Faculty Senate votes to post grade distributions

3:08 p.m., May 17, 2005--In a move to monitor and address grade inflation, the University Faculty Senate voted Monday, May 16, to make the distribution of grades across departments regularly available to the University community and to ask chairs and faculty to continue to discuss grade distribution on an annual basis.

According to the report by the senate’s ad-hoc committee on grade inflation, the number of A’s awarded at the University has doubled from 1987-2002. Donald Lehman, chair of the ad hoc committee, told senators that 74 percent of students on campus get A’s and B’s, and that grade inflation has increased on all four levels of study—from freshman to senior classes.

After three open hearings on grade inflation held earlier this year, the resolution presented to the senate noted that “the most important mechanism identified for controlling grade inflation is faculty accountability.” The resolution recognized that many faculty believe that “transparency in grade distribution is an important goal” and pointed out that grade distributions can be made public without violating students’ rights of privacy.

According to Provost Dan Rich, the information on grade distribution by department has been available in the past, but it has not been posted on a regular basis. “There is good reason to make grade distribution information available to the entire University community by posting it at the University’s Institutional Research web site,” Rich said. “It is important that the Faculty Senate is providing oversight on issues related to grading practices, and we should all be proud that such issues are being addressed systematically and openly.”

In other action, the senate voted to accept a revision in the section on “other unlawful harassment” to be included in the Faculty Handbook.

The senate debate focused on the following approved section:

“Other unlawful harassment includes any verbal or physical conduct toward another that is based on the other’s race, color, sex, religions, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law, and that (1) unlawfully creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive learning and/or working environment or (2) unlawfully interferes with an individual’s work or academic performance.

“Threatening, intimidating or engaging in acts that unlawfully create a hostile environment based on an individual’s race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law may constitute unlawful harassment, whether the harasser is a co-worker, supervisor, student or faculty member.”

Article by Cornelia Weil

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