Advice needed: professor will not to release grades from exams/quizzes/lab reports

[GreenDuck12]

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I'm in need of some advice. I have a professor that is not willing to share the grade report for this past term with the scores for lab reports, quizzes, and the final exam. I have emailed the professor in question extensively to find out how I scored on the final and have not received a response. I have called the department for help and when I recently stopped by an open office hour I was shown the door. I met with the department head to report a hostile interaction during office hours. Anyone have any advice for how to address this?

 

[Moko]

I'm in need of some advice. I have a professor that is not willing to share the grade report for this past term with the scores for lab reports, quizzes, and the final exam. I have emailed the professor in question extensively to find out how I scored on the final and have not received a response. I have called the department for help and when I recently stopped by an open office hour I was shown the door. I met with the department head to report a hostile interaction during office hours. Anyone have any advice for how to address this?

If I was in this situation, I would stop contacting the professor and department about this matter. I feel that that could only make the situation much worse (especially if you were on course to get a good grade in his class to begin with).. Did he explain to the class that he doesn't release grade reports? And is this something he does to everyone? Will the grade eventually be available through the registrar?

Sorry that you're in this situation, but patience and restraint seem to be the best things to avoid aggravating the situation.

 

[esob]

I would suggest not to upset the apple cart. If there is nothing you can do to change your grade at this point, then the risk for potential negative outcome (for example, ruining your committee letter) should be avoided.

 

[QofQuimica]

Does your university not post your class grades and unofficial transcripts online? What did the prof say when you asked him/her? This story is kinda strange....

 

[GreenDuck12]

The university requires professors to provide access to grade information and "reasonable requests" for updates (per the student handbook). Initially, I emailed the professor after the final exam to find out how I did, which is something that I do with every class. Final grades were posted less than 12 hours after the final exam but I have not been able to get the professor to release the score.

In this case, I completely understand not upsetting the apple cart. I contacted the department after several threatening comments were made by the professor. My university does not offer a committee letter (one of the reasons I will be switching to another university summer term) but so far I have great recommendations from my other professors with regards to work ethic and professionalism.

 

[gracie369]

These are grades from the fall semester that should have been posted to the website for you to view in December?? So the entire class did not get their grades on time or just you? Be more clear with facts/dates. If this is the case then you should meet with the dean or assistant dean of the college that all of the chairs report to (not the dean of the entire university).

 

[GreenDuck12]

Gracie, after looking over what I posted, you're absolutely right that it is not clear.

For this chemistry class, all quizzes and exams were graded on a curve. During the term 2 of the 8 exam/quiz curves were released and I scored significantly above the curve on both of them. For the last three weeks of class, the students in class asked for the curve of the last four exams and quizzes. Each week we were told that it would be sent out in an email or brought to the next class. Neither of those things ended up happening. We ended up taking the final exam without knowing our standing in the class. The final exam ended at 9pm on Tuesday night. By 9am on Wednesday term grades were submitted to the registrar. My final grade was a B+ (not bad). I figured that I must've had some quiz scores / exams that did not go as well as I thought, so I emailed the professor asking if he could send this information along so I can prepare for the next term. After several emails each spaced a week or more apart, I called the department to ask for help in getting in contact with the professor. Earlier this week, I walked by the professor's office while going to a different office hour and knocked on the door in the off chance he was in. He was. After a brief, hostile conversation (he was yelling) I was told that the scores I requested would not be sent and that I had effectively jumped off a bridge in asking for them. At this point, I reported the interaction to the head of the program (dean of the science division).

In hind sight, I should not have asked for my scores on quizzes and exams as this has now turned into a mess that ultimately is much worse than not knowing a final exam score. I did not anticipate that asking for scores would be such a point of contention as I have never had this reaction before during all of my years of undergraduate and graduate education. I suppose my big question is: does this kind of thing happen often in science classes? and if so, do we simply not ask for scores in order to not "rock the boat"?

 

[Eccesignum]

That is awfully strange behavior from him. Perhaps he interpreted the situation as you feeling like you deserved a higher final grade? Not saying you did (or that it's appropriate), but I've known professors who've been pre-emptively defensive like this due to it happening so much in prior classes.

 

[DrMidlife]

the most likely thing: he's traumatized by the entitled behavior of your classmates, which he's projecting on you, and he generally lives in fear & hates his job now.

a thing you should actively worry about regardless of how innocent you think you are or how innocent other people think you are: really, honestly, in what ways are you behaving like your entitled classmates, and are there modifications you can make to your own behavior that can change the responses you get from the burned out people in power who will be between you & what you need, forever?

I have exactly no interest in how you answer the question - it can't be fairly investigated in an anonymous internet forum.

best of luck to you.

