On April 21, 2016, a student named Denise Jackson filed a complaint with me against her instructor Professor Ronnie Smith for unfair procedures that had an adverse impact on her final grade. For the necessity to avoid unfairness, I confronted the Professor with the issue on April 23, 2016, who insisted that he was fair in his operation, and the student’s ordeal was her own doing. From the claims issued by both parties, it is important to issue a solution that is in line with the University laws.
Student’s Claims
Denise, in her complaint, stated that Professor Smith was unfair since he failed her in her course work after his refusal to allow her to take a make-up for the final exam. She had missed the test because the lecturer had changed the University’s scheduled time without notifying her. She acquired this knowledge from one of her classmates after she found the exam room empty during the allocated. Afterwards, she went to the professor to request for the makeup exam. Since she could not issue him with a valid reason for missing the exam, he gave her a zero, which limited her from getting a grade C. The student further asserted that Mr Smith was always late to class and did not provide meaningful feedback on papers, and was not available during the office hours. Moreover, she found him repelling since he has a negative attitude towards women.
Professor’s Claims
When confronted with the issue, the professor stated that he had issued a printed memorandum to students two weeks before the scheduled exam time announcing the change of exam time. It was necessary for him to alter the time because he had his doctoral committee, which had been scheduled late in the semester. Since he did not have much control over it, he opted to request the class for the change of time. The class decided through polling that the examination would take place two hours before the scheduled time. Denise had missed that important announcement because she had missed class. From the attendance roster, she had skipped more than ten classes, and she never consulted with the lecturer after missing classes. She only consulted during the last week of the class. In response to Denise claims that she would have achieved grade ‘C’ if she had taken the makeup test, the professor said that because of her lack of completing her two major assignments, she would still have obtained an ‘F.’
Facts Surrounding the Case
From the attendance list, Denise Jackson had broken University rules by skipping classes. The professor had also not adhered to the rules when he changed the officially scheduled time without consulting the school’s administrator. The facts surrounding the presented complaints about the unavailability of the professor in his office, lateness to lectures, negative attitude towards women, and lack of meaningful feedback on papers are not yet verified.
Recommended Cause of Action
It is important that the University take an action against the student’s absenteeism from class without notice as provided by the University. Students should notify their lecturers on missing classes. They should present a valid reason for missing. Moreover, they have a responsibility of consulting the professor’s on what is taught, and the announcements made during class. This would enable them to be updated. The Professor also violated the university law due to making a major decision without the involvement of the administrator. This contributed to the student’s failure to get the important announcement. Therefore, he has the responsibility of issuing a makeup test to Denise. For the other unverified assertions against the professor, it is important that the Student Complaint Committee investigates the matter through interviewing students. This would help come up with an action plan.
I will be glad to discuss this recommendation with you during the Student Complaint Committee and work according to the decision made.
