Anyone ever filed a grade grievance for a college course?

[357]

Originally Posted by Goldie

Well said Bobarian.

And I know what you mean about feeling unappreciated and mistreated. I got laid off from my job last March. A job that I thought I would stay at for a long time.

So I know how it feels, and I know that I need to keep my eye on the big picture. I will talk to the prof's boss tomorrow and see if I can actually talk to the prof one on one. Well, he's deaf, and I don't know the language well enough to have a sit down discussion so we will have to have an interpreter present. But you get the idea.

Thanks to everyone who gave their time and feedback. I hope this will work out in the long run for me. One bad grade won't kill me, but it hurts on the inside (as lame as that sounds).

Pride is tough to swallow. I'm not saying that in a condescending or negative way, but believing you're right and having to accept another answer is tough sometimes. Whether you're right or not isn't the point. Often in the workplace you'll find that you can bend over backward to show evidence that a decision to be made should go in a certain direction. You can prove it beyond dispute, and your boss will still go the other way. It is tough to swallow, especially when you know it means more work/PITA for you. Just chalk it up to a learning experience. Learning to deal with a$$holes in a position of power if you must, but a learning experience nonetheless. At least he won't be your boss for the next 10 years. Find out what he wants/expects and do your best to appease him. It'll help your grade next semester, and move on.

[jkim05]

My friend wen through this with a professor, and he had her again as well. She failed him on his final paper for an education course because she disagreed with his papers main point. Even subjective things such as papers have to be graded fairly based on some kind of rubric. They compared his paper to the rubric and gave him a much higher grade. That being said, going from a C to a B/A is going to be much more difficult than going from failing to passing because there is less at stake from the administration's perspective. Your school should have a documented process for requesting a grade review, but you should carefully consider all options including speaking directly to the professor, and all consequences. It may actually help for the next semester as the administration is much less likely to be sympathetic if you don't file a grievance for this past semester but then seek to do so for the fall semester. If you feel you were genuinely graded unfairly, and you think the teacher was beyond a reasonable range of bias in terms of grading, you shouod complain, you may not be the only student with that problem.

[Drazzil]

There are a number of questions that need to be answered:

1. Is this professor tenured? If so, drop the grievance right now. Even if it comes out in your favor, IE The dean TELLS the instructor he/she was wrong, it is still totally in the professors ball court as to whether to do something about it or not.

2. Do you have this professor next quarter? If yes, then drop the issue, lest next quarter you have a bullseye painted on your forehead.

3. Will it matter in the long scheme of things? If no, drop it.

4. Do you have physical copies of your work in which you can prove that you did well in certain assignments? If yes, approach the professor privately, professors do not like having their math screw ups made public. But since you already appealed you will need as much physical evidence as you can get.

[Goldie]

I contacted the prof who was going to facilitate the meeting and grade grievance for me, and said I wanted to hold off.

I wanted to take the opportunity to sit and speak with my prof first. I think giving him another chance face to face is the right thing to do.

I just got a little heated when I saw my grade.

[darkleeroy]

Originally Posted by Goldie

I contacted the prof who was going to facilitate the meeting and grade grievance for me, and said I wanted to hold off.

I wanted to take the opportunity to sit and speak with my prof first. I think giving him another chance face to face is the right thing to do.

I just got a little heated when I saw my grade.

That's a smart, remember, the difference between a 3.5 and a 3.6 GPA matters in only a handful of places; and even then gaining an great internship would do even better for you. Start networking now, while you're in college and the job search would be easier in the future.