The University of Idaho Faculty Senate approved a proposal to change the academic grading system Tuesday at their meeting.
Sanjay Sisodiya, a faculty member in the College of Business and Economics speaking on the behalf of the university curriculum committee, introduced the proposal to the Senate. Sisodiya explained the new grading system would include plus and minus grades, instead of only letter grades.
The original proposal was drafted by the teaching and advising committee and did not include the grades A+ and D-, according to Faculty Senate Secretary Elizabeth Brandt. However, when this proposal was brought before the university curriculum committee, they decided to add A+ and D- to the draft.
Terry Grieb, the vice chair of the Faculty Senate, motioned to remove A+ and D- grades from the proposal. Grieb’s motion was supported by 17 senators and opposed by two, so it passed.
Aaron Johnson said the Senate still needed to discuss and vote on the proposal to change UI’s grading scale to a plus/minus system without A+ and D- included.
The senate voted 14-5 to pass the plus/minus grade scale proposal, without A+ and D-.
Brandt said the proposal still has to be discussed at the University Faculty Meeting May 1 and be passed by the president before a plus/minus grading system is implemented.
“It’s not a done deal yet,” Brandt said.
In debating the changes, Sisodiya explained why those two grade options were added to the proposal. He said the university curriculum committee members believed being able to signal that a student excelled in a class by awarding them with an A+ instead of just an A was important. Sisodiya said in this proposal, an A+ and A both result in the same GPA but the A+ would simply signal to anyone looking at the student’s transcript that they had done well in a class.
“Almost like a gold star,” Sisodiya said.
The addition of the D- was a change added simply because UI peer schools having similar systems. Sisodya said WSU and Boise State are also considering implementing a plus/minus grading system and they are including the D-. Receiving a D- instead of a D would have an impact on GPA but still would be considered a passing grade.
Sen. Alan Caplan voiced concerns about the addition of A+ to the grading scale.
“I think it is a mistake to try to distinguish perfection from really great,” said Caplan. “I think these are false discriminations that exceed the precision of the measurements.”
Caplan said in many cases, grading can be subjective and trying to be overly precise with distinctions between grades can do more harm than good. He added he did not believe this would be supported by many students.
Clayton King, the ASUI faculty senate representative, agreed with Caplan, saying the results of polling and his interactions with students have suggested that very few UI undergraduates want the plus/minus grading system to be implemented because they fear it will be detrimental to their academic success and make it especially difficult to maintain 4.0 GPAs.
Brandt contributed her perspective on the issue.
“As somebody who has been on the admissions committee at a law school and looked through hundreds of applications, I think that an A+ that is not a part of GPA will make our transcripts a little opaque. People aren’t going to get what that is,” said Brandt.
Sen. Barbra Kirchmeier said she feared students may become frustrated if they receive an A instead of an A+ or a D- instead of a D. Kirchmeier said she wouldn’t want to be put in the position where she had to explain to a student why they didn’t get the better grade because the distinction is so small.
Sisodiya admitted he didn’t have a response for any of the senator’s concerns.
“I’m just the messenger on this one,” said Sisodiya.
Sen. Clinton Jeffery said even if the plus/minus scale is passed, it isn’t required that professors use them. He said they could continue to use the four-letter grade system.
Sen. Chantal Vella said if professors can use different grading scales as Jeffery suggested then that could be even more frustrating for students, especially if there are different professors were teaching the same class but using different scales.
Grieb responded to Vella’s question by saying that problem can already exist even with the four-letter grade scale because professors can have different numerical grading scales. For example, he said, one professor could decide a 90 or above is an A but another could choose to make an 85 and above an A.
Grieb then offered his thoughts on the issue.
He said from a professor perspective having a plus/minus scale can help keep students engaged for the entire year. With the four-letter grade scale, a student can calculate how much they need to do to keep their A or B and if they realize they can get away with not doing much they might coast through the rest of the class, Grieb speculated. However, Grieb said that for students who have big assignments or finals that could drastically affect their grades and GPA, the plus/minus system could put even more stress on them.
Sen. Penny Morgan said the plus/minus system could be helpful for students who fall in the B and C grade ranges. The students could know more precisely how they are doing in a class and it might provide more incentive for improvement. Additionally, it might allow professors to communicate with their students better about their grades, according to Morgan.
Gavin Green can be reached at [email protected]
Here is the proposed scale as it is outlined in the Faculty-Staff Handbook.
A+ and A (4.0)
A- (3.7)
B+ (3.3)
B (3.0)
B- (2.7)
C+ (2.3)
C (2.0)
C- (1.7)
D+ (1.3)
D (1.0)
D- (.7)
F (0.0).