Might end up failing class for stupid reasons, what can I do?

<p>My final for Italian was today. I've been struggling in the class all semester but was hoping that quizzes, homework, attendance and extra credit would get me at least a low but acceptable grade. Apparently last night the professor sent out an email saying that he needed everyone to bring all their tests and quizzes with them so he could mark down the grades TODAY. I never got the email because I was focusing last night and this morning on studying. Furthermore, I threw out most of the papers over the weekend thinking I'd never need them again... he said his e-mail last night that at the beginning of the semester he brought this up but I don't have any recollection of that and it's not listed in the syllabus (or anything he posted to Blackboard that we have) at all that this would happen. When I went into the final with nothing this morning, he was fuming and shocked I had nothing with me. So now, even though I had every test/quiz done, I'm likely getting no grade for them. I've already talked about this with friends and they have said to e-mail the professor and tell him about my situation, but he doesn't like me so I doubt much will come from that. I've also been told to contact the department chair and student affairs ASAP as "It's not my responsibility to earn his salary/credit by keeping his records for him." My only worry is that, since I was doing so blah during the semester, all the departments may just write me off as someone crying about a low grade. Is there anything I can do or is this a lost cause?</p>

<p>This sounds like a really bizarre situation, and I would definitely bring it to the department chair or the dean. When an exam/assignment etc. is handed back, it is under the assumption that the professor has already documented the grades, and that it is now your property to do with as you please. I have never heard of a professor requesting the return of all exams/assignments at the end of the semester to record the grades. I have had plenty of professors who have had us hand our exams back in, but this was always immediately after getting them back. They hand them out for us to look over, then have us hand them back in after reviewing them. </p>

<p>The professor may have mentioned it at the beginning of the semester, but if there’s no documentation of such a policy in the syllabus then it seems incredibly irresponsible on the part of the professor. I’m not sure what course of action could be taken here in either case. If the professor has no documentation of your grades, and you yourself do not have them anymore…it creates a problem. You threw them out over the weekend? Did you throw them out at home? Would they still be in your garbage?</p>

<p>This is certainly not a lost cause. If it isnt written in the syllabus, and no earlier emails (before test and assignments given back) were sent to you regarding this policy, then you must contact the head of department or dean and let them know whats going on. You could have been absent when your professor announced such a policy.</p>

<p>The syllabus is a contract between you and the professor on how your performance will be determined. In order for you to take the class, it must be sined and accepted by you. The afreement also states hiw you will be graded. Hence, if there is no mention of such a policy of returning work for grade, then you arnt required to do so. Your dean of academics should easily understand your situation and would probably have a word with your professor to ensure that this never happens again in the future.</p>

<p>If you do end up with a grade you feel is unfair, you have the right to petition it and start an academic dispute that will appear in front of the dean. Many colleges and universities have different processes regarding this, but your situation seems to require a rather quick one…</p>

<p>Hope i make sense and that it all goes well. Let us know what happens :)</p>

<p>I’d also take this as a lesson…never throw out the material from a given course until after the course is officially, 100% finished. By that I mean once the final grade has been posted. </p>

<p>I’ve had plenty of courses full of handouts and assignments and such that I’ll never need to reference again. I always get rid of them to avoid clutter. But in case a grade ever needs to be disputed, it is good to have these things handy. </p>

<p>This doesn’t excuse the professor in any way at all though. </p>

<p>It’s your responsibility to complete assignments and quizzes. It’s your professor’s responsibility to grade and record those assignments and quizzes.</p>

<p>I would most definitely bring this up with the dean or director of academic affairs. Unless there is something in writing about this, then your professor is in the wrong.</p>

<p>I am wondering if the professor uses Excel or some type of gradebook online and if the gradebook was somehow deleted or wiped clean, thus his request for students to bring in all former assignments. If this is the case, then the professor should learn that a hard-copy gradebook should always be used. Most schools urge professors to use the online gradebook as a back-up only, and this is one of the reasons why.</p>

<p>He shouldn’t assume that students kept each and every piece of graded material. Like I said, unless this is stated in writing, then he should be held accountable. </p>

<p>The only way I can think of where he would have mentioned this was in the Powerpoint on the first day of classes, but that was pretty basic and had rules (slides that said “Don’t cheat” and “Homework is essential” with pictures) and I don’t remember anything about handing in tests at the end of the semester.</p>

<p>Even at the final today, it seemed like most people had kept a decent amount of the tests/quizzes, only one other person besides me had absolutely nothing at all. One person had literally only three-four sheets to hand in, etc. One person behind me had to dig through their backpack to find a small number of papers. I don’t even know for sure if he was grading them, but it seemed like that was the case.</p>

