Responding respectfully but firmly to a professor?

So I took this drama class (I'm a business major, go figure) last semester where the professor was crazy. He went off on his own theories and ideas that made no sense and expected us to understand and memorize them. I ended up going to the final exam, completing the written portion but then decided not to do the take home portion (I knew I had an A- either way and I wanted to focus on other exams). He didn't post my grade and I received this e-mail from him today:

To which I replied:

Was this too much, or an appropriate response?

Edit: Here's the syllabus for those who are interested : http://pastebin.com/R2R5SwrG

 

Although I agree with your point, I would advise against asking rhetoric questions like "why can't you be?" and simply state you were fine with what you would have gotten without finishing the take-home. It was very irresponsible of you to actually not do your take-home; your first instinct, even if you were taking over 16 units, should've been to bullshit the take-home, not completely ignore it.

That's in the past now, so what you should do is definitely contact the Dean and make sure he knows your current situation before it gets out of hand. Contact him/her before you even take this to the Financial Aid office, as he could resolve it without having your scholarship questioned.

If it states in his syllabus that you MUST have five full grades like he stated or that he'll drop you if you don't finish his final/have an incomplete, you're pretty boned. If he didn't, however, he can't do shit besides give you a shitty participation grade (which doesn't even look like he took into account based on his grading system).

Your best bet would be definitely to take this straight to the Dean with your professor's syllabus in hand. Don't let this get out of proportion because you're just one student; it is much easier for the school system to sweep your problems under the rug if they get too big.

Good luck!

 

I'd recommend against trying to fight with him. At this point, he is the one that can make or break your grade. Right now might not be the most opportune time to try and right the wrongs you feel he has made. I'd recommend not agitating him, as that will likely only end up making the situation worse for you.

 

I feel the opposite. If the syllabus doesn't say anything about having to take all of the final, he should be bothering the professor about this and eventually take it to the school board because this was unfair.

 

Says no where about five full grades, heres the syllabus if anyone is interested : http://pastebin.com/R2R5SwrG

Here's an excerpt from the syllabus

 

Never, EVER challenge a professor like you just did. The correct way to reply to this, did you even need to reply to this?, would be to just admit fault and thank him for giving you the A-, which it looks like he did. I would have replied something like this:

Hi Dr xxx,

Thank you for explaining why you withheld my final grade. I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you, as I was unaware that I was not permitted to not complete the second half of the exam. I appreciate your explanation and thank you for giving looking past my error and giving me the A-.

Best,
your name

It's never worth trying to argue with someone. The best way to win/end an argument, especially with someone with much higher respect than yourself? Completely submit and admit fault, you are probably the wrong one here. I take it if he's going on rants he's been doing it forever and the department won't give a fuck about one student has to say who isn't even in that school. It sucks that he's being sort of dickish about it but if you sit in his shoes it makes a lot more sense, you just look like some arrogant student who thought he was too good to try on his exam.

 

I'm not saying don't bring it up to him. It's the tone he used. If you use that sort of tone, the professor is less inclined to help you out, and more inclined to give you a worse grade.

 

And such is life in any situation. This is also partially why I said that he has probably been doing it for many years. I guarantee that if this was brought to the school's attention the professor would have some sort of rebuttal for it that would leave the student in the blue. It's just not worth arguing with because it's such a small inconvenience. He got an A- in the course. If he failed it because of this then yeah, sure, bring it up. I'm not sure if that's the point that is being discussed or not?

 

He already gave me a grade breakdown and his grading policy doesn't account for participation. If he gives me a lesser grade because of my e-mail then I would have a problem and approach the Dean. The reason I'm frustrated is because he had no right to withhold my grade for this long and to cause these inconveniences because he took something I did personally.

Honestly made this just to make sure I wasn't being overly assertive and was in the right.

 

When were grades due by? Did he report an 'I' or anything? If he didn't do it on time technically you could present it to administration either way I suppose. But I'm guessing if he withheld it then he had to request permission from higherups.

 

Grades were due the 22nd or 23rd I believe, a week after taking it. He reported nothing which is the reason for my scholarship not going through. Looks like I only took 4 courses on my report, and he really doesn't seem like the guy to ask for permission. He'd go off-topic every class about a time he almost killed a guy (apparently) or by making some sexual joke / reference (such as in the syllabus).

 

There seems to be some detail missing from this. Why didn't you contact administration sooner?

 

I've been at a friends upstate house since New Year's Eve without internet or cell reception and just got back today. I hadn't thought anything of it and really didn't bother checking (since I had already calculated my grade) until I noticed the tuition due for next semester didn't account for my scholarship. He just sent this e-mail today.

 

In my opinion this is the part that isn't respectful:

I am not sure why you are not thankful that he didn't fail you for the incompletion? I have been in many courses that have a strict completion policy. One time I failed a course for not writing one of the essays lol. Its just not worth trying to fight the big battle. Deans will almost always side with the prof.

 

He's pissed, rightfully so, because he didn't receive his scholarship. The school will accommodate him though, I'm sure. The school wants your money OP, unless you have a full ride that is.

 

This course doesn't have a strict completion policy, nor does any course I've taken (sure, it might count for 30% so if you don't take it you fail but that's not the case). I'm a business major and i had to take this class to fulfill my liberal arts requirements. Why couldn't he contact me when grades were due? Why wait 2+ weeks to where it becomes a problem. I've had a dean side with me one other time and it resulted in me getting 3 points on my final grade so it may be worth it,

 

I guess. Personally i'd just go to the Dean without telling the prof.