Secret documents show plan to withhold students’ grades as long as possible
A source close to the Faculty of Law Records Office has provided Ultra Vires (UV) with confidential documents that outline the Faculty’s plan to delay the release of students’ grades until after graduation. The documents describe the plan as motivated by three key factors: to promote “equity” between the years, to implement an innovative and confusing strategy that will cement the Faculty’s place atop Canadian and international law school rankings, and to limit the amount of feedback that professors have to give to students.
Firstly, many 1L students this year expressed dismay at the late grade release, saying that it was extremely stressful to receive grades so close to the deadline for the 1L recruit. The Faculty has recognized that the late grade release stress was unduly concentrated onto the 1Ls. The documents claim that this new plan will “increase stress levels significantly for 2Ls and 3Ls.” The Faculty claims this would demonstrate the law school’s commitment to equity and equality, “because everyone will suffer equally.”
Secondly, the documents state that “only the top law school in Canada would dare implement such a record-breaking, innovative, and untried method.” This completely unsupported statement is followed by 33 pages of different Faculty members thanking each other for being brave and working at such an amazing school. One Faculty member was even quoted in the meeting minutes as saying, “the Faculty’s vision is a revolution.” It is unclear how this plan will further the school’s reputation, but the Faculty seems to believe that if you repeat something enough, it is only a matter of time before people agree.
Finally, the plan is purportedly designed to free up more of the professors’ time. Indeed, students who have already graduated are less likely to appeal a grade or ask for more detailed feedback. The documents also provide guidelines on how professors should respond to students who do request feedback. The guidelines recommend using key phrases like “Get over it, that was years ago” or “I don’t remember” or “Yeah, this comes down to legal writing experience; don’t worry, you’ll get there.” The hope is that professors’ newly acquired free time will permit them to focus on ignoring students’ emails more effectively.
UV reached out to the Faculty of Law to see if there were any concerns on how this new plan might affect students’ abilities to secure competitive employment that often hinges on academic performance. The Faculty did not respond, but our source confirmed that the administration felt that this was an “us” problem, not a “them” problem.