<p>He uses Excel but mostly for attendance.</p>

<p>This sounds crazy!! I’ve never heard of a professor doing that… it just doesn’t make sense. What if you change the grade before you give it back? How would he know? This doesn’t seem ethical or responsible at all.</p>

<p>Like the others have said, contact the department chair. They need to know what’s going on because I don’t think this is something any administrator would encourage. Don’t try and attack your professor, though. Just state the issue and ask what to do and wait for them to respond.</p>

<p>Please let us know what happens because this is just weird!! What kind of school are you at? Public university, private university, community college, small liberal arts college?</p>

<p>I would definitely take this up w the dean. This is an administrative failing on the part of the professor to not record grades as he assessed them.</p>

Bumping this thread to post again that I finally had the courage to check my grade… I got an F In the course. To say I’m frustrated is an overstatement. I’ll admit I did poorly on the exams and quizzes and such, but I attended every class, did as much of the homeworks as I could, went to a seminar for extra credit. I think I earned at least a D. At the same time, I REALLY don’t want to deal with the professor anymore. The guy is scum. On any level, if he wanted the grades off the tests/quizzes or not [whatever he was doing with them], sending the e-mail the night before and having nothing in writing about the matter is not OK. I’m just between a rock and a hard place, especially given this is my final semester.

Double-posting because I just checked through the Blackboard archives and found this in one of his postings:
“Create a folder where you will put all the mocks, the tests(ex. what we did on 12 september) and the homework(if you can’t record or any other problems with ilrn) during the oral exam you will bring it with you. In this way everything will be clear and we don’t have to remember if you did or didn’ homework and if you missed or didn’t miss any test. Any ,issing thing is considered as an 0!”

Well, this exposes the “he didn’t grade anything” flaw, but he did announce it by all accounts. Is this still worth reporting anything?

@BobThePizzaBoy‌ No, don’t report it. You don’t have a case since he made his policy known at the beginning of the semester. It was your mistake not his, no matter how “unreasonable” his policy may be. Take this as a lesson- never throw out graded work until a course is completely finished.

Although @guineagirl96 has a point, I still think it is worth a visit with the department head to see if it should be the student’s responsibility to maintain records of the grades. Your teacher’s “this way . . . we don’t have to remember if you did or didn’t do homework” language sounds lazy–and risky–to me.

Well, it seems to me that his policy was not so he could get the grades from your papers, but rather so he could avoid claims that the student had done an assignment when the teacher had no record of it. You should ask him if he actually has grades recorded for your work. If you think those grades, combined with your grade on the final, should give you something higher than a D, complain to the department head.

  1. Were the quizzes and homework graded already?
  2. Was the fact that you had to maintain everything in the syllabus/Blackboard? That is the “contract” for the course.
  3. Assuming they were graded, then what I bet happened was that he lost/deleted his grading book. Making everyone bring everything in at the end of the term is not a normal way to do things.

Do not email the professor. Go to the professor and talk to him during office hours. Do this before you go to the dean because the dean will ask you if you talked to the prof. Ask the prof what you are to do in this case.

How did you do on the final? If it is something you are happy with, then tell them you would accept that as a final grade. If the prof won’t agree, then go talk to the Department Head or the Dean of Students. See them in person.
Ask if it is normal that the professor is not keeping track of the graded work during the semester, and you understand if for some reason that his grade book was deleted, but you should not pay the price. You would accept your Final test grade as your semester grade.

You have an F. You cannot do worse. But you can do better, so it is worth trying.

I checked through everything. It’s not mentioned in the syllabus at all and the Blackboard post is from four/five weeks into the semester, he never mentioned it prior and never again afterward till the final. I think he should of at least mentioned it in class, especially if that’s how things are going to be graded.

Sometimes, life hands you bupkis because of the details. The details can do you in, both in school and in real life. At least you have the knowledge of the Italian to take away from this.

I think it’s worth bringing some attention to it. I’d talk to the dean about it personally. Such a radically different grading system deserves a bit more mention than a Blackboard post that was made 4-5 weeks into the semester. On the first day of class, the professor hands you a syllabus. The purpose of a syllabus is to explain course outlines…including grading systems. This is a very unusual system, and I find it hard to believe that a school would be okay with this. What if your house burns down? Are you just out of luck on all of your graded homework? If your homework is all in your backpack and in your car…then your car gets stolen? You’re just screwed?

It may be the case that the school would consider the Blackboard post to be sufficient notification, so you may not be able to get your grade changed. But if the school was informed of this grading policy, it could change it for future students that may find themselves in this same situation.