Does not pandering equal less classes?

This is something I have been considering. The last course I taught consisted of at least 20 students who were not prepaired for college level work. They did not know the basics of academic writing, often did not answer the questions in assignments (if they turned them in at all), and complained when I gave them the opportunity to redo assignments so they would not fail. Out of 22 students, only 2 got an "A", 5 failed, and the rest got C's. There are some who are of the school of thought that if students are failing it is the teachers fault, and there are others of the school of thought that students "earn" their grades.

I believe that I am a tough teacher. I have expectations of students which I clearly spell out in my Faculty expectations, and if a student does not meet these expecations then they will not pass the course. I do not think that my expecations are that high, they must cite their sources, both in disucssion assignments and written assignments, I do not accept late assignments, and I use a grading ruberic to grade papers which I provide to the students. Yet I find time and again that many times student cannot or will not meet these expecations.

I have found that my class offerings from the university I started at have been less and less. I find it hard to believe that there is no correlation between the low grades some students are getting in my class and this occurance. On one hand I wonder if I need to let up on some of my students. However I am hesitant to do so because I do not think it will do them justice in the long run. I also think that if the university lets so many students in who are not ready for college level work without remidial courses to bring them up to speed then it is "unfair" to penalize me with less work. (I have using the "F" word and sounding like one of my little snowflakes!) If my employeer has the word Univeristy in their name and not Community College then they need to hold standards accordingly.

What have others experiences been with this occurance?

Thinking about certification

I am thinking about getting some kind of "certification". I have a degree in psychology, however due to unfortunate circumstancing involving my practicum supervisor and lung cancer I was not able to complete it and therefore am not eligible for state liscensure.

So I have been looking at becoming a Nationally Certified Psychologist. I have been reading about it at the North American Association of Masters in Psychology. The trouble I am running into is how do I determine if this is a legitimate certification or a pound of bologna?

Any suggestions or experience from anyone?

Would you like some cheese with your whine?

It is the last week of class and all of the students who haven't been working on their final paper as they should have are beginning to complain that they do not have enough time. My 'favorite' snowflake is a student who did turn in their rough draft, which I graded and made comments and suggestions on. This student wasn't on the right track so I pointed them in the right direction. This students response? To complain in the student chat section of the course room that they "hated" my class, I "tore their paper apart", and they didn't have time to rewrite the whole paper. They went on to state that they didn't think my class should be "this hard".

I find I have a hard time bringing up any pity for these types of whiners. How do others deal with these students who are under the delusion that your online class should be "easier" and that you are being "unfair" because you expect them to turn in college level work without bitch slapping them into the middle of next week?