[piggy momma]

As most of you know, my therapist is also one of my profs at school.

He just released our final grades from last semester. He "lost" one assignment I turned in and gave me a zero. I resubmitted it from the original email showing that I had in fact submitted it on time. I should eventually get marks for it.

What I don't understand is this. In one class, I got an A- and my final mark was 80. In the other class, I got a B- and my mark was 76 (which will be adjusted when he accounts for the assignment he thought I didn't turn in). But - how the hell can a four mark difference be the difference between an A- and a B-? That makes absolutely no sense.

I am fuming right now. Like livid. I am so mad.

I want to cancel therapy on Thursday because I'm so mad at him. But I also know I need to keep the two separate, and therefore I should go to therapy. I'm pissed. I also pre-paid all my January sessions so I may as well get my money's worth, although I'm not sure how much talking I'll be doing.

I just can't believe he didn't mark my assignment and said he didn't get it after i confirmed with him TWICE that he had received it. And that he put my marks so far apart over a 4% discrepancy. And that we wrote these exams over three weeks ago and are just getting our marks now.

I'm so over this. I have another class with him starting next week and i'm seriously wondering if i should just wait until someone else teaches it. This semester has been nothing but hell for me for the two classes he taught.

[RaineD]

You could ask him how the classes are graded, but my guess is that they're graded on a curve.

[piggy momma]

Originally Posted by RaineD

You could ask him how the classes are graded, but my guess is that they're graded on a curve.

He doesn't grade on a curve, He was very forthcoming about that at the beginning of the semester.

[RaineD]

Oh, that is odd then.

Lodge an academic appeal to challenge his mark if it has pissed you off that much and you believe it to be unfair or that you have been disadvantaged in some way. If you are using the grade as some projected anger at him which is related to therapy, raise it in session.

[piggy momma]

Originally Posted by RaineD

You could ask him how the classes are graded, but my guess is that they're graded on a curve.

Originally Posted by SorryOozit

Lodge an academic appeal to challenge his mark if it has pissed you off that much and you believe it to be unfair or that you have been disadvantaged in some way. If you are using the grade as some projected anger at him which is related to therapy, raise it in session.

This has nothing to do with therapy. It has everything to do with a) he lost my paper and b) he is not grading according to to university policies and c) I initiated a group chat for the class and the whole class is feeling completely screwed over on their marks - we were promised extra marks and never received them and there is no consistency in the grading practices.

Because I'm mad at him as a prof, doesn't mean I'm mad at him as a therapist. But this **** needs to get sorted out. My Masters application rides on these grades.

[piggy momma]

I am going to pursue an informal appeal (you try to sort it out with your prof) and if that does not yield appropriate results I will escalate to a formal appeal.

[nottrustin]

Originally Posted by piggy momma

This has nothing to do with therapy. It has everything to do with a) he lost my paper and b) he is not grading according to to university policies and c) I initiated a group chat for the class and the whole class is feeling completely screwed over on their marks - we were promised extra marks and never received them and there is no consistency in the grading practices.

Because I'm mad at him as a prof, doesn't mean I'm mad at him as a therapist. But this **** needs to get sorted out. My Masters application rides on these grades.

You say you are bot mad at him as a therapist but want to cancel your next appointment. You doubt you will talk much if you go. So it sounds like it could negatively effect your therapy.

I am sorry you are having to deal with this. I would be really angry to that he made such a big mistake

[piggy momma]

Originally Posted by nottrustin

You say you are bot mad at him as a therapist but want to cancel your next appointment. You doubt you will talk much if you go. So it sounds like it could negatively effect your therapy.

I am sorry you are having to deal with this. I would be really angry to that he made such a big mistake

Good catch. Ya I'm super pissed off at him right now, and I suppose there's no way of keeping that out of therapy, so I think you're right - it will carry over. That you for that insight that I missed.

Originally Posted by piggy momma

This has nothing to do with therapy. It has everything to do with a) he lost my paper and b) he is not grading according to to university policies and c) I initiated a group chat for the class and the whole class is feeling completely screwed over on their marks - we were promised extra marks and never received them and there is no consistency in the grading practices.

Because I'm mad at him as a prof, doesn't mean I'm mad at him as a therapist. But this **** needs to get sorted out. My Masters application rides on these grades.

Well, you are posting on a therapy forum so you might expect people to assume your anger is related to therapy...

[piggy momma]

Originally Posted by nottrustin

You say you are bot mad at him as a therapist but want to cancel your next appointment. You doubt you will talk much if you go. So it sounds like it could negatively effect your therapy.

I am sorry you are having to deal with this. I would be really angry to that he made such a big mistake

Originally Posted by SorryOozit

Well, you are posting on a therapy forum so you might expect people to assume your anger is related to therapy...

Totally fair. But I've also learned that if I post in the school forums it doesn't get any replies.

I seem to remember you have had issues with his academic conduct before. You might do well to speak to someone about the pattern of his behaviour rather than the one-off instance of this grade.

[piggy momma]

Originally Posted by SorryOozit

I seem to remember you have had issues with his academic conduct before. You might do well to speak to someone about the pattern of his behaviour rather than the one-off instance of this grade.

I've contacted everyone in the class. ALL our grades are completely messed up. For example, my final mark was 80 and I got an A-. Another girl's final mark was 79, and she got a B-. That huge of a jump for 1%. We are all missing "bonus marks" he promised us over the course of the semester - up to 10%.

I have compiled a document with everyone's concerns. I am going to bring it to him in the hopes it can be resolved. If it cannot, we will be launching a formal appeal through the university process.

[susannahsays]

Having one's therapist in a position to hand down grades seems like a bad idea and a nightmare. I would avoid taking another class from him next semester.

[stopdog]

If the grades were not on a curve, in a 100 point grading scale, an 80 would be a B- and a 76 would be a C in my classes.
I have never understood why a prof would make their life harder by giving extra credit - I don't believe it doing it as a concept and would never offer it to my law students. It can make things so complicated.

[elisewin]

I would be terribly uncomfortable it my professor was my T aswell. When some problems arise, it is impossible to keep the roles separate. If you are really angry at him, it sounds hard to continue therapy as if nothing happened.

[koru_kiwi]

Originally Posted by stopdog

If the grades were not on a curve, in a 100 point grading scale, an 80 would be a B- and a 76 would be a C in my classes.

indeed how times have changed...back in my days of university, a 90 was an A-

[elisewin]

I thought of this some more, and what would be harmful to me in this situation was the dual role as someone who is supposed to "judge", to whom you are expected to perform. In therapy you are supposed to come as you are at the moment and the T is on your side anyway, but if the same T is giving grades, telling exactly how good or bad you are there, it is a supermixed message. I don't care about thinking whether it is ethical or not, but just in practice I would never want my T having that role.

[sarahsweets]

I think its a major conflict of interest to have your T be your professor as well. I do not think its a good idea at all.

[feileacan]

Originally Posted by piggy momma

Good catch. Ya I'm super pissed off at him right now, and I suppose there's no way of keeping that out of therapy, so I think you're right - it will carry over. That you for that insight that I missed.

Well, but that's plain obvious, isn't it? What were you studying again? Ah, never mind.

I guess I don't really like the tone of entitlement that comes off from your every post. So I better leave this thread.

[ArtleyWilkins]

80 should be a B. 76 should be a C. In what college class would an 80 be an A? That is what really doesn't make sense. If you got an A for an 80 which is barely a B to be quite honest, I'd take the grade and run. This is college. Numbers don't matter in the scheme of things. Letter grades represent a range of scores. That's the way it has been. Where that range shifts is where the letter grade changes. Thus, an 80 is usually a B and a 79 is a C. Give it up. You got a gift with an A for an 80.

[piggy momma]

He's asked me to withdraw from his classes next semester. I'm not going to. I have every right to take them. But I"m not gonna put a whole lotta of effort into them because I'm gonna get ****** marks for them anyway.

[Anne2.0]

Originally Posted by piggy momma

He's asked me to withdraw from his classes next semester. I'm not going to. I have every right to take them. But I"m not gonna put a whole lotta of effort into them because I'm gonna get ****** marks for them anyway.

That seems awfully . . . . petty? thin-skinned? of him. I agree you have a right to take any class but it does seem this dual role thing can be less than helpful.
I think rule #1 is teachers have to be able to explain their grading coherently, and students have a right to ask. I don't understand how he doesn't have a clear guideline for what final score gets what grade in his syllabus; that should cover most questions students have.

[ArtleyWilkins]

That’ll show him🙄.

Isn't this your major? Isn't this a degree in counseling or psychology or something like that? So you're going to put no effort into the course work for a degree in a field that will affect other people's lives? Hmm. Might rethink your choices here.

[ArtleyWilkins]

I think he has the right to either ask her to stop the classes or stop the therapy. The dual relationship is clearly a problem here. I think he's choosing to keep her for financial reasons as a client which speaks to his motivation and quality as a therapist in this case.

As many have mentioned previously, if you want to stay in this college program and avoiding his classes is not a possibility, then you really need to drop him as a therapist. Sounds like he isn't much of a winner either way.