Grading scale worries

Logan Ford, Staff writer

Ever since I can remember what a grade was, my teachers have taught that 93 percent and up is an “A.”

Imagine my surprise when some of my college professors explained on the very first day of freshman year that an “A” in their class was 90 percent and above.

At first I was irritated. After all, an A in one of my classes was considered a B+ in others!

I wasn’t alone, either. Students were raising their frustrations to the Provost, Dr. David Dausey, at both of MSG’s townhall forums, and the Honors Program’s Provost Teas last year.

The topic has continued into this academic year, with MSG even sponsoring it in a recent survey.

Personally, I do not care what the scale ends up being.

I think that the work you put in will warrant the end percentage in the class, and by extent the letter grade.

For example, if a student earns 92 percent (a B+) in a class, if the class was a 90-100 percent grading scale, the student may end up with an 89% instead, which is still a B+.

However, for simplicity’s sake, I would like to see a uniform grading scale adopted across every department.

It is exceptionally annoying that for a single semester you could have six different grading scales for every class and the weight of these scales can be vastly different.

For every one of the almighty syllabus’ dates and information, it would be ideal not to have to flip through each one’s pages to find the grading scale for each class.

Despite what the majority of the students would like to see in terms of a grading scale, we do not actually have a say directly.

The Faculty Senate is one of the governing bodies here at Mercyhurst, and creating a uniform system is under that group’s jurisdiction and would have to be that group’s initiative.

That isn’t to say that we as students couldn’t share our opinions with our instructors, but beyond that there is little we can directly do.

Be persistent.

Ask facilitators about the issue.

Get their opinions.

This is something that many students want to be changed, and it is something that students do not regulate.

If only one professor is asked once about the current scales, nothing will get done.

If this is something you are particularly passionate about, then ask each semester about updates, and ask each semester for your professors to raise the topic in Faculty Senate.
Change is possible but patience and persistence are keys.