Lincoln University Prof Claims School Changed His Students’ Grades Without Asking
“According to internal records and court filings, failing grades I entered for plagiarism-related work were later changed to passing grades”
This professor is making some very serious claims about grades being changed on the back end.
He wrote this for the Kansas City Star:
Missouri university I teach at changed my students’ grades without asking
If you’re a parent sending a student to the University of Missouri-Kansas City or Metropolitan Community College — or to Mizzou, Missouri State or Lincoln University — you probably assume one simple thing: The professor who teaches the class decides the final grade.
But that assumption isn’t guaranteed anymore. When grades and hiring decisions are routed through learning management systems, human resources portals and workflow tools, real authority can shift from the classroom to whoever holds back-end access.
Kansas Citians have watched Jefferson City debate higher education through funding formulas, curriculum fights, and diversity, equity and inclusion restrictions. Those debates matter. But there’s a quieter question with just as much impact on Kansas City students and taxpayers:
Who actually controls academic decisions — especially grades and faculty hiring — when those decisions are executed inside administrative software systems?
When shared governance is reduced to permissions and policy fine print, it stops being a living principle. The American Association of University Professors has long argued that faculty should have primary authority over curriculum and grading. (See the organization’s Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities at aaup.org)
I’ve seen the stakes up close at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. According to internal records and court filings, failing grades I entered for plagiarism-related work were later changed to passing grades through the back end of the school’s learning management system — without my consent. An executive committee review by Lincoln’s faculty governing board independently confirmed the faculty followed university procedures and respected student due process — yet the grade changes still proceeded. Faculty search decisions were also overridden by nonacademic offices. After I objected through internal channels and asked for clear, faculty-run processes, I was placed on administrative leave and my courses were reassigned.
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A YouTube segment of Jordan Peterson talking about the disaster of higher education and his plan to start Peterson Academy (8 years ago):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNjbasba-Qw&start=7914&end=9357
look, we either are going to have dei qualifying degenerates taking out your body parts and flying planes
or
we are going to have to rely on that tired old wht male patriarchy getting the job done ( mostly) correct
stop your wht tears and start paying the piper
Way back in 78 I taught a nursing microbiology section. I failed a student because they didn’t show up for the final, and then didn’t show up for the makeup final I created precisely for them. Needless to say people weren’t very happy with me for the failure. I don’t know why but I got the idea that actually failing someone for cause was frowned upon.
Sadly there are parents who will have zero problems with this as long as the grades are going up.
Let’s see some names, as in, “I failed X and the administration changed it to a passing grade.” Or at least “I would name names, but the faculty handbook says I can be fired for that.”
FERPA doesn’t allow that.
I once awarded a final grade of F to the starting quarterback of the varsity football team, which he fully deserved based on his exam scores. I thought I would be a dead (or fired) man walking, and was almost on my way to pick up some sand bags and barbed wire to fortify my office.
But I got no blowback at all. Nary a peep, not from a coach or the AD or a booster. The student-athlete got all the heat, and had to retake my class in the summer to maintain his eligibility.
And that’s how it should be.
Outstanding but I’m amazed. I’m guessing this wasn’t in the South.
Oh yes the almighty North would never prioritize other interests over integrity. Just ask Michigan and Ohio St.
When a parent these days says “My kid has a 4.0” I really have to feign any interest as it simply means that they spelled their name correctly (or maybe even that is no longer required).
I am out of academics these days, but I wonder how they evaluate candidates these days. I’m guessing that the GRE is still a thing, but wonder how it evaluates apptitude and attitude. One of the smartest kids I knew in college was also one of the laziest and basically spiraled, but I imagine would have always tested well. There are always non-standardized metrics and I wonder how the credibility of these has stood the test of time. Is more weight being placed on letters of recommendation, and even these with enough $$$ can be corrupted. It hasn’t been that long since there was the scandal about payoffs to get kids into schools. Sadly, this is a racket controlled by the Left, and it is only a matter of time before bad things start to become commonplace because the wrong people were put into positions where they simply didn’t belong.
Recently, a friend was recruited at the last second to be on a dissertation committee, and as it was at the edge of his expertise and more akin to mine, he sent me a copy for input and suggestions of good questions to ask at the oral defense. My first question was “How is this in any way shape or form a PhD level project?”, as it was somewhat marginal of an effort even at the Master’s level. The kid was passed, but boy it sure brought down the bar in that field. And I wonder how it wasn’t flagged even at the proposal stage. I pity any company which hires this individual based on credentials, because they certainly were not earned.
I gave an F to a football player at a very well known Massachusetts University and he played that fall. He needed a passing grade to play. I also gave F grades to a minority female, who claimed racism, a nun and a white female whose uncle had just donated a building to the university. They all graduated.
In case anyone wondered how dimwit AOC could get an economics degree from Boston University.