Inflation is not just for economics majors.
As the faculty and undergraduate councils continue to address concerns of grade inflation and grading methodology, students say the differences in Columbia College and School of Engineering and Applied Science transcripts can be problematic.
In the fall of 2007, Columbia College Student Council members discovered that CC transcripts disclose information on the percentage of A grades earned in a course, to combat perceived grade inflation, whereas SEAS transcripts do not. “Percent A's” apply to those classes where more than 24 students enroll, therefore excluding many core classes and seminars.
CCSC considered the removal of “percent A's” while the Engineering Student Council weighed the benefits of its inclusion. Each school had its own faculty committee who was in charge of making these decisions.
After speaking with administrators and debating within the council, CCSC decided against pursuing the removal of “percent A's,” according to CCSC president Sue Yang, CC ’10, who was on the council two years ago when the issue was first discussed. In a 2008 interview with Spectator, former ESC president Liz Strauss, SEAS ’08, said, “It’s just something we’re leaving on our internal plate to keep looking at.”
“It was an installation issue,” Yang said. “If we don’t include ‘percent A's,’ the only way to tackle grade inflation would be to talk to faculty to deflate grades.” Yet, the council found the alternative to be less favorable.
“As a student, I support the removal of ‘percent A's,’” Yang added. “I certainly understand the concerns of grade inflation and the rationale behind these figures. But such percentages, in my personal opinion, overlook a great deal of context and put further emphasis on grades rather than on learning.”
She did not speak on behalf of the council, as the issue of “percent A's” has not resurfaced in CCSC in the two years after it was initially discussed. According to Yang, there would need to be immense student support for the issue to be revisited.
Yang said that CCSC is still tackling the issues of grades on other fronts. CCSC has been looking into the A+ policy. The council is debating a shift to a 4.0 scale, eliminating the A+, or leaving the policy unchanged.
ESC president Whitney Green, SEAS ’10, said that ESC has been addressing the problem indirectly, looking at the way it may affect students’ future job opportunities.
According to Green, ESC has been working to establish a clearer understanding of SEAS academics and grading within the Center for Career Education. Green also noted that CC and SEAS are grouped into a single indistinguishable cluster in the CCE system, which, she said, is a matter of great stress for many SEAS students.
“We’re not entirely convinced that employers know that we are two different schools with very different academics,” said Green, who feels that this is especially problematic when CC and SEAS students both seek the same jobs.
“This is a frequently discussed problem among all SEAS students—what we try to do is, once we get to the interview stage, we try to explain to our interviewer how the two schools have a different grading scheme,” said William Zhuang, SEAS ’12, who is in the process of applying for a major in financial engineering. “I think it would help to add any type of statistic to the class.”
But according to Green, problems arise when certain employers have a minimum GPA requirement for interview selection.
“I’ll be surprised to see if we come up with something and how we pass it,” she added, noting that the council is still in the “idea stage,” where discussion of the merits of including “percent As” or average class grades comes into play.
Columbia College Dean of Academic Affairs Kathryn Yatrakis said that “percent A's” allow for more “specific grading” and that their inclusion supplies more information, so that those reviewing transcripts can better understand students’ performance and distinguish excellent students. She also said that the Committee on Instruction has plans to address general grading policies in the near future.
“All issues relating to grading are within the purview of the faculty,” said SEAS Dean Feniosky Peña-Mora. “However, I would like to determine if our students will benefit overall from having the percentage of A's listed on their transcripts or if some other indication is more appropriate.” He said that he intends to investigate the question more thoroughly, solicit input from students and, if necessary, bring the matter to the SEAS faculty’s Committee on Instruction.
“Personally, I think grade inflation is an increasingly problematic issue in Columbia, one that will begin to affect the perception of the University, or more important for us, that of the students, graduating from the University, if it has not done so already,” Gilad Bendheim, CC ’11 and ESC academic representative, wrote in an e-mail. “I can truthfully say that I don’t know how effective it [percent A's] is, but I think more substantial moves need to be taken.” He spoke as a student not on behalf of the council.
He did, however, acknowledge that “percent A's” could potentially help to deter enrollment in “A-guaranteed” courses, force professors to be more selective in grading, and show employers and graduate schools that “the University is serious about fair and honest grade distributions.”
“If we accept the premise of grading in general, we should be able to accept the grading of grading as well.”
hien.truong@columbiaspectator.com
CORRECTION: According to Dean Yatrakis, the percentage of A grades will not appear on the transcript for any course with enrollments of 12 or fewer students, or for any colloquia or seminar with enrollments of 22 or fewer students. Spectator regrets the error.
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