 

[gracie369]

Well, at least you got a good grade. What probably happened is that the professor did not grade the other 6 quizzes and that's why he/she reacted that way. Maybe the two highest scores were selected? Either way the professor should be more transparent with the grading process. You might want to drop the situation if you have to deal with the professor again. If you want to seek clarification then work with the dean of sciences.

 

[GreenDuck12]

DrMidlife, thank you for your reply. You have given me something to think about and in some ways I do believe I am responsible for the reaction. In truth, I believed my classmates and I had a fairly strong rapport with our professor and did not foresee asking for the final exam score being a contentious problem, partly because I have never had trouble with it in the past (I have never argued for a grade change, either), and partly because providing scores when asked is a common practice of my profession (education). Before leaving class after the final exam, I did ask the professor in question if it would be possible to find out how we scored, to which he replied "you can either email me or see me during office hours." In my mind, at the time, I was following through on this but if my email was the 3rd or 4th email he had from students, I can understand why it would be taken as entitled.

the most likely thing: he's traumatized by the entitled behavior of your classmates, which he's projecting on you, and he generally lives in fear & hates his job now.

a thing you should actively worry about regardless of how innocent you think you are or how innocent other people think you are: really, honestly, in what ways are you behaving like your entitled classmates, and are there modifications you can make to your own behavior that can change the responses you get from the burned out people in power who will be between you & what you need, forever?

I have exactly no interest in how you answer the question - it can't be fairly investigated in an anonymous internet forum.

best of luck to you.

 

[TallPreMed]

You're paying X amount of dollars and putting yourself in major debt to go to college (At least that's what was the case with me). There is 0 reasons you should be treated like that when you're investing yourself in this institution of higher education. Shame on them.

You have to submit your work by a required due date. Should you not be paid the same respect? Should this professor be held to the same standards that you are held to by him? Both my father and my grandfather are/were college professors and they would NEVER speak or treat a student as such. Shame on him.

If this makes me entitled, then that's fine- but if I put the work in, I expect to see the results, plain and simple. I don't have to keep my tests- I know some of my professors would do that so we wouldn't give our tests to next years' students- but I expected to receive a grade. I wouldn't be paying for a $160k piece of paper for no reason.

I'm just astounded by that behavior. But I also was a humanities major at a small liberal arts college. So the same people who taught my classes I would see on the weekends. Kind of hard to treat students/professors poorly when you see them on a weekly basis because your campus isn't any larger than a couple blocks.

 

[Eccesignum]

You're paying X amount of dollars and putting yourself in major debt to go to college (At least that's what was the case with me). There is 0 reasons you should be treated like that when you're investing yourself in this institution of higher education. Shame on them.

You have to submit your work by a required due date. Should you not be paid the same respect? Should this professor be held to the same standards that you are held to by him? Both my father and my grandfather are/were college professors and they would NEVER speak or treat a student as such. Shame on him.

If this makes me entitled, then that's fine- but if I put the work in, I expect to see the results, plain and simple. I don't have to keep my tests- I know some of my professors would do that so we wouldn't give our tests to next years' students- but I expected to receive a grade. I wouldn't be paying for a $160k piece of paper for no reason.

I'm just astounded by that behavior. But I also was a humanities major at a small liberal arts college. So the same people who taught my classes I would see on the weekends. Kind of hard to treat students/professors poorly when you see them on a weekly basis because your campus isn't any larger than a couple blocks.

I don't think anyone's arguing against that. I totally agree. I think what we're bringing up is the issue of some bad apples having wrecked it for the bunch.

I'm 35 and back in undergrad now. My mouth has just literally dropped open at times from the rude, entitled behavior I see from the undergrad crowd at my university. I've seen a student call a TA a b*tch in front of the whole class. I've heard a student in my Bio 1 class talk proudly about how she bullied a professor into giving her a higher grade. I've heard of students having their parents call a professor and yell and scream about how dare their child get a D (never mind they did no work in the class whatsoever and rarely even came). We've had a threat of a lawsuit from a student who failed an English class (he didn't turn in a single paper) because apparently it was the professor's responsibility to make sure he passed. And that's only a few stories.

I can only hope this is unique to my university but from stories I've heard I doubt it is. And I know this has made otherwise excellent, dedicated teachers very gun-shy when a student who's nothing like the above approaches them. They've started to expect the worst and it affects everything for all of us. It's incredibly unfortunate.

Now I'm not saying this is OP's situation, because I don't know this prof and I don't know the OP. But seeing what I've seen that's the first thing I can think of that might be going on.

 

[TallPreMed]

I don't think anyone's arguing against that. I totally agree. I think what we're bringing up is the issue of some bad apples having wrecked it for the bunch.

