Provost Risa Palm agreed grade inflation is the never-ending issue.
Universities everywhere are discussing grade inflation, the idea that professors award more A’s than in the past, causing A’s to lose prestige as a recognition of excellence.
The conversation continues semester after semester, not only because it affects students’ grades, but because not everyone agrees that grade inflation is a critical issue.
The University Office of Budget and Planning issues grade distribution reports at the end of each semester, breaking down everything from the average GPA’s of each college to the grades issued in different sections of a course.
Some colleges put them in a binder for reference while others have meetings to analyze trends. But no one seems to agree on whether grade inflation is a problem at LSU or who should be the judge.
The Stanford A
In theory, as the University’s admissions go up, people would expect the grades in the courses to up because LSU is getting a higher quality of student, said Robert Kuhn, associate vice chancellor for budget and planning.
Palm said she believes admission standards are directly related to the increasing average GPA of LSU students.
“It’s no surprise that Stanford students have higher GPA’s than the local community college, and they should,” she said.
The average GPA at Stanford is a 3.5, but people do not typically treat students there as if their A’s are not worth as much as past Stanford students, Palm said.
LSU has better quality students now than it did even five years ago, and maybe the staff has not adjusted to drawing distinctions, said Bill Demastes, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
“Anybody who tries is going to get at least a C,” Demastes said. “And then what’s the value in 15 out of 30 students getting an A?”
Angela Olivier, a biological sciences sophomore, said she debated between attending LSU or University of Louisiana at Lafayette but chose LSU because it has more prestige, something she does not think will change even if more students are making As than in the past.
“When you say you’re going to LSU, people already look at you as going to a better school,” she said.
A high GPA at LSU means more than a high GPA at another Louisiana state school because of LSU’s reputation, but “if we don’t keep a step ahead, those observations may not hold true,” she said.
But according to Palm, as productivity and admissions standards at the University increase, it will be up to the faculty to raise the value of the LSU degree.
“What really will raise the value of the LSU degree is our ability to achieve the Flagship Agenda,” she said. “That’s what’s going to get us where we need to go.”
The University’s Flagship Agenda outlines initiatives and steps LSU needs to take to be recognized nationally as a flagship university.
Whose problem is it?
One of the problems with trying to address grade inflation at a university level is that it punishes the student, Demastes said.
“If we applied stricter standards to all our LSU students then someone who has a 3.8 has a 3.4,” he said. “What happens to that student when he applies to law school?”
But Irshad Syed, an electrical engineering sophomore, said he believes it is easy to make As at LSU, especially if the professors are good, meaning they give easy homework and tests.
“Unless we change instructors, we can’t change the procedure,” he said. “We need high educated professors to expect more from the students.”
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Palm worked as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences before coming to LSU, a faculty committee dealt with issues about grade inflation.
Administrators at LSU do look at grade distribution because they are concerned about the grade inflation issue, but it is not an issue they can actively fix, Demastes said. They can call attention to it, but only faculty can change it.
Demastes said he was happy to say problems with grade distribution do not happen often. Maybe five or six English 1001 classes out of 100 stand out on a given semester, he said.
“When we hire a faculty member, we hire them with all the rights and privileges to govern their class,” Demastes said.
Telling professors how to distribute grades violates their rights to intellectual freedom; therefore policies about grade inflation have to come from the faculty, he said.
Change has to start within each college, where administrators and faculty must decide to what extent grade inflation is a problem, said Barbara Furhmann, dean of the College of Education.
“Maybe there’s no problem at all,” she said. “Maybe that’s fine.”
In December 2002, the Faculty Senate adopted a resolution on grades and standards, which said by spring 2004 “the faculty of every department should review the issues and problems in a formal meeting, move toward a consensus and adopt new policies and guidelines if they see fit.”
Andrew Christie, an accounting professor and a member of the Admissions, Standards and Honors Committee reviewing the resolution, said he couldn’t talk specifically about the issue until the committee presents a report next semester.
Math professor Carruth McGehee, the author of the resolution, declined an interview. On his Web site, McGehee says grades are not everything, but they have a job they ought to do.
“I myself did not make all A’s in college. I thought that those who did were showing a lack of discrimination,” he says on the site. “I’m happy for a B to be considered a good grade. I’m content that C students often attain riches and fame. D students may become university benefactors and trustees, and that’s OK too.”
McGehee says on the site he would like to see the University create a process of regular systematic questioning about grading standards.
“Grading practices and the policies that have a bearing thereupon are the collective responsibility of the faculty in each academic unit, and of the University as a whole,” he says. “If we get a grip on this responsibility, it will bring credit upon LSU and benefit all those we serve.”
But ultimately, Fuhrmann said the answer will come from the public and private hiring sector who will decide if students’ competence level matches the grades they received in school.