How to turn away students who ask me to proofread their papers?

I teach writing to undergraduates.

• Most of the students, even the juniors and seniors, wrote few papers since high school.


• There are many foreign students in the program.

Many students enter the course believing that, when their grammar and spelling is "correct", their task is done. We have so many other topics to cover that I tell students from the first day that grammar and spelling will not be discussed in the course, unless I encounter frequent several students making the same mistakes.

My grading rubrics cover the aspects covered in each lesson and expands each week as we cover more aspects. I relegate grammar and spelling a the bottom of the rubric, as a special item that I simply grade on a scale of 0-4. In other words, students get feedback about other aspects of their writing, but not I do not spend time marking the spelling and grammar errors.

I still encounter dissatisfied students, who either paid no attention during the first day or could not accept that grammar and spelling not take center stage:

• Some feel dissatisfied when I do not mark the grammar and spelling, as their former high school teachers did.


• Some come to me with their graduate admissions letters and job application cover letters, specifically requesting that I make their papers “perfect", but complain when I only leave comments about other aspects of their paper.


• When I ask or assign them to have a peer check their work, some believe it is just an excuse for me to avoid doing my job.

How can I decline such proofreading requests from students, without leaving students feeling a I am neglecting my duties as a teacher?