I thought I was going to have my first semester without a single request to change a student's grade. I was wrong. I ended up getting one last Friday, making me suspect that there won't ever be a semester without at least one.
TECHNIQUES
Following are a few recommendations for newer faculty to help minimize the number of complaints from students. I would love to hear other ideas in the comments.
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Ensure clear grading guidelines are communicated in your syllabus in advance
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Direct the student to the appropriate pages of your syllabus where they can read more about yur grading policies
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Inform the student that you will not respond to future emails (or you wind up in a endless loop of back-and-forth)
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Consider saving the first email you write of a response to a student, so you can copy/paste it to other students who may have similar requests
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Let the student know where to direct concerns about the fairness or integrity of your grading (e.g. your Dean)
LAST RESORT
When all else fails, a good belly laugh is in order… Just when I thought that I was the only professor who experienced this with such regularity, I came across this thread from The Chronicle of Higher Education. This is worth a read, if nothing else… to ensure you keep your sense of humor about the whole thing. I was so surprised at the creativity of the professors and how well they capture so many of the students and the parents of today.
