Volume CXXXIII, Number 19 March 29, 2002 f

Faculty to vote on plus/minus grades
NICHOLAS J. LoVECCHIO
ORIENT STAFF

The Faculty will vote Monday on a measure introduced by the Recording Committee to switch to a plus/minus grading system. If the Faculty votes to adopt the measure as currently written, it will go into effect for all students in the 2002-2003 academic year.

Members of the Recording Committee made a split recommendation regarding the grading system proposal at the Faculty meeting earlier this month. On behalf of the faculty and staff members on the committee, physics professor Stephen Naculich, chair of the Recording Committee, recommended that the faculty adopt such a system. On behalf of the student body, Melissa Tansey '02, one of three student representatives on the committee, urged the Faculty to vote against the measure.

Stephen Naculich, chair of the Recording Committee. (Bowdoin Orient)

Naculich prefaced his recommendation by saying that there is no right or wrong answer to the grading system issue, but rather one range of grades that the Faculty is most comfortable giving. The implementation of a plus/minus system would not be, he said, a response to or a remedy for grade inflation. cited three main issues to be considered: evaluation, feedback, and motivation.

The first concern Naculich mentioned was evaluation for external purposes. The plus/minus system could potentially give more accurate assessments of student work, which would help students applying for jobs and graduate schools. Bowdoin's current system, he said, puts students at a competitive disadvantage, since all other schools in our comparison group do have pluses and minuses. For most students, the addition of pluses and minuses would not make a significant difference in their GPAs, but for students who earn mostly B+ grades, it could make a difference of several tenths of a point.

Naculich also said that professors use grades as a means of communicating with students and giving feedback. While there is already a four-point scale for passing grades, most professors only give As and Bs, leaving what many see as a two-point grading system that is insufficient for assessing a student's work fairly and accurately. For example, many faculty members are uncomfortable giving the same grade to a student who earns an 89 as to a student who earns an 80. Many faculty also feel that the current grading system makes it difficult to show student progress.

Naculich also cited motivation as another issue to be considered. Some professors are concerned with the "cost-benefit analysis" that governs student motivation to do work for class. Once students get locked into a certain grade (generally a B) or locked out of a certain grade (generally an A), professors feel that students are less likely to work as hard for the rest of the semester. Adding pluses and minuses, Naculich said, would encourage students to work harder throughout the semester.

Tansey, who was joined at the meeting by student committee members Jason Hafler '04 and Mark Lucci '04, said that switching to a plus/minus system would greatly alter Bowdoin's intellectual atmosphere and would change the overall environment for the worst. She said that our current grading system positively distinguishes Bowdoin from other schools.

Tansey explained that students understand the potential benefits for external evaluation but that such a reason is not enough to necessitate a change in the system. Rather than allow greater accuracy in grading, she said, a plus/minus system would increase competition and grade grubbing.

Finally, Tansey reminded the Faculty that 69 percent of student poll respondents were against moving to a plus/minus system.

While a more formal discussion will precede the Faculty's vote Monday, several professors aired some initial concerns about a change in the system. Some initial concerns included the possibility of worsened grade inflation, implementing a fairer grandfathering system for current students, and the lack of an "A+" grade.

Some professors began suggesting modifications to the Recording Committee's motion. Economics professor John Fitzgerald offered the possibility of adding grades of A/B and B/C to the current range, rather than adding pluses and minuses.