Dissolution of the Post-Examination "Gripes Process" sign now

Definition, from the Oxford English Dictionary:
gripe |grīp| - noun
informal. a complaint, esp. a trivial one : his biggest gripe is that he has lost his sense of privacy.

We, the students, professors, faculty, alumni and affiliates of the Georgetown University School of Medicine and/or the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences whose names appear below, appeal for the dissolution of the post-examination gripes process by which students and faculty convene to discuss exam concerns, content discrepancies or technical inconsistencies.

This process, in theory, provides a useful opportunity to the student body to relay concerns to the authors of the exam and to secure a set of scores that are reflective of true performance. To the professors, the exchange ensures integrity of the content and accuracy of the information used to test students.

In practice, however, the gripes process is rendered ineffectual by the:
1) Consistent authorial accuracy of the exams, i.e. result: No changes were made.
2) Standard distribution of the curve in medical courses.
3) Lack of a fixed timeline for accepting student gripes and addressing them.
4) Failure to distribute individual gripes to the relevant students enrolled in the course.
5) Lack of transparency.

Furthermore, the gripes process likely contributes to a delay in the release of exam scores, which are integral to gauging progress and performance. Students requiring letters of reference from graduate professors or transcripts for summer internships, medical applications, or scholarships may be adversely affected by the extended deferment, the mitigation of which is one motive behind the use of Scantron-based examinations.

This petition serves to demonstrate the number of students with concerns about the continuation of this process in its existing state and should be interpreted as an invitation to open dialogue between all affected parties.