This story is from September 17, 2017

Seven months after announcing results, B-school changes grades of 400 students

Over 400 first-year students of executive management programme at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) were in for a rude shock after they found a fresh set of results on their notice board for an exam they appeared in November last year.
Seven months after announcing results, B-school changes grades of 400 students
MUMBAI: Over 400 first-year students of executive management programme at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) were in for a rude shock after they found a fresh set of results on their notice board for an exam they appeared in November last year. They got their first semester marksheets in February. Seven months after the results were out, the institute put up a new set of results on Thursday , by changing the marking pattern of the exam.
The confusion, claimed a college official, arose from an erroneous circular issued by the Mumbai University, which was rectified later.
Some students failed, while for many the grades dropped by one unit. These students were awaiting their second semester results and are also attending classes for the third semester for the last two months not knowing if they are eligible to continue in the course at all. “We were waiting for the results of semester II exam, which was conducted in April. These revised results have put most of us in a spot,“ said a Masters in Marketing Management (MMM) student, whose grade dropped from B to C. A majority of the students have the same marks as before.However, their cumulative grade point average (CGPA) changed drastically and their grades dropped. A student's CGPA dropped from 8.33 to 5.33 in the revised results, and his total changed by four marks and his grade dropped from A to B. For another student, the total marks remained the same, but his CGPA dropped from 8.17 to 4.67 and grade dropped from A to B. Most students, who were happy with their A grades in the results that were out in February are now disappointed.Similar problems are faced by students from Masters in Financial Management too.
“We are unable to understand what has changed in the new result. While some of our co-ordinators have claimed that the marking pattern has changed from 60:40 (60 marks for external exam and 40 for in ternals) to 50:50. There is still no clarity as the marks have changed only for a few of us,“ said a student. “Many of us are working professionals and these anomalies de-motivates us from pursuing higher studies,“ said the student, adding that their mid-term exams are approaching and they are still not sure if they can appear for it.“We are yet to pay the fees for our second year, but we are attending classes regularly and even submitting projects. What if some of us fail after second semester results are out?“ asked another student.
A teacher from another college said if the marks are almost the same and CGPA has changed, the college has probably revised the grading scale.A JBIMS official said no major changes have been introduced in the results. “An MU circular erroneously mentioned that 40% would be the passing criteria in the masters' programme.They later rectified it and made it 50%, as it was before. The number of failures has not gone up. Students are blowing this out of proportion,“ said the official. He did not clarify how the grades differed.
TIMES VIEW:
It is odd that results and grades of students should change many months after they have given their exams and received their original results. It not only lowers student morale but also raises questions about what further rude surprises to expect in the future. The institute has laid the blame at Mumbai University's door: if its claim is true, this will be recorded as one more dark chapter in the long-unfolding crisis at the varsity.
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