By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Bowling Green State University Faculty Senate failed a proposal for an optional plus-minus grading scale.
The proposal has been in the works since 2016. So long, Senate chair Jenn Stucker said at an earlier meeting, that some people thought it was in place.
The system would allow professors to use plusses and minuses to students’ grades with a corresponding change in how that grade is weighted in the students GPA.
Implementation kept getting pushed off. Tuesday’s vote is likely its death knell. The measure which needed a two-thirds majority to pass, instead had two-thirds opposed, 21-47, with one abstention.
The final decision is up to President Rodney Rogers and the president’s cabinet. In his remarks to the senate before the vote was taken, Rogers said he would honor the decision of the senate.
Students have opposed the change.
Alexander Chiarelott, academic affairs chair for Undergraduate Student Government, said in two surveys, each conducted using a different method, found students opposed the change by 85 percent.
Some felt it just added to the pressure on grades and added uncertainty about their GPAs because professors could opt to use the system or not.
Chiarelott said that students are already succeeding at BGSU and did not need the additional incentive of this new system.
BGSU has placed highly in national surveys of student satisfaction, so why make such a major change, he wondered.
Those proposing the change noted that many universities in the state use the system.
But, Chiarelott said, that given BGSU’s success “we do not need to be more like other institutions, they need to be more like us.”
“Some students are already hyper-concerned (about grades), fighting over every little point, and we think that’s the wrong emphasis,” said Carol Heckman, a professor of biological sciences. “We should discourage that.”
She added that the proposed grading system is out of step with what employers are looking for. They want specific skills, they are not even stipulating a specific degree, so “they certainly don’t care about what grades you get.”
Allen Rogel, an instructor in physics and astronomy, said in his department grades are already calculated in percentages. The new system would more adequately reflect the performance of the student.
Also, he added, the smaller increments between grades would provide more incentive for students to work to get the higher grade.
A move to amend the proposal to include an A-plus, presented by Peter Blass, chair of he chemistry department, failed. Blass has argued the A-plus, which would not have additional weight in calculating GPA, would give faculty a way to recognize outstanding work.
The senate moved quickly after the brief comments to a vote.
The October senate meeting had extensive open discussion and then discussion in small groups, many of which included students representing the undergraduate student council.
