The City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has denied an accusation from a visiting fellow at its Department of English that it was secretly lowering individual students’ grades, without the consent of the professors, in order to appear more academically challenging.

The contract of Cody Glenn Fuston, an American novelist who also goes by his pen name CG Fewston, was terminated on Tuesday. CityU said it was because he refused to submit student grades unless his demand for a pay rise was fulfilled.

However, Fuston told HKFP that he was dismissed because he knew the reason behind the alleged secret grade changing activity – to obtain a better rank among universities around the world. Fuston claimed that City U lowered grades to make it look like a tougher institution and that he was fired as he asked “too many questions” and filed complaints against the department’s staff.

Fuston wrote a letter to his students about the termination which was widely circulated after it was posted on the popular CityU Secrets Facebook page on Wednesday.

‘Too many times to count’

Cody Glenn Fuston. Photo: www.cgfewston.org

Fuston said that he became aware of the alleged secret grade changing when he arrived at the university in June 2014.

“I have always stood against this and any and all corruption I witnessed in the English department, and this is why I asked my students to hand in a hard copy of their assignments for them to keep accurate records.” Fuston wrote in the letter.

“Be sure to always ask the professor for the final grade. Do not depend on the English department for the final grade since they will secretly lower the grade without anyone’s knowledge – not even the professor.”

He added that “I had this happen too many times to count while I was at CityU, a university I hope I have made better in my rather short time.”

‘Serious breach of contract’

However, a spokesperson for CityU told HKFP that the accusations regarding the Department of English were unfounded.

“Mr Fuston was employed as a Visiting Fellow on a one-year contract to teach English classes. Within the duration of the current contract, Mr Fuston demanded a pay raise. Unless his demand was met, he said he would refuse to submit student grades to the Department. This behaviour constitutes a serious breach of his contract with CityU,” Yvonne Lee of the Communications and Public Relations Office of CityU said.

“To protect students’ interests and to ensure that students’ academic progress would not be affected, Mr Fuston’s appointment was terminated on 27 October 2015 in accordance with relevant provisions in his employment contract.” Lee said, “Suitable arrangements were made immediately to ensure that normal teaching and learning activities would not be affected.”

“Separately, there are other complaints against Mr Fuston and disciplinary proceedings are currently underway. In view of these ongoing proceedings, we are currently unable to disclose further details.” Lee added.

The main campus of CityU. Photo: Wikicommons.

Lowered, never raised

In response, Fuston told HKFP that he and many other professors were receiving complaints from dozens of students each semester questioning the grades they received.

He claimed, for instance, that a B+ he gave to a student became a B-, though he never agreed to the changes. He said it was against his principles but professors “were forbidden [from] talking about grading schemes.”