In agreement with TI Guardian, A professor at New York University (NYU) was fired by said institution after more than 80 students, from his class of 350, signed a petition, complaining about grades, teaching and the help received during the covid pandemic. -19.
Maitland Jones Jr. was a professor of organic chemistry, but he was removed from his position because of a letter that the young students sent to the university authorities, complaining about the grades, the teaching methods and even the kind of help that the academician received. offered them at that time of the pandemic.
We are very concerned about our scores and find that they are not an accurate reflection of the time and effort put into this class.
In addition, they accused the teacher of reducing the number of exams, depriving them of the possibility of making up their low grades. Similarly, they criticized that it did not provide them with options to obtain extra points and did not allow them to see their conferences by Zoom.
For his part, teacher Jones explained that he eliminated the exam due to a matter of time. As for the Zoom conference, he claimed there was no point, since the camera did not allow what he added on the whiteboard to be visible. It is worth mentioning that the teacher is 84 years old and does not have the facility to use digital tools like other teachers.
In accordance with New York Times, NYU’s chemistry department offered students to review their grades and allow them to retroactively withdraw from the class. An offer that is commonly made to students who show they have suffered from a health, family or economic problem that leads them to perform poorly academically. However, the decision was to fire the teacher.
Consequently, the teacher issued a letter, complaining about his dismissal. In addition, he claimed that students misread test questions. Jones added that he reduced the difficulty of their exams, but even then they were not able to pass. That is, the students did not even spend time studying.
A university spokesman defended the dismissal, emphasizing high student withdrawals and poor evaluations. Furthermore, he said that the decision was also based on complaints about disinterest, lack of response, condescension and lack of transparency in the rating.
On the other hand, professors and colleagues supported the doctor, saying that they were concerned that the case could undermine the freedom of the faculty, as well as weaken teaching practices. In addition, they defended the experience and recognition of many years of master Maitland Jones Jr.