I'm 35 and back in undergrad now. My mouth has just literally dropped open at times from the rude, entitled behavior I see from the undergrad crowd at my university. I've seen a student call a TA a b*tch in front of the whole class. I've heard a student in my Bio 1 class talk proudly about how she bullied a professor into giving her a higher grade. I've heard of students having their parents call a professor and yell and scream about how dare their child get a D (never mind they did no work in the class whatsoever and rarely even came). We've had a threat of a lawsuit from a student who failed an English class (he didn't turn in a single paper) because apparently it was the professor's responsibility to make sure he passed. And that's only a few stories.

I can only hope this is unique to my university but from stories I've heard I doubt it is. And I know this has made otherwise excellent, dedicated teachers very gun-shy when a student who's nothing like the above approaches them. They've started to expect the worst and it affects everything for all of us. It's incredibly unfortunate.

Now I'm not saying this is OP's situation, because I don't know this prof and I don't know the OP. But seeing what I've seen that's the first thing I can think of that might be going on.

Is the UG you attend a bigger school? I graduated in 13 from UG and I don't think anyone in my school would've handled that behavior. Not saying my school was perfect. Far from it, but when there's only roughly 1400 students you kind of police your own.
My mind is blownnnnn

 

[Eccesignum]

Is the UG you attend a bigger school? I graduated in 13 from UG and I don't think anyone in my school would've handled that behavior. Not saying my school was perfect. Far from it, but when there's only roughly 1400 students you kind of police your own.
My mind is blownnnnn

We have about 4500 students, I believe.

 

[GreenDuck12]

I think you're right that this is what is going on. I saw it when I was in undergrad (from parents, not students) and I see it now that I work in urban education. In my own practice, the problem never goes away by withholding information and/or making threats of my own. If I were to do either of those things I would be terminated on the spot.

I wouldn't call this a "good" learning experience but it is a learning experience nonetheless.

I can only hope this is unique to my university but from stories I've heard I doubt it is. And I know this has made otherwise excellent, dedicated teachers very gun-shy when a student who's nothing like the above approaches them. They've started to expect the worst and it affects everything for all of us. It's incredibly unfortunate.

 

[jl lin]

You're paying X amount of dollars and putting yourself in major debt to go to college (At least that's what was the case with me). There is 0 reasons you should be treated like that when you're investing yourself in this institution of higher education. Shame on them.

You have to submit your work by a required due date. Should you not be paid the same respect? Should this professor be held to the same standards that you are held to by him? Both my father and my grandfather are/were college professors and they would NEVER speak or treat a student as such. Shame on him.

If this makes me entitled, then that's fine- but if I put the work in, I expect to see the results, plain and simple. I don't have to keep my tests- I know some of my professors would do that so we wouldn't give our tests to next years' students- but I expected to receive a grade. I wouldn't be paying for a $160k piece of paper for no reason.

I'm just astounded by that behavior. But I also was a humanities major at a small liberal arts college. So the same people who taught my classes I would see on the weekends. Kind of hard to treat students/professors poorly when you see them on a weekly basis because your campus isn't any larger than a couple blocks.

If the facts are as they have been communicated here, no, the student (OP) is not acting overly entitled. The simple truth is that indeed the student is entitled to know where s/he (sorry don't know your gender) s/he stands.

Testing is not only for grading and documenting achievement. Testing itself is a learning tool/exercise. I mean this is why you show your work when asked.

Personally, I would have sent him the email as you did, respectfully inquiring and stating back to him, "as you have suggested...." For it was he, was it not, that suggested that you email him? After giving a reasonable period of time w/o response, and inquiring again, the third time, I would have copied both the original email and f/u email to the next person in line--if that is the dean or assistant dean, so be it.

Also, it sounds like this professor/instructor, whatever, will probably not be getting decent evaluations at the end of this course, which is something those over him need to keep in mind.

Why do people have to make everything such a pain in the arse, just b/c they hate their job? I tire of the whole misery likes company justification crap.

 

[jl lin]

I think you're right that this is what is going on. I saw it when I was in undergrad (from parents, not students) and I see it now that I work in urban education. In my own practice, the problem never goes away by withholding information and/or making threats of my own. If I were to do either of those things I would be terminated on the spot.

I wouldn't call this a "good" learning experience but it is a learning experience nonetheless.

Exactly.

Don't make excuses for the prof/instruc. I realize there is some level of "I am 'God'" in the classroom, but this is ridiculous. And it sucks that people have to be put in the stupid position of having to fight for what is proper and right after paying a boatload of money and spending a "ginormous" amount of time. Expecting something reasonable like you ask is NOT too much. If, however, you hounded the hell of out of him, that would be different.