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Tuesday, June 22, 2004

TO: Alliance for A’s

FROM: Janice Sidley

SUBJECT: ALOFT Award?

One of our own has approached me with an intriguing idea, and I’d like to share it with you, the Alliance for A’s membership [for background on Alliance for A’s, see UD,11/30/03, and other posts].

As you may know, one of my most challenging jobs as head of the Alliance involves morale. As more and more American universities crack down on grade inflation, our group’s goal of national across the board A’s for all seems to recede, rather like Matthew Arnold’s “Sea of Faith” -- a sea which was once

…at the full, and round the earth's shore
Lay like folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.


Our group exists to keep increasingly endangered A’s from being swept away like pebbles in the deflationary tide. We need to stay the course, and in order to stay the course, we need to keep our heads high.

One member, therefore, proposes an annual Alliance for A’s monetary award, bestowed upon that faculty member or department which has done the most to keep A’s afloat in our universities. The award would be known as the ALOFT (A-LOving FaculTy) Award, and would be sufficiently well endowed to draw, we hope, national attention to the awards ceremony.




Assuming we could raise, say, a couple of thousand dollars for this purpose each year, I’d like to go a step further and point to a possible first recipient: the Syracuse University English department.

Now admittedly my information on this is somewhat old (2002), but I doubt much has changed in that time. Please take a look at the following article, which appeared in a Syracuse University newspaper:



Report finds ETS department gives highest grades on campus

Published: Thursday, October 10, 2002

In 1989, many professors believed Syracuse University’s English department curriculum was indistinguishable from other universities. Now, it may have distinguished itself in an unlikely way — through grade inflation.

The College of Arts and Sciences issued a report in February on grading practices from Fall 1995 through Fall 1999. The report, which The Daily Orange received from an English and textual studies professor, showed that students in ETS courses achieved an average grade of 3.42 (B+). Of nearly 4,000 ETS grades, almost 3,000 were at least that B+. Thirty-nine were F’s.

The ETS department will look into the factors causing the disproportionate grades, but ETS department Chairman Bob Gates said the report is “not real high on (his) agenda,” because he doesn’t see the high grades as a problem.

"For me, my goal is for every student to get an A," Gates said. "I want every student to master it. It's grade inflation only if students don't earn it."

Assistant Dean Martha Sutter, of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, said grading is a difficult process. Though VPA has never conducted a systematic study on grading, there has been no evidence of it. In fact, grades tend to go in the opposite direction, Sutter said.

"I wish I didn't have to give a letter grade to someone's voice or performance," Sutter said.

Grading within other departments in Arts and Sciences lean neither toward A’s or F’s. Many, including the economics program, show a more equal distribution, with an average grade of 2.57 (C+). Of more than 6,000 grades, about 2,000 were at least a B+. More than 300 failed.

The only other programs in Arts and Sciences with higher grades than ETS were Chinese and Hindi. The top six programs were humanities.

One of the reasons ETS grades are so high is that class sizes are usually 25 students or fewer, and professors work closely with students to help them master the material, Gates said.

With such small classes, professors have no need to filter students through grading, as math and science professors must, said Charles Watson, an ETS professor and undergraduate coordinator. Lower-level science courses often have large class sizes that must be whittled down by grading for advanced study. Humanities don’t have that need.

But Raymond von Dran, dean of the School of Information Studies, said the difference is more between professional and non-professional training. A history major doesn't normally walk out and become a professional historian, von Dran said. If a bridge falls, however, the education of the engineer who designed it will come into question.

"We're a professional school,” von Dran said. “Our students have to meet a certain professional standard."




Professor Gates and the English department are obvious first recipients of our proposed ALOFT Award. Gates's response to endemic A’s in his department is firm, confident, take-no-prisoners. There’s not a shred of embarrassment or concession here. His position - which should be a template for all of us - is:

One: The more A’s the better - they mean everyone’s learning everything.

Two: The smaller the class, the smarter the student.

Three: The closer the professor gets to his or her student, the more automatic the student's A.

Four: If it’s not about keeping bridges upright, it should be an A.




As always, I welcome your feedback.