First, professor in question is Dr Nielson with ECE. Any advice on him? He just failed half of my ECE407 class (networking), in which I and about 4 other guys have CCNAs and all of us failed.

Ive had to do this before but want to see if anyone else has advice on getting a professor removed/grades voided.

10/20/2009 5:55:40 PM

half of my calc 2 class fail; no grades were voided

10/20/2009 6:12:55 PM

link the dean to this thread

10/20/2009 6:59:25 PM

Lookup who your director of undergraduate programs is and bring it to their attention in person. Request a half hour appointment and show up with all of your documentation (syllabus, test questions, etc.) in order. Keep in mind you are going to be fighting an uphill battle, so be cool and professional about the whole thing. Followup with an email summarizing the conversation and request the individual you speak to advise on next steps / action plan moving forward. If they tell you to blow off, then approach the Dean's office.

There are legitimate cases where instructors have completely unrealistic expectations for courses and need some intervention. This happened once in graduate school with me and trust me, enough civilized, professionals students with a legitimate case DID cause a change in teaching methods and expectations VERY quickly.

10/20/2009 9:01:23 PM

You'd better take it up with the prof personally in office hours and calmly like an adult before you go galloping to Townsend on your high horse with your big sexy CCNA certification brah.

[Edited on October 20, 2009 at 11:27 PM. Reason : lol oops]

10/20/2009 11:25:04 PM

[Edited on October 21, 2009 at 2:33 AM. Reason : ..]

10/21/2009 2:11:43 AM

^^

10/21/2009 8:48:59 AM

we got Dr. White replaced with Ginger Yu in ECE 331. bunch of folks just complained to whoever the acting dept head at the time was.

in my limited experience, Yu is the only person worth a shit in that department.

10/21/2009 11:37:03 AM

Quote :

"ECE407 class (networking), in which I and about 4 other guys have CCNAs and all of us failed. "

I'm assuming the material is similar to that of CSC401, and if so, the material covered in that class, and what's needed to get a CCNA are two completely disparate things. I remember having to bust my ass to make a B in that class, and I also had a CCNA at the time, and already had 3 years of co-op at cisco under my belt.

I'd even argue that having prior experience with applied networking would probably make this class harder.

10/21/2009 12:30:39 PM

Think I ended up with an A in 401 because thuente curved the grades like crazy.

10/21/2009 2:20:01 PM

Save for criminal activity, you're not going to get a professor fired. Even then, you'd have to go public before the university went into cover-up mode.

10/21/2009 2:22:54 PM

glad it's a networking class and not english

Quote :

"You'd better take it up with the prof personally in office hours and calmly like an adult before you go galloping to Townsend on your high horse with your big sexy CCNA certification brah."

i concur

10/21/2009 2:29:32 PM

Like i said, this is the sequal. I was one of the first of White's class who got him removed for ECE220 several years back.

Townsend's already aware. Thanks on that though.

Im already planning with most of the class to see him in office hrs tomorrow. Just wanted to get a general opinion if anyone else thought of anything interesting on this.

I know also its easier the higher up you are, a bunch of seniors are more reasonable than a bunch of freshmen.

10/21/2009 3:05:12 PM

you should just ask them if you can be a professor because clearly you know everything

10/21/2009 5:16:55 PM

^ except how to spell sequel.

10/21/2009 5:24:06 PM

last i checked i was in engineering not english.

10/22/2009 10:03:25 AM

spell check

10/22/2009 11:37:46 AM

^^ You're correct. Engineers are expected to already have a firm grasp of the English language.

10/22/2009 4:16:40 PM

lol, another sysadmin monkey gets a reality check.

10/23/2009 10:07:50 AM

Let me just make sure I understand this:

You think that because you have a networking certification (...that I got in the 11th grade...) you should automatically know enough to pass a senior-level networking course at a university?



[Edited on October 23, 2009 at 1:38 PM. Reason : ]

10/23/2009 1:37:42 PM

Quote :

"RESET THE ROUTER"

10/23/2009 3:17:07 PM

Quote :

"BIG SEXY CCNA"

10/23/2009 3:32:07 PM

Is there no curve in the class? There are probably a couple of tests, some homework, a project, etc....

10/23/2009 8:00:13 PM

I'm sure there will be a curve, and not everyone failed by a long shot.

