All it took was a trip to the Dean's office?????

So, as some of you know, I have been having some serious issues with my PHL 471 Death and Dying class. Our professor thinks that a class average of 66 after a curve is considered "good". Every morning I leave my apartment at 9:30 am to get to a 10 am class because if she calls your name during roll and you are not there, even if you are a 5 seconds late, you are considered absent, not late, ABSENT! Well anyway, on the past two test, there has been a total of 2 A's and mostly C's and D's. I had 2 study groups, and have even compared notes with fellow classmates to ensure that I am on the same level with the rest of the students in my class! When I got my first test back, it was a 69 and although I was a little disappointed in myself, I knew that I'd do better on the next test. Well the second test came around and well, yes, you guessed it, SAME GRADE!! WTF? What am I doing wrong? was the first thought that came to my mind as the tears started to fall down my face. And i sat there the entire class period thinking what did I do wrong? Then the young lady in front of me turned around and said, " Do you want to go to the deans office with me?" Of course I was down but I had to think about why I really wanted to go, was I going out of spite? Or was it because it really is her, not me? Well when she congratulated the class for going up 15 overall from the first exam (class average for the 1st exam was a 52, after the curve) I knew then that it wasn't me, it was her!

So we went to the Dean's office with open minds and willing to come up with a sensible solution to our problem with the professor. The first thing we told her was that it was a concern, not a complaint and proceeded with our reason for being in her office. She suggested we talk to her individually and dont do so in front of the class because she may feel like she is being attacked. She also told us that she would suggest that she do a midterm evaluation so we can anonymously discuss how we feel about her teaching and the way she has the course outlined. We shook hands and left feeling like we got nothing accomplished.

Well I took the Dean's advice and email my professor about speaking with her one on one about my grades. This is where it gets good...so we are all in class early today with our notes out ready to write because she ALWAYS starts on time! She comes in right at 10, which is not usual for her and she begins to write the following on the board:

A= 84-100
B= 67-83
C= 52-66
D= 32-51
F= < 32%

OMG! So now she tells us that the grading scale has changed! All it took was 30 minutes in the Dean's office???? She "understands that the class averages A's that start around 84"! The entire class just goes crazy, you hear a couple of "Thank you God" and "Is this a sick joke?" she lets us enjoy the moment and allow to really take in what she was doing!

I've always talked about going to the Dean about certain professors but never did I ever imagine that it would actually work! I'm just excited and thankful right now! Oh and she didn't take attendance today...which is something she'd NEVER do! I guess there is a FIRST time for everything! =)

I'll keep you updated about this class...