The University Strikes Back
Sorry, but I've got to gripe.
As you know, one of the classes I took during my final semester of grad school was a practicum. The practicum is a requirement of the state of Michigan for the endorsement I added to my teacher certification. The practicum was always a pass/fail course. Until the semester I took it.
When I found this out on the first day of class, my immediate reaction was, "Crap! Now I'm going to have to put in more than minimal effort so that I can get an A." Well, as things turned out, it wasn't really all that hard to get an A for the practicum, and it is unlikely that I would have done work of any lesser quality had it still been a pass/fail course.
Fast forward to December when our instructor sends an e-mail relating the technical difficulties she is having with posting grades. She was able to get three people's grades' posted, but not the other eight of us. And, of course, the university department that she needed to help her with this issue would not be open again until January 2.
Finally, late last week, the issue was resolved. The problem was with the changeover from a pass/fail course to a graded course. The eight of us that she was not able to post grades for had registered for the class before it became a graded course, so the system would only accept pass/fail grades for us, which is why it wouldn't let her put in letter grades.
The good news is I finally have a grade for the class on my transcript and now they will be able to process my degree, post it on my transcript, and send me my diploma.
The bad news is that it says just "S" (pass) instead of the A that I earned. I feel kind of robbed.
I contacted my instructor to see if it is possible to change the S to an A, and she tried her best. She even got the director of the program on the case, but the university is adamant. I registered for a pass/fail course, so those are my only options for grades in it.
It's really not that big of a deal. It really doesn't affect much. There is the fact that, if I had the A I earned, it would have raised my GPA ever so slightly (3.95 to 3.96). But that's not a huge deal. It just seems that, if they knew they were going to change the practicum to a graded course, shouldn't it have been done before registration started? I'm just sayin'.
As you know, one of the classes I took during my final semester of grad school was a practicum. The practicum is a requirement of the state of Michigan for the endorsement I added to my teacher certification. The practicum was always a pass/fail course. Until the semester I took it.
When I found this out on the first day of class, my immediate reaction was, "Crap! Now I'm going to have to put in more than minimal effort so that I can get an A." Well, as things turned out, it wasn't really all that hard to get an A for the practicum, and it is unlikely that I would have done work of any lesser quality had it still been a pass/fail course.
Fast forward to December when our instructor sends an e-mail relating the technical difficulties she is having with posting grades. She was able to get three people's grades' posted, but not the other eight of us. And, of course, the university department that she needed to help her with this issue would not be open again until January 2.
Finally, late last week, the issue was resolved. The problem was with the changeover from a pass/fail course to a graded course. The eight of us that she was not able to post grades for had registered for the class before it became a graded course, so the system would only accept pass/fail grades for us, which is why it wouldn't let her put in letter grades.
The good news is I finally have a grade for the class on my transcript and now they will be able to process my degree, post it on my transcript, and send me my diploma.
The bad news is that it says just "S" (pass) instead of the A that I earned. I feel kind of robbed.
I contacted my instructor to see if it is possible to change the S to an A, and she tried her best. She even got the director of the program on the case, but the university is adamant. I registered for a pass/fail course, so those are my only options for grades in it.
It's really not that big of a deal. It really doesn't affect much. There is the fact that, if I had the A I earned, it would have raised my GPA ever so slightly (3.95 to 3.96). But that's not a huge deal. It just seems that, if they knew they were going to change the practicum to a graded course, shouldn't it have been done before registration started? I'm just sayin'.
Labels: Grad School
posted by Charlie at 5:18 PM
1 Comments:
Oh, the things to look forward to. Can't wait:)
Post a Comment
<< Home