But the grades are:

Homework: 15%
Midterm exam: 35%
Final exam: 50%

10/24/2009 12:55:36 PM

quit bitching - until you have dutta for csc401 you can't complain - here's the class i was in

http://dutta.csc.ncsu.edu/csc401_fall03/wrap/classposition_final.html

a fucking 50 was a B- and a 10 was a D- in that class - that's how much he had to curve

10/24/2009 2:51:15 PM

Yes, that was my point. In the graduate version of the class (570), the recent exam 1 was median/mean ~55 with about 100 students. Performance is relative to how your peers do (ie there will be a curve in this case). As far as industry certs, they are helpful for applied knowledge, but not predictive of how anyone will do in theory-intensive comp sci classes.

10/24/2009 3:08:27 PM

hotshot ccna up in here... best give him an A+

10/24/2009 5:39:17 PM

Quote :

"http://dutta.csc.ncsu.edu/csc401_fall03/wrap/classposition_final.html"

also, it's against university policy for a professor to post grades using your student ID as an identifier.

10/25/2009 5:32:58 AM

^ unless you sign a waiver

10/25/2009 5:42:59 AM

Quote :

"2. Grades are considered a part of a student's educational record and may not be released or posted in any personally identifiable form, including listing by Student Identification Number, unless the student gives written consent. Acceptable alternatives for distributing test results and grade information to students include: 2.1. Posting of grades by Student Identification Number for all student who sign a consent statement for each occasion on which grades are to be posted or for the entire semester. If the consent is given for the entire semester, it should be made clear that this consent may be withdrawn at any time during the semester. The written consent may be obtained by a petition to be signed by all members of the class who wish their grades posted or by having a consent statement on the answer sheet of each test or exam. Examples of Consent Statements for Posting of Grades form. 2.2. Posting of grades without a consent statement by using a system of random numbers or letters or other symbols, not personally identifiable, known only by the teacher and the individual student. 2.3. The return of graded papers directly to individual students. Allowing the students to pick their paper or test from a stack should not be done as it does not assure privacy. 2.4. The mailing of grades in self-addressed and self-stamped envelopes. 2.5. The oral dissemination of grade information by a departmental secretary or teaching assistant, provided that the students requesting their own grades offer sufficient identification. (Note: It is intended that the choice of alternative method for disseminating test scores and grades should be left to the individual teacher. However, the use of secretarial or other departmental assistance is contingent upon its availability as determined by the department head.) 2.6. Information from educational records may not be released to a student's parents without the consent of the student, unless the student is a dependent student. A dependent student is defined as a student who receives more than 50% of his/her support from parents as defined by IRS regulations. To confirm dependency status, the university official must receive either a copy of the parent's most recent federal income tax return showing the parent claimed the student as a dependent for exemption purposes, or a signed and dated statement from the student to the effect that he or she receives more than 50% of his/her financial support from the parents."

i've never had a professor even attempt to get me to sign a waiver for this.. but yeah, if you do, then you're right.

10/25/2009 5:50:49 AM

Quote :

"He just failed half of my ECE407 class (networking), in which I and about 4 other guys have CCNAs and all of us failed."

My 407 professor (Eun) came into class the first day and said "if anyone is certified, good for you, I don't care..."

10/25/2009 8:18:37 AM

those aren't the actual student IDs - he modified them somehow - i'm fairly certain nobody took enough time to gather other kids' student ids to crack it

10/25/2009 1:39:21 PM

Quote :

"Allowing the students to pick their paper or test from a stack should not be done as it does not assure privacy."

haha we do this in 75% of the classes i've taken at state

10/25/2009 2:03:35 PM

^ Yep

10/25/2009 6:36:56 PM

^, ^^ shit I had more than one prof just pop student ids and grades into a spreadsheet for everyone to see. Some of them don't care about little details like that. Especially the ones that could have/were making $texas doing things besides teaching.

And in regards to the OP...you're taking a senior level ECE class and you're surprised at having a shitty professor and ridiculous expectations/grading? Just follow these steps:
1) make sure you bring it up with your adviser and/or undergrad director
2) make sure to tell like minded people to do the same

You'll probably end up getting some crazy curve action at the end.

EDIT: Actually, talk to the professor first. I actually had some decent success changing the direction of some of my CSC classes by doing just that. A lot of the time the professors are open to feedback. Of course, you're in ECE so he's probably a self-righteous prick and doesn't give a flying fuck.

[Edited on October 25, 2009 at 8:10 PM. Reason : .]

10/25/2009 8:08:32 PM

Quote :

"Of course, you're in ECE so he's probably a self-righteous prick and doesn't give a flying fuck."

Truth

10/25/2009 11:15:44 PM

You're not going to fired, and neither should you even want to. You might have a case for getting the grades altered/expunged.

I know of a couple of instances of MAE professors who really severely boned their students much like this...big stinks were raised about it, and they seemed to be much better in the future. I don't know if any relief was granted to the people that semester, though.

10/29/2009 4:27:54 AM

wow i thought that was one of the easier 400 level courses, if not THE easiest (but mucho time intensive)...and i didn't have a strong interest in networking, and next to no experience working on cisco gear.

it's been a few years, so maybe it got harder, or maybe this guy really screwed you. what are recent grade distributions like?

I thought we got some credit for the [epically long] labs?

10/30/2009 3:07:52 PM

News bulletin: a full professor is not going to be removed because someone who is failing his class complains. It's called "tenure."

He has years of experience, and perhaps, in his venerable opinion, you are your friends are just particularly weak. You certainly are particularly weak at things like attention to detail, and all I have to do is read this thread to see that.

Go in peace.

10/31/2009 1:53:13 PM

Quote :

" I know of a couple of instances of MAE professors who really severely boned their students much like this...big stinks were raised about it, and they seemed to be much better in the future. I don't know if any relief was granted to the people that semester, though."

i too know of at least one example after a bunch of us complained that she basically let the TA teach everything after spring break resulting in a lot of us not having a clue what was going on i hear she is pretty decent now. but we were effective by approaching everything sensibly and checking any sense of entitlement at the door.

10/31/2009 4:06:41 PM

^ but did you actually read the original post? This guy has a CERTIFICATION!!! He's definitely entitled to an A+++ since that is his certification level... I mean, for real... What do you think CCNA is for? He could have written this networking course.

10/31/2009 6:20:07 PM

I have failed tests that I studied many hours for and less than half the people taking the test passed. I have been devastated and convinced it was unfair at the time, but there is nothing I could do. I needed to study more or aim for a different goal! My point is instead of thinking you should be able to change the challenge, you should improve yourself so you can face the challenge.

11/1/2009 1:14:38 AM

if you consistently put in the study time - it will pay off. you'll have some tests/classes like this, but most other ones will go well and will balance things out for you

surprisingly, life is not always fair.

11/1/2009 3:58:00 PM

Quote :

"My point is instead of thinking you should be able to change the challenge, you should improve yourself so you can face the challenge."

Careful, that statement is almost blasphemy in this day and age. After all, we can't have our precious little snowflakes emotionally damaged by difficult tests.

11/2/2009 4:34:39 PM

funny you should mention that, I think one person actually was crying

11/3/2009 10:28:22 AM

I took the class in fall of 05 and didnt think it was bad, I had to work, but without having more than a basic knowledge of networking I was able to gather all the information i needed to pass.

11/3/2009 1:43:49 PM

the problem is that people with a CCNA think they know something about network/protocol theory.

It's like an MCSE thinking they're a software engineer.

11/4/2009 10:17:17 AM

^ Don't you mean MCSD? MCSE's configure servers and shit. MCSD's are programmers.

11/6/2009 6:56:34 PM

I think he meant MCSE... they use tools that were created by software engineers. Doesn't mean they can go write one.

But seriously, the guy who started this thread is an ok dude... He is just out of his element. A trade school or vocational training in a minor technical field seems like it would be more suited to his temperament. He clearly doesn't have the stomach or appreciation for theoretical work.

[Edited on November 7, 2009 at 9:08 AM. Reason : s]

11/7/2009 9:06:22 AM

^ you are out of line. This isnt chit chat.

Ok /me open mouth insert foot.

That said... Ok first I have had practical experience getting 2 profs removed from teaching, one got fired and the other left shortly there after. Its also something when a bunch of seniors go complain vs a bunch of freshmen. Lately also theres been a bunch of house cleaning in ECE with tenured professors as they are just getting too old and cant keep up. Tenure => retirement, instead of properly getting fired like if another professor/instructor was pulling this crap.

Notice also I just asked to see what others had done. Bashing wasn't asked for. Note first point here. CCNA does mean something. And for most of the shit that we were tested on, it is on the CCNA. And yes I didnt make this clear but having a CCNA means ive seen some shit/have some basic background in this, not some freshman with no practical experience. Im not just pulling it that Oh I have a piece of paper, give me an A. I was pulling that Ive seen and done this shit before, and know what Im talking about.

Yes we went and talked to the prof. He totally fubared the tests. Ive now an A with most others. Dean's office is also looking into the test.

11/7/2009 9:10:17 PM