A plus/minus grading system will go into effect fall 2004, more than a decade since the Academic Senate first suggested the idea.
President Michael Crow, "after lengthy discussions and careful review," approved on July 17 a new grading system that will incorporate A-plus (4.33), A-minus (3.67), B-plus (3.33), B-minus (2.67) and C-plus (2.33) into the current grade scale. The addition of an A-plus is a modification to the Senate's suggested grading model, which allowed for plus/minus grades from grades A to C-plus.
Former Academic Senate President George Watson said he was unsure whether Crow had the authority to modify the Senate's proposal. The Senate had specifically rejected the plus/minus grading system with an A-plus option at a May meeting.
"No one is required to give an A+ as a grade, although if a student came through with such a superior performance of excellence, I should not hesitate to give it," Watson said. "I cannot say what response the Senate will give. I can only say [the president's modification] will not go unnoticed."
Academic Senate President Tony Garcia said he expects faculty to react to the president's change, but added that he has not received any complaints as of Wednesday.
"Plus/minus grading is something the faculty wanted," Garcia said. "There wasn't enough room in the other system to reflect what students did and how much they achieved in class. There was a need to distinguish performance a little bit finer than just A, B, C and D."
Garcia added that professors are not obligated to award plus/minus grades as long as they communicate grading policy to students in course syllabi.
The Academic Senate and the Provost's office will review the effects of plus/minus at ASU in 2007. Part of the review will look for signs of grade inflation - a problem that many in the world of academe fear unfairly bumps up students' grades.
"The review process is the most salient feature of all this," Garcia said. "When you make a change this dramatic, you need to be able to go back and see how this has affected everyone.
"Employers and graduate schools may discount a student's grades if they see rampant grade inflation."
Milton Glick, executive vice president and university provost, said he was unsure whether all students would be subject to the new grading system, despite the catalog year they entered the university under. He was also unsure how grades would appear on transcripts.
"Those are the kind of details we will need to work out in the next year," Glick said. "It would seem pretty difficult to treat different students in the same class differently, but we will be dealing with such issues before implementation."
Reach the reporter at lynh.bui@asu.edu.
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