SomeOtherGuy
12-17-14, 22:22
Oh my, oh my.
http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/08/columbia-law-students-allowed-postpone-final-exams-due-garner-grand-jury-decision/
The grand jury decisions in Ferguson and in the Eric Garner chokehold death are not just sparking protests on college campuses. Apparently, they are changing final exam schedules too.
Columbia Law School announced that it would allow students emotionally impacted by these events to postpone taking their final exams, Power Line reported.
“The grand juries’ determinations to return non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases have shaken the faith of some in the integrity of the grand jury system and in the law more generally. For some law students, particularly, though not only, students of color, this chain of events is all the more profound as it threatens to undermine a sense that the law is a fundamental pillar of society designed to protect fairness, due process and equality,” interim dean Robert Scott wrote in a letter.
Read more at http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/08/columbia-law-students-allowed-postpone-final-exams-due-garner-grand-jury-decision/#9TDfRy8J7fchhkfu.99
And
http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/09/georgetown-harvard-law-students-seek-trauma-exam-exemption-garner-decision/
And
http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/16/oberlin-college-students-ask-professors-exempt-students-color-exams/
Following the model set at several law schools, students at Oberlin College are pleading for leniency during final exams and the final grading period this fall semester in light of the grand jury decisions in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases and the shooting of Tamir Rice.
A petition has been circling around the school community President Marvin Krislov to suspend the standard grading system because students of color, especially black students, are at risk of failing.
“I would really like to see the normal grading system suspended for this semester and replaced with a no-fail mercy period. Administrators should require professors to exercise complete flexibility in what students are saying they can produce academically. Require that every professor listen to what their students are saying and if that means rather than writing a paper students instead meet with their professor to simply discuss in groups their paper topics or if tests are taken collectively with professors there are ways to make sure we are learning what we are supposed to be learning in ways that are not so taxing in times like this,” the petition reads.
“Students in this moment should have complete access to alternative modes of learning while we process what’s happening. Basically, no student especially black students and students of color should be failing a class this semester. A ‘C’ should be the lowest grade students can receive this semester. Professors should be required to work with students, who would otherwise be at risk of failing, to create alternate means of accessing knowledge.”
Where do I even begin????
By the way, many law school courses are graded primarily or entirely on one final exam. No interim exams, and while some professors count class participation or attendance, many do not. So providing any special consideration on the final is basically giving away a better grade.
This probably irritates me extra for several reasons, among them that I had a parent break their back during my third semester of law school, I considered dropping out, and instead stayed in and got better grades that term than I had my first two semesters, despite an incredible amount of stress. And that my school, along with probably most others, allowed anyone who could claim any sort of learning disability to get special consideration on their exams, such as extra time (typically exams had a 3-hour time limit, and you used every second) or even no time limits or the option to write a paper instead of taking an exam, which no one else had. Most law schools grade on a curve of some sort and many employers look primarily at your class rank (whether given directly, which some schools do, or inferred from analyzing all the GPAs reported on the dozens or hundreds of resumes the employer receives from each school), so this is likely to directly benefit the complaining student at the expense of anyone who doesn't complain or doesn't get special status.
As for Oberlin, I can't explain that either, but will remember this when making any hiring decisions.
http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/08/columbia-law-students-allowed-postpone-final-exams-due-garner-grand-jury-decision/
The grand jury decisions in Ferguson and in the Eric Garner chokehold death are not just sparking protests on college campuses. Apparently, they are changing final exam schedules too.
Columbia Law School announced that it would allow students emotionally impacted by these events to postpone taking their final exams, Power Line reported.
“The grand juries’ determinations to return non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases have shaken the faith of some in the integrity of the grand jury system and in the law more generally. For some law students, particularly, though not only, students of color, this chain of events is all the more profound as it threatens to undermine a sense that the law is a fundamental pillar of society designed to protect fairness, due process and equality,” interim dean Robert Scott wrote in a letter.
Read more at http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/08/columbia-law-students-allowed-postpone-final-exams-due-garner-grand-jury-decision/#9TDfRy8J7fchhkfu.99
And
http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/09/georgetown-harvard-law-students-seek-trauma-exam-exemption-garner-decision/
And
http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/16/oberlin-college-students-ask-professors-exempt-students-color-exams/
Following the model set at several law schools, students at Oberlin College are pleading for leniency during final exams and the final grading period this fall semester in light of the grand jury decisions in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases and the shooting of Tamir Rice.
A petition has been circling around the school community President Marvin Krislov to suspend the standard grading system because students of color, especially black students, are at risk of failing.
“I would really like to see the normal grading system suspended for this semester and replaced with a no-fail mercy period. Administrators should require professors to exercise complete flexibility in what students are saying they can produce academically. Require that every professor listen to what their students are saying and if that means rather than writing a paper students instead meet with their professor to simply discuss in groups their paper topics or if tests are taken collectively with professors there are ways to make sure we are learning what we are supposed to be learning in ways that are not so taxing in times like this,” the petition reads.
“Students in this moment should have complete access to alternative modes of learning while we process what’s happening. Basically, no student especially black students and students of color should be failing a class this semester. A ‘C’ should be the lowest grade students can receive this semester. Professors should be required to work with students, who would otherwise be at risk of failing, to create alternate means of accessing knowledge.”
Where do I even begin????
By the way, many law school courses are graded primarily or entirely on one final exam. No interim exams, and while some professors count class participation or attendance, many do not. So providing any special consideration on the final is basically giving away a better grade.
This probably irritates me extra for several reasons, among them that I had a parent break their back during my third semester of law school, I considered dropping out, and instead stayed in and got better grades that term than I had my first two semesters, despite an incredible amount of stress. And that my school, along with probably most others, allowed anyone who could claim any sort of learning disability to get special consideration on their exams, such as extra time (typically exams had a 3-hour time limit, and you used every second) or even no time limits or the option to write a paper instead of taking an exam, which no one else had. Most law schools grade on a curve of some sort and many employers look primarily at your class rank (whether given directly, which some schools do, or inferred from analyzing all the GPAs reported on the dozens or hundreds of resumes the employer receives from each school), so this is likely to directly benefit the complaining student at the expense of anyone who doesn't complain or doesn't get special status.
As for Oberlin, I can't explain that either, but will remember this when making any hiring decisions.