issues (a middle-aged man taught by a woman younger than he! Egads), and being extremely demanding about extra help. Sounds like a similar situation.

pansette February 11 2007, 06:27:42 UTC

Non-trad students can be the best students in the class. They can also be the ones that make you wanna kill.

retro_andi February 9 2007, 11:01:15 UTC

granted the details in the article are sparse, but if his 92 was ultimately reduced to a C in order to get a "better representation" of course work, there must have been students with 120 or 130 as an average who needed their figures translated to a 100 point scale for marking, thus earning them the higher mark. However until more details are given about how and why the grading process occured the way it did, we have no way of knowing.

dirty_eskimo February 9 2007, 11:35:59 UTC

Lawyers showing up for grade disputes?! Can they do that?

epistolarysmack February 9 2007, 17:31:33 UTC

Lawyers can do anything.

irisira03 February 9 2007, 12:05:53 UTC

It sounds iffy on the surface, but I feel like if the TA were truly "in the wrong," as this article implies, then the University would have remedied the grade already. They haven't. Which means there's more to this than meets the eye. I'd be interested to know the University's side.

sacredchao23 February 9 2007, 12:30:04 UTC

Yeah, it seems like the proper grade dispute channels would have taken care of the problem.

(The comment has been removed)

wretchmuffin February 9 2007, 16:52:37 UTC

Actually, we have students bringing attorneys (or people claiming to be attorneys) to our assistant dean a couple of times each year in an attempt to intimidate her into intimidating some teacher into giving the student the grade they want. To their credit, the lawyers almost always look embarrassed.

And she's just the second step (after the department chair) up the ladder.