University of Georgia Shuts Down Prof Who Wanted to Let Students Choose Their Own Grades
The powers that be at the University of Georgia have acted swiftly to reverse a professor���s plans to let students choose their own grades in two of the classes he���s teaching this fall.
As reported by Campus Reform, Professor Richard Watson, an instructor UGA���s Terry College of Business, had earlier decided his novel approach to grading was appropriate because ���emotional reactions to stressful situations can have profound consequences for all involved.���
Watson���s policy was to be that if students find themselves ���unduly stressed by a grade for any assessable material or the overall course,��� they���ll have the option to ���email the instructor indicating what grade [they] think is appropriate, and it will be so changed.���
What���s more, Professor Watson had mandated that for each of the courses, ���Data Management��� and ���Energy Informatics,��� testing, including examinations, would all be ���open book and open notes,��� with the goal to be the assessment of ���low level mastery of the course material.���
Because nothing says career advancement like ���low level mastery��� of academic material.
Well, as it happens, none of this is going to take place, anyway, because once word of the professor���s planned unconventional class management techniques got out, UGA administration made sure they wouldn���t actually make it to the classroom.
Releasing a statement in his capacity as Dean of the Terry College of Business, Benjamin Ayers condemned the proposed policy, calling it ���inappropriate.���
���The syllabus stated that his grading policy would allow students inappropriate input into the assignment of their own grades. I want you to know that the syllabus did not conform with the university���s rigorous expectations and policy regarding academic standards for grading,��� said Dean Ayers.
���Rest assured that this ill-advised proposal will not be implemented in any Terry classroom,��� he concluded. ���The University of Georgia upholds strict guidelines and academic policies to promote a culture of academic rigor, integrity, and honesty.���
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
