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Grading system changing next spring

The traditional grading system ASU students are accustomed to is changing to a plus-minus system that will affect every student in 2003.

The Academic Senate approved a plus-minus grading system 10 years ago and is now working to make sure the transition finally goes off without a hitch next year.

The new grading scale will add pluses and minuses and change the corresponding grade point value. The system will not have a grandfather clause or be retroactive and will affect grades beginning next spring.

The Registrar's Office was unable to implement the plus-minus grading system because of a lack of technology, but it will have the means to introduce the system in spring 2003.

The Academic Senate originally passed the grading system in April 1992 and will be re-confirming the decision on Monday. The meeting will be open for students to discuss the issue.

Although the system is already approved, the Academic Senate would like to receive updated student input about the grading system, said Doug Johnson, accounting professor and former Academic Senate president.

"We need to create a dialogue with students and see if there is any opposition now," he said.

Professors will be given the new grading scale as an option. The breakdown of the grading scale will also be left up to the individual professor.

David Burstein, professor in the physics and astronomy department, is the parliamentarian for the Academic Senate. He has been the leading voice in pushing the grading system into action. It wasn't until he became president-elect in 1998 that people listened to his concerns about implementing the plus-minus system, he said.

"I came from a university (Wesleyan University in Connecticut) where the plus-minus system was normal," Burstein said.

And in coming from there, he knows the benefits of such a system, he said.

Janey Swanz, academic adviser in the Barrett Honors College, said honors students would still be expected to maintain a GPA of 3.4.

"Honors students are pretty contentious," she said. "They will just need to find out from their professors what they need to do to maintain their grades."

Craig Allen, journalism professor and academic senator, said that he doesn't think the change would make grading longer or more difficult for professors.

"The biggest anguish for professors is trying to give grades to people who are on the borderline," he said. "There is a huge difference between a B and a C."

Allen said it would be easier on professors to give borderline students a fair grade once the plus-minus system is implemented.

David Pickus, Barrett Honors College academic senator, supports the new grading scale.

"I think all of us want it," Pickus said. "Anything that will help report students' grades more accurately is great."

UA and NAU do not have a plus-minus grading scale.

The Academic Senate meeting to discuss the issue will be 3:15 p.m. Monday at in Schwada Classroom Office Building, Room 210.

Reach the reporter at stinavee@asu.edu.


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