The
Regular session – November 13, 2006 – 3:30 p.m. – Jacobson Faculty Hall 102
office: Jacobson Faculty Hall 206
phone: 325-6789
e-mail: facsen@ou.edu web site:
http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/
The Faculty Senate was called
to order by Professor Roger Frech, Chair.
PRESENT: Albert,
Badhwar, Basic, D. Bemben, M. Bemben, Benson, Blank, Bradford, Brown, Brule, Civan,
Cramer, Croft, Draheim, Elisens, Fincke, Forman, Franklin, Frech, Gade, Ge, Gutierrez,
Hamerla, Houser, James, Knapp, Kutner, Lai, Lester, Magnusson, Marcus-Mendoza, Miranda,
Raadschelders, Rambo, Scamehorn, Schwarzkopf, Strawn, Tan, Thulasiraman, Trytten,
Vitt, Warnken, Weaver, Wei, Wyckoff
Provost's office representative: Jorgenson
ISA representatives: Cook
ABSENT: Biggerstaff,
Greene, Keppel, Kolar, Livesey, Riggs, Roche, