Professor's 'stress-reduction' policy gets failing grade

Just in time for the school year to kick off, education took center stage as a professor attempted to implement a controversial policy. Common sense prevailed, but the idea that it was even a consideration is alarming and another example of our cultural decline.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution [AJC] summed up the situation by reporting:

"A well respected University of Georgia [UGA] business school professor, concerned over the stress on his students, posted online course policies that would have allowed them to change their grades, abandon group work that taxed them and take open book tests 'designed to assess low level mastery of the course material.'"

The "well respected" professor reportedly refers to Richard Watson of Terry College of Business. I can only suppose his heart was in the right place with his "stress reduction policy," but UGA left him with no choice but to renege on his generous offer to cripple these young people for life.

Apparently, it is now every educator's responsibility to make snowflakes of students, right? I mean, the "safe spaces" universities set up to help students handle the stress and terror of President Trump's election are examples. In this case, Watson wanted to shield his students from the stress of…life.

"You don't like your circumstances? Don't worry: you can make them disappear."

"What's that you say? You don't like the community with which you must work? No problem. Just walk away. No explanation required at all. Hey, it'll also work in marriage later -- and with your children. It's called abandonment."

"You don't approve of your performance evaluation? Tell me what you really deserve, and I'll acquiesce. After all, you're more qualified than I am to make that determination."

According to the AJC:

"'The syllabus stated that his grading policy would allow students inappropriate input into the assignment of their own grades. I want you to know that the syllabus did not conform with the university's rigorous expectations and policy regarding academic standards for grading. I have explained this discrepancy to the professor, and he has removed the statement from his syllabus. Rest assured that this ill-advised proposal will not be implemented in any Terry classroom,' said Benjamin C. Ayers, Terry College of Business Dean and Earl Davis Chair in Taxation, in a statement Tuesday."

Fairly early in my teaching career, the revelation of the cruelty of red ink on students' papers manifested. We were dissuaded from the blood color because, we were told, it causes children stress and hurts their feelings. We thought that was over the top then, but that was nothing compared to what is going on now. I complied and started using blue or black ink to point out errors as well as highlight praise. I wasn't so married to red ink that I couldn't submit.

But that was just the start of something much larger. This professor's policy provided unrealistic expectations. In real life, you cannot always call your own shots. In fact, most of the time you cannot.

Watson's policy, however, said, "If in a group meeting, you feel stressed by your group's dynamics, you should leave the meeting immediately and need offer no explanation to the group members." Furthermore, students could "discontinue all further group work"; their grade would be "based totally on non-group work," as noted by CampusReform.org.

How sweet -- and asinine.

Let me say this: I've offered students the opportunity to grade themselves and then compared their suggestions with mine. I've told students that if they ever received a grade with which they disagreed, from any teacher, they should -- respectfully -- challenge it; they deserved an explanation. I've told them that they need to be assertive. I discouraged weakness. Watson's policy encourages weakness and irresponsibility, rather than strength, ownership and pride in their work. Students would look at me like I was crazy when I admitted that I took pleasure in seeing disagreements within their groups. When they asked why, I told them. First, their rise in temperature revealed they were passionate about their work, that they were invested, which spoke well of them. Second, throughout their lives, they would face problems in group settings, and they would have to solve them -- to work through the tough stuff. "Sure, there will be times you will be allowed to work alone," I have had to say, "but this project isn't one of those times. Work it out, and I'm here to help you navigate."

We owe students more than what this professor was going to give them if UGA had not given his policy a failing grade. Good thing they were not concerned about how much stress rejecting his syllabus would cause.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member. Contact her at aross@semissourian.com.