Students and members of the University’s French department are debating some of the department’s policies.
In a Reveille letter to the editor published March 2, Rick Bond, a political science and economics freshman expressed concern over grading and attendance policies in French courses.
In the letter, Bond said teachers in the French department “have no freedom with respect to what to assign, how to teach, how to grade or the due dates of assignments their students are given from above.”
Bond’s letter also said assignments are given on short notice with non-negotiable due dates, and that French teachers are unaware of test material and therefore are unable to give students an adequate review.
In a phone interview, Bond said while students are given a calendar of assignments at the beginning of the semester, the actual assignments are not available for students to download until shortly before the due date.
French instructors and teaching assistants have refuted many of the claims.
Sylvie DuBoise, chair of the French department, said in an e-mail that department instructors and teaching assistants have written a letter responding to Bond’s claims.
The letter said department officials allow teachers to incorporate supplemental teaching materials, such as extra activities or grammar drills, into classroom instruction.
In addition, the rebuttal letter said department officials give French teachers wide discretion when grading and no one other than the teacher reviews grades before they are posted on Semester Book.
Furthermore, the letter said department officials allow teachers to progress at their own pace, provided they finish chapter objectives within the time allotted for each chapter, and “all French teachers have the discretion to postpone due dates.”
The letter also said assignments are not given on short notice; rather, a calendar of all assignments and their due dates was provided to students on Semester Book during the first week of classes, and that teachers are allowed to view tests several days before each exam.
“Teachers in the French department are given suggestions and guidelines in an effort to provide students instruction that is consistent across sections,” the letter said. “But ultimately, teachers have the final word when conducting class and assigning grades.”
In an interview, Bond said he understood the French department wanted to have consistency throughout different courses, but he wished they would listen to student opinions as well.
Along with questions over the grading and testing policies, the French department’s attendance policy also has been called into question.
In his letter, Bond said the French department refused to accept valid University excuses, such as sickness or funeral attendance, for absences.
The rebuttal letter denies Bond’s claim regarding the department’s attendance policy.
The letter from instructors and teaching assistants said an allowance for missed days and emergencies is built into the attendance policy. Students can earn up to 100 points each week for attendance and class participation, amounting to 1,300 possible points during the semester.
The rebuttal letter said the structure of the attendance policy is that students could miss up to 20 days of class before dropping a letter grade.
But Bond said he interpreted the policy differently and that he thought every day a student misses class, they receive a zero out of 20.
Students enrolled in a French 1002 class had various opinions regarding the department’s policies.
Corey Gautreaux, a geography junior, said he thought the grading policies had room for improvement.
Gautreaux said he thought grading was too subjective and there should be a standard way of grading assignments.
Gautreaux said there also should be a better way of “letting the teacher teach,” and rather than make students focus on grammar exercises, teachers should be allowed to focus more on the actual language.
Brian Perry, a biological sciences sophomore, said he thought the grading policy was unfair because students can lose more points on certain assignments than on others.
Perry said he thought the amount of work and assignments required for a lower-level French class was “kind of ridiculous,” and he thought instructors should have more discretion in teaching.
But, Rebecca Balda, a sociology junior, said she thought the grading policy was fine and the teacher has discretion when instructing students.
Balda said because individual teachers grade papers and assignments, they can grade based on what material has been covered in class.
Balda said she also thought the attendance policy was appropriate, because points are given for class participation, and students must be present to participate.