This fall, students who accustomed to studying just enough to receive their desired grade in the past will be forced to work harder or risk losing one-third of a GPA point.
The administration approved a proposal in 2007 to implement the plus/minus grading system this fall. Professors will have the option to assign grades with pluses and minuses. Four GPA points will be awarded for an A, 3.67 for an A- and 3.33 for a B+. The scale continues likewise for lower grades.
Gary Freeman, a professor in the Department of Government, will implement the system in his classes, but he has not changed his lesson plans or course requirements.
“I don’t think it requires any adjustment of the syllabus or course content,” Freeman said. “It’s just when you calculate the final grade, you decide when to use the pluses and minuses. You have more flexibility when assigning grades.”
Many students expressed disapproval for the system, which does not allow for the assignment of an A+. Both the Senate of College Councils and Student Government fought against its implementation. The Senate also passed a resolution in the fall of 2007 supporting the designation of an A+.
“The system is used in a lot of other schools so it’s certainly nothing new,” said Senate Policy Director Drew Finke. “But it would’ve been nice if there had been more collaboration between the administration offices who are implementing that and the students who will be affected.”
The grading scale, which mirrors that of UT’s graduate schools, requires a D- to pass. Many other institutions, including the University of California-Berkeley and the universities of Virginia and Michigan, have a similar plus/minus grading system.
Desmond Lawler, former chair of the Faculty Council’s Educational Policy Committee, told The Daily Texan when he presented the proposal that there is an “apparent disconnect” between the value of a C and C-.
“In the new scale, if we say that a C- is an acceptable grade as a prerequisite — and that translates to a value of that class as 1.67 [grade points] — then there’s the possibility that you can be passed on to future classes but still end up with a GPA that will get you on probation and not being able to graduate,” he said.
Plan II and political communications senior Natalie Butler said she thinks the system will help some and hurt others, depending on how hard students work.
“My concern is that I’m a liberal arts and communications student, and there are lots of writing assignments,” Butler said.” Writing a perfect paper is really hard. Even if you write an A paper, you may not get a 4.0.”
But many argue that the scale will allow for a more accurate assessment of student performance.
“I think the students really want it,” Freeman said. “It’s a possibility, and if you don’t implement it, students will want to know why.”
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