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Features
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Wednesday, January 22, 2014 • page 18
INFLATION
' from page-3
Why so many A’s?
Liston is not alone. Junior Delaney
McHugo also sees a problem with grades at
Elon.
“I think that a lot of the caliber of work
that students do here is not necessarily
matching up to the standards of grades,” she
said. “Yet professors feel obligated to give
students those grades for various reasons.”
The university has made efforts to combat
grade inflation. Qpe of Jthe.jschool’s mottos is
“Engaged Learning,” which airns to expand
a student’s knowledge outside the classroom.
Students are studying abroad, listening to
guest speakers and engaging in extracurricu
lar activities. Even with these initiatives, stu
dents like Liston don’t think that makes up
for the lack of academic rigor.
“I think Elon has made significant strides,
and I don’t want to discredit them, but my
high school was harder than what I’m doing
now,” Liston said.
Dr. Steven House, Provost and Vice
President for Academic Affairs, recognizes
the abnormally high amount of A’s and is
concerned.
“[The high number of A’s] does a disser
vice to the ones that really, truly do have a
distinguished performance,” he said. “They
are trying to set themselves apart to be the
ones to go to graduate school.”
One of the i^'ossible reasons for grade
inflation is that professors purposely inflate
grades to boost their performance on student
evaluations, and Dr. House recognizes this as
a possibility.
“I do believe that there is a perception
with faculty that if I grade easier I wUl get
a better student evaluation,” he said. “But I
know that that is not always the case because
some of our toughest graders are our most
^highest-rated faculty.” .
Yet, the university’s toughest graders are
definitely in the minority, especially with
more than 70 percent of the grades falling
between the A and B range.
Business professor Scott Buechler be
lieves one reason for grade inflation is actu
ally smarter students.
“Academic rigor I think has gone up, but
I also think that the quality of students has
outpaced the increase in academic rigor,” he
said.
There is no doubt that Elon’s academic
reputation has increased. In 2005, the av
erage GPA for an incoming freshman was
3.72. Today, the average GPA for an incom
ing freshman is a 3.9. Perhaps the curriculum
has not adjusted enough to the improved
quality of students.
Nonetheless, McHugo said she believes
the university will be hesitant to adjust the
2B%
41%
42%^
Fall
1 ' >
U Ih'' 1
B'5
C’5
D’s
Ps
33%
22%
7%
4%
34%
21%
6%
4%
35%
19%
5%
3%
35%
19%
5%
3%
34%
18%
6%
3%
35%
17%
4%
2%
35%
16%
4%
2%:
35%
16%
4%
2%
35%
13%
3%
2%
35%
14%
3%
2%
36%
13%
3%-
2%
^%
13%
3%^
1%
36%
12%
2%^
2%
35%
12%
2%-
1%
36%
11%
2%^
2%
^%
11%
2%
1%
m%
10%
2%
1%
35%
2%:
1%
34%
10%
2%
1%
34%
9%
2%
1%
Elon’s grade distribution from 1992-2012.
curriculum.
“It’s something we are kind of sweep
ing under the rug to kind of keep our over
all image of having this intellectual climate,
because people are getting good grades, and
people are doing well in their classes, and
that looks great,” she said.
COURTESY OF THE 2012-2013 ELON UNIVERSiTt
d
How can we fix it?
Grade inflation isn’t a problem
il
Elon. It’s an issue on a national seal
cent Teachers College Record stud
that across a range of 200 universitii
than 40 percent of aU grades award
in the A range. For Elon to address ij
inflation issue, it would require [
tion from the administration, teaclj^
students. The administration would^
enforce stricter grading standards,
would need to ensure the grade fits t
dard, and students would need to
than the bare minimum. ^
“I just think that we do whateve
to pass by, and we’re paying thou^^
dollars to go to this institution so it
lenge us academically first and fc
McHugo said.
The administration isn’t opp
changing the system, but studentsj^
come forward if there is a problem.
The average GPA of Elon students from 2003-2012.
“I wish students would, in theii,ij
perceptions of teaching, indicate
are unhappy,” Dr. House said. “Say^ j
A in this class, but I was disappoint^j^
way things were graded.’Those are i p
of things that will get things changf