Academic quits over exam failuresA university academic has quit his job after his decision to fail students on his course was overruled.
BBC
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Professor Paul Buckland from Bournemouth University claimed exams were re-marked so students would pass.
He said: "If we're going to go along with a system whereby students are passed automatically, we might as well sell the degrees on eBay."
The University admitted "procedures had not been followed" and an external examiner was now rechecking the papers.
'Quality graduates'
Prof Buckland said that of the 16 students who had originally failed the exams, 13 were given pass grades after their marks were reviewed by the University.
A professor of environmental archaeology, he said: "This is sad because Bournemouth is very good at taking students who are otherwise disadvantaged with poor A-Level results and turning out quality graduates at the end of it."
In response to Prof Buckland's claims Bournemouth University carried out an inquiry.
There is some merit in this. Since students don't usually contribute one iota toward increase of knowledge in the world until they graduate and begin their own research, they might as well buy out and begin their research that much sooner. If their scholarship is worth a pile of elephant dump, having a degree or not won't matter.