By Editorial
There’s a thin line between revolutionary and ridiculous, and U of L officials are tiptoeing that line as they try to decide what to do about the plus/minus grading system.
The choices seem simple enough: either keep plus/minus grading or resort back to the conventional letter-grade method. Strangely enough, someone came up with a third option – increase the grading scale to a 4.3 for students who receive an A+ in order to offset the effects of a minus letter grade.
Students have complained about the plus/minus grading system since its inception in 2002, but the university has done little to prove the new system’s effectiveness or come up with a reasonable alternative.
Other state universities conducted studies or launched trial programs before making a firm decision. U of L needs to follow their example and make a decision based on facts and stick to its decision.
The university is currently in limbo between supporting the plus/minus and condemning it. They understand students are concerned but are not aggressively pursuing other options. The indecision should raise a few student eyebrows.
While nearly every major state university in Kentucky has looked into or is flirting with the plus/minus grading system, schools that have tried it, such as the University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky, have decided to return to the standard 10-point scale. No other state university in Kentucky has used the plus/minus system for any longer than a trial period.
Now it’s time for U of L to make a change, because the problems with the present system are glaring. Currently, a B- counts as less than a 3.0 and could cause a student to lose his or her scholarship. Also, professors can use whatever grading system they want as long as it doesn’t conflict with other professors teaching the same class. This leads to inconsistency and confusion.
Historically, universities have always used the 10-point scale but have recently been seeking a better system in response to student complaints that a 90 percent should not be rewarded the same as a 99 percent.
The complaints have merit, but universities have always operated on the 10-point scale. If they want to weed out the good students from the great students, they should make the courses more difficult, not add more grading increments or increase the grading scale.
The proposal of a 4.3 scale is another knee-jerk reaction to appease a few students who want an A+ to count for more than an A. This is the equivalent of the university giving extra credit. The university needs to seriously consider the ramifications of such a drastic change and how it could unfairly skew a student’s grade point average. Besides, how many students actually get an A+?
The only viable alternative is to rescind the plus/minus grading system.Unless U of L can show tangible evidence for why a plus/minus grading system is necessary, or even beneficial for that matter, it seems absurd to continue with the current grading scale.
For U of L’s efforts in proving the scale’s effectiveness and taking the necessary steps to remedy the ordeal, we at The Cardinal give U of L’s proposed 4.3 grading scale a big F-.
