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SITN and SCPD
SITN and SCPD SITN Lack of grading integrity for off-campus students and inadequate means of redress Palo Alto, California
2nd of May, 2011 by User881334
Background
Stanford's Center for Professional Development or the Stanford Instructional Television Network allows employees of companies who are members of SITN to take Stanford courses remotely. The courses are usually taken at remote classrooms located in an office or small classroom set aside by the member company. Classes, assignments, projects, and tests are generally identical to those taken by normally registered Stanford students. Problem:
While Stanford has done an superb job in making these courses available, it has failed in two areas: lack of grading integrity lack of willingness or ability to address and correct injustices caused by the school and suffered by the students.
Project Courses Courses usually call for students to form project teams of 2-3 students. Off-campus students are spread out and are often forced to compete single-handedly against teams of 2-3 full-time Stanford students. On-campus students are usually unwilling to allow off-campus students on their teams. In at least one case, in my Algorithms course, a girl asked me to be her team mate on the first day, and I thought for the first time I would have a lab partner. At the second class meeting, she apologized and told me she begged the instructor, Marcus Breunig, to allow her to break the class rules and join with her 3 friends to form a team of 4 leaving me alone. Late in the same quarter, a visiting off-campus student from CMU found that we were both in the same situation struggling to make progress on our projects alone, so she asked me to join with her. I encouraged her and did not pressure her in any way, but she collapsed from the pressure of the course, and after seven all-nighters, I still received a "D" in the class. A couple months later, she called me to apologize, and I forgave her understanding the pressure she was under. I talked with the instructor, and he recognized the injustice of the situation as did the head of the department, Jeffrey Ullman. I requested a fair opportunity to compete on a more level playing field and to have some additional time to finish and perfect the project since I had been competing single-handedly against teams of up to 4 students. In short, I was turned down. Unfortunately, this was my last required course for two graduate certificates--one in Databases and one in Advanced Systems, and since my grade was a "D", I would receive neither certificate and would have to pay another $2,400 to retake the course. Unfortunately, I had accepted employment with PeopleSoft which was not an SITN member company. So, because the school cheated and the administration would not address the issue with integrity and completeness and competence, My grade suffered unjustly. I was unfairly denied two graduate certificates I had worked and paid thousands of dollars for. My resume and career opportunities were injured unfairly. My commitment, drive, and competence as a student were not honestly presented. And I was denied redress though the faculty admitted to me that this was unfair. What I Want I want Stanford to step up and operate with the integrity and good will toward its students that it pretends to have. I want the school to learn that arrogance is not a good substitute for integrity. I want the school to be the great school I believe it can be and should be. I want the grades of both off-campus students and on-campus students to have real meaning and to communicate that meaning with integrity. I want customers / students of Stanford to get what they paid for. It would not be acceptable to sell someone a car or a computer and refuse to give it to them, but this is exactly what Stanford has done. I want Stanford to stop slandering off-campus students by making them compete at a severe disadvantage. I want Stanford to exercise some creativity and competence in finding ways to make sure off-campus students have the same opportunities to have project partners that on-campus students have. And telling them to grab their own partners just does not cut it where on-campus students live with other students who have taken the course before who already have a major head-start while off-campus students don't have a means of knowing who to contact or how to contact them, and even if they did, it would be very difficult to find anyone who would want to partner with an off-campus student. In short, I want Stanford to take this problem seriously and do something to correct it going forward. But, that's not enough. How many past students like me have already suffered long without redress? We worked harder for our classes than on-campus students did, and yet our grades were injured. We were robbed of our certificates. We paid as much or more for our education than the on-campus students did. So, what will Stanford do about that? Will they give us a fair chance to re-do our classwork? Will they allow us to take the course again? Will they refund our money with interest? And time? Or will they take care of the injury this did to our careers? Or will they make a flimsy excuse, throw their hands up in the air and say, "We can't do anything about that--it's just unfortunate"? I almost fear to make a request. Somehow, if I try to make it fair, it will be less than fair to the students who have already suffered and it will only be a beginning bargaining point from which the school may try to bargain down as though I had asked for the moon. But, I cannot honestly ask for the moon. This is not about getting an unfair advantage in return. It's not about getting a grade we don't deserve or getting credit for something we have not learned. It's about integrity. Hitting the mark. Getting the educational opportunities we paid for. Having a fair opportunity to compete on a level playing field. To learn what we paid to learn. To have a grade that speaks honestly that we had a fair opportunity to perform well, to study well, to learn well, and to apply ourselves, and that we were willing to put in the effort to obtain a grade that should fairly represent us. Now, the "D" I received was a slanderous lie. The school failed to operate with integrity and my partner and I and most likely many others suffered as a result. We paid a substantial amount of money for our courses, and we deserved to have a fair chance. So far, I have requested redress and have not received it. And the fact that there was any push-back on that at all reflects very poorly on the school and its administration. I know the school can do better and that it should do better. It has already made a substantial investment in making the school into a great school. It should also excel equally in the area of integrity. My hope is not that the school will be hurt by this complaint I am filing here, but that the school will embrace it as an opportunity to improve, that it will make changes, and that it will make restitution for the harm this problem has caused to people. I do not seek restitution only for myself, but I would ask that other students be allowed the same opportunity without push-back. After all, nobody should have to fight the university to establish integrity if integrity is in the heart of the university.

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