Plus/Minus grading scale approved

By Stephen George

Plus/Minus grading scale approved

By Stephen George

Staff Writer

The scale by which U of L students’ grade point averages are determined may soon be changing. It was decided in a meeting of the deans of each school last Wednesday that a new grading scale, featuring the much-debated plus-minus factors, may be instituted as university policy.

Though the original concept died in Faculty Senate legislation last month, the adoption of the new grading scale rests now on the consensus of the individual schools, a decision to be determined by faculty members. Dr. David Howarth, dean of Undergraduate Studies and Associate Provost, said that because the university lacks a policy body to handle this type of decision, it must be left to the individual departments. “It’s going to be all or nothing,” he said.

The new grading scale would award four GPA points for an A+ and an A, 3.7 for an A-, 3.3 for a B+, and so forth, all the way to 0.7 for a D-. If adopted, the new grading scale would take effect in Fall 2002. According to Malana Hartzog, SGA Arts and Sciences Senator, “effective fall 2002, at least Arts and Sciences, Music, and Nursing will be on” the new grading scale. “The other Undergraduate Deans have not as of yet made their decisions, although they soon will.”

Faculty Senate President Rick Feldhoff sees leaving the decision to each individual school difficult. “There are all sorts of potential problems,” he said. Feldhoff said that if the scale is adopted, he would like to see an A+ award 4.3 GPA points instead of being an even 4.0 like an A, as is practice at several universities across the country.

The plus-minus grading scale has been in effect for quite some time for graduate students at U of L. Associate Dean of the School of Music Naomi Oliphant says that is one of the reasons that the faculty there voted strongly in favor of adopting the new system. “Because we do it at the graduate level already,” she said. Oliphant also said that because it is a relatively common system at many other universities, they “thought it would be helpful and easier for students” who may transfer.

But many students disagree with the adoption of the new grading scale. Junior Communication major Daniel Pike sees the decision to leave adopting the policy to each individual school as a reflection of some of the core problems at U of L. “This perfectly illustrates the kind of inconsistency I’ve encountered throughout the university for the past three years,” he said.

Junior Geography major Ross Allen said “it’s pointless. What if classes have curves? That throws it all off too. It’s just pointless.”

Junior History and Spanish major Anna Visman said that the system is unfair to students because an A and A+ award the same amount of grade points. “I think it’s a bad idea because it could end up making a big difference in your grade point average even when you still have an A,” she said. “The points that teachers grade on for classes are different anyway. You could end up throwing people off for scholarships and other things that I just don’t think would be fair to the students.”

Troy Floden, an undeclared sophomore, agrees with Visman. “In the case of those students who are just below perfection (an A), a B+ would be beneficial,” he said. “But the same concessions have not been made for the students who…supercede the level of academic perfection (an A+)…who get no help from these new rules.”

But Howarth assured that the policy will not be adopted if a consensus is not reached. “If the faculty cannot come to agreement,” he said, “it won’t be adopted.”