Hi Susan,
Wouldn't be nice if we could all go back and rewrite history!
Personally, I would not approve of such a request.
I can imagine a scenario where an individual has some sort of
extenuating health or personal difficulties during a particular semester
which accounts for his/her negative performance and this individual
fails to take action to withdraw from courses. In such a scenario, the
student would need to address the reason for the poor performance in
letters when applying to graduate schools, applying for jobs where a
transcript is requested, etc. If the semester were truly unique, the
poor performance should stand out in contrast to other semesters of
coursework.
However, I don't get the sense that there were unusual extenuating
circumstances for this student. I assume that he wants his academic
record sanitized for re-application to school, application to graduate
school, scholarship applications, or work applications. Unfortunately,
such a sanitization would then be an inaccurate reflection of this
student's academic history.
On an emotional level, I can imagine that if a student were to make such
a request of me that I would feel manipulated. In many ways, it almost
seems as if the student is not wanting to accept responsibility for his
prior behavior. He is placing the responsibility for his good vs. bad
academic record on those with whom he had courses during that particular
semester. It is not your responsibility to clean up his academic
record. He needs to take steps to create an academic record that
reflects positive achievements.
Finally, I would bet that your university has some sort of policy
concerning late withdrawals from a course. Check out the policy. My
guess is that he needs the letter as he is asking to be exempted from
the policy. In my opinion, there would need to be an exceptionally good
reason on which to base the exemption. Remember that this reason may in
fact set precedent. If this student is exempted, then all others in
similar situations now have a legal basis for a retroactive
drop/withdrawal of your class and other faculty member's classes.
Warm regards,
Linda
Susan Freedman wrote:
>
> Hello -
> I am hoping that some of my more experienced colleagues can offer me some
> advice regarding a student request.
>
> The student in question has written me regarding a class he took from
> me more than 4 years ago. the student is now requesting that I write a
> letter supporting a retroactive drop of a poor semester, because he failed
> the other classes which he took that semester. I've never heard of a
> retroactive drop of a bad semsester.
>
> This student was very disruptive during the classes which he attended,
> which were few. a large part of the grade was based on participation which
> included attendending and contributing in a constructive manner to
> discussions and class exercises. I remember having a conversation with him
> at that time suggesting that he was overcomitted and should drop his
> courses (since he was doing so poorly) I was new to teaching and had a
> very small class and gave him a passing grade - though he should have
> failed altogether.
>
> My difficulty with this is that I don't really approve of a retroactive
> dropping of a poor semester four years later. It seems like one more
> example of lowering the academic expectations, making excuses for students
> etc.
> On the other hand, perhaps I'm just jealous - there are a few semseters
> which I'd like to retroactively drop myself.
>
> tia
>
> Susan Freedman-Noa
--
Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D.
Associate Professor - Psychology
Coordinator - Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights
Webster University
470 E. Lockwood
St. Louis, Missouri 63110
http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
