The ASU Academic Senate voted Monday afternoon to adopt a new plus/minus grading system for the University.
The measure was approved 47-18 and a recommendation will be sent to ASU President Michael Crow for final approval by the end of this week.
Sen. Doug Johnson drafted the proposal for the new plus/minus system.
"We don't have enough grading alternatives," he said. "We need to have a fine enough scale to [accurately] measure student performance."
If Crow approves the Senate's recommendation, the new system will officially take effect in the 2004-05 academic year.
Sen. Terence Ball voted against the plus/minus system because he thought it had some flaws.
"The proposed system compresses grades at the top that [might create a] disadvantage for honors students and students on scholarships," Ball said.
Ball added that professors would not be obligated to award plus/minus grades and could continue following the current grading system.
In 1992, the Senate voted to implement a different plus/minus grading system. Lattie Coor, ASU president at the time, rejected the recommendation because the University did not have the technology to implement it. The issue resurfaced in 2001 after University technology was updated.
Crow will review a system that designates a numerical value for plus/minus grades in increments of 0.3.
Plus/minus values are not applied after the C+ level, unlike the system proposed in 1992.
Student government president Mike Leingang said he was "adamantly opposed" to any plus/minus grading system.
"I am frustrated that student concerns weren't addressed," Leingang said, referring to a vocal student opposition and petition drive that emerged in 2001. "We are paying for our education, and we should dictate what kind of education we are receiving."
Senate President George Watson said he agreed the meeting's debate did not reflect student concerns well, but added that students have not been actively offering their feedback.
"You want to take students' voices into consideration," Watson said. "We knew what students' concerns were, but the faculty is responsible for grades and therefore is responsible for the grading system that they use."
Reach the reporter at lynh.bui@asu.edu.
