<p>Hi Tenisghs,</p>
<p>The most baffling thing about your situation is the tone adopted by some of those who have responded here. Your requests for the return of your paper are absolutely reasonable--you have every right to at least make a photocopy of that paper. You did not "lose" your homework--you're dealing with a lazy prof who does not want to be bothered with returning your work. I taught college for fifteen years and believe me, I kept some papers for years afterwards. Why? Aside from common courtesy, the most significant reason is for self-protection in the event of a grade dispute. Most schools instruct professors to retain exams and papers for at least one semester (or quarter, in your case), before disposing of them. I'm very surprised that anyone would believe that a professor has the right to ignore your requests. Even if you had not been polite about it, (and I do hope that you were), he would have been obliged to reply--professors are employees of institutions that charge hefty sums of money as tuition--they are not gods who may deign to respond to students only when they feel like it. All students should have the right to view their final exams and papers--after all, those assignments determined their course grades. This professor's behavior is inexcusable, especially given the tuition charged by your university! I cannot understand why some people would scold you for not retaining a copy of your paper--many times students contacted me later to read my comments on their final assignments. (I returned them permanently after one term). It's a check on any potentially arbitrary grading behavior, for crying out loud.</p>
<p>That said, you must go by his office in person during his posted office hours. You should have done this right away, although I can understand how students sometimes hesitate about that (that's a lesson to learn for next time--make the request in person). I know that you are on spring break now (my daughter goes to your school), so you just go straight away next week. Is it possible he was on sabbatical last term? (I skimmed through the last part of your thread, so I might have missed that). </p>
<p>As far as a formal complaint in the event of more stonewalling on the part of this guy--that probably will not help you, especially if this is your major field (again, sorry, I didn't see if it was). It won't help you get your paper back and it may indeed burn a bridge. If he's tenured, you are surely aware that nothing can hurt him. But you must at least make your request in person--if he's old maybe he really doesn't understand how to use email. (eyeroll, here)! Geez, I hardly ever come by this site anymore since my daughter got into college and this issue has me all worked up. Best of luck to you, tenighs.</p>