it was recently mentioned in a conversation about some students at our academy that were actively asking about when they would be getting their stripe/ belt.
being a gb school, we use an attendance card, and its marked for every lesson attended with a red mark for the next "scheduled" promotion.
remember, the promotion is the recommended time, not set in stone, but apparently these students somehow believe they r entitled to a promotion on that red dot date.
anyway, im interested in how school owners and head instructors deal with this when students come around and ask, "hey, im due for my blue belt/ 4th stripe, what gives"
one guy who owns his school says he tells them, "because u asked, ur on hold"
for the record, in all my years of training, i never asked for any stripe or belt, nor expected one to be forthcoming
Choke them for acting like 4 year Olds.
Asking for a promotion is a guaranteed way to ensure you keep your current rank for a very long time. 
Stop having an attendance-based promotion system that creates such an expectation? By which I mean GTFO of Gracie Barra?
i know most old school instructors will go with the "u asked ur on hold" method
this is probably the fault of the attendance cards that indicate when a promotion may come around. that's a pretty ridiculous thing to use to measure progression. what job is there where you get promoted based on attendance? what education system rewards you honors for attendance?
in fact, what skill or occupation, in any field or subject, would ever assess your progression just for being "there"? sure, there's a few out there. like i remember when i took a 100 level painting class in college. as long as i showed up and didn't eat any crayons, i got an A. then if i go up to the instructor and say "ok I showed up to every class, so when are you going to put up my finger painting in the chicago modern art museum?" i'm pretty sure he/she will laugh at my stupid face
it's such a lazy metric and standard. if people have a misconception about how skill progression works, then you guys need to go through every attendance card and white out that red mark.
For one week, make an announcement at the beginning of every class that quickly details promotions at your gym. Tell them time served doesn't automatically earn you a belt or stripe. And most importantly, that you should never ask for a promotion or stripe. Remind them that it's up to you and you only. Everybody gets the message and no one gets singled out, pissed, and leaves.
PointyShinyBurn - Stop having an attendance-based promotion system that creates such an expectation? By which I mean GTFO of Gracie Barra?
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Do any of you train at a school that belt tests? How does this work? Does the student have to ask to test or are they told to test?
I ask because I'm at a new school that belt tests. From what I'm told, the student asks to test. This was the case at my former judo school as well.
I feel really strange asking as I feel it implies that I feel I deserve the next rank.
Crazy that an environment is being created where students actually ask! In all my years of training, maybe 1 or 2 students asked the instructor directly.
What is the issue with "asking"? I guess I do not get what the problem with communicating is.
I always tell my students they can ask politely about promotions, and what they need to do to get them.
I understand if it is a impatient and arrogant student making assumptions about his skill and being ungrateful... but this is not typically the case in my experience.
Usually when a student does ask, it rubs me the rug way, but I see that as an irrational response from myself because I can not logically determine a good reason for a student not being able to ask in a polite manner.
Asking what you need to do to get to the next level is not a problem. Asking when you will get to the next level is.
As a lower belt I often wish that BJJ was a little more predictable with its promotions. What is particularly galling/ironic is that it seems like every time this conversation comes up, someone references the standards of achievement that exist in other fields (see above: "in fact, what skill or occupation, in any field or subject, would ever assess your progression just for being "there"?"). In reality, most serious pursuits do have a timeline. Want a BA from Harvard? That takes 4 years. Want to become a lawyer? Another 3 years. A different color belt? Whoah, whoah, we can't tell you that....
The first rule of promotions in BJJ is we don't talk about promotions in BJJ...
Barra has minimums. Those are not the date they have to be promoted. Remind them of that 
shark tank - Do any of you train at a school that belt tests? How does this work? Does the student have to ask to test or are they told to test?My coach tests us. You don't ask. He tells us when we should be thinking about testing.
I ask because I'm at a new school that belt tests. From what I'm told, the student asks to test. This was the case at my former judo school as well.
I feel really strange asking as I feel it implies that I feel I deserve the next rank.
pfian - As a lower belt I often wish that BJJ was a little more predictable with its promotions. What is particularly galling/ironic is that it seems like every time this conversation comes up, someone references the standards of achievement that exist in other fields (see above: "in fact, what skill or occupation, in any field or subject, would ever assess your progression just for being "there"?"). In reality, most serious pursuits do have a timeline. Want a BA from Harvard? That takes 4 years. Want to become a lawyer? Another 3 years. A different color belt? Whoah, whoah, we can't tell you that....
Holy fuck how wrong you are in your crappy analogy.
You left out the crapload amount of work you have to put in during those four years which includes studying, homework, projects, tests, thesis and the whole grade thing.
And of course the many variables which can prevent a person from getting their degree in the four years you mention.
The only hard and fast rule that should matter regarding promotion, is that it takes most people a long time to get a black belt.
Not only make it clear to all the students that it is a min point at which you will even be evaluated... Also that it is looked down upon to even ask.
I do think that there are adult ways to ask about it...such as:
"what are you looking for in my game that you think needs to be improved to get to the next level"
However, I think this is completely different than seeing a scheduling and saying "what gives?"
What had to be made clear about attendance cards are that these were introduced because student numbers just exploded.
It was fine back in the days when there were only work students total. But now where i train there is well over 300. I don't even know most of the people. There are some purple belts I've never trained with.
So that's why attendance cards exist and its just a guide to say they are attending not a guarantee they will receive a stripe or belt.
People confuse that bit
"In the fridge"
Freezer
There is always going to be a small % of students who leave a belt promotion disappointed, no matter what system you use. As my school grows, it's harder and harder to have belt promotions without upsetting someone. I currently do not use an attendance card method, but have been considering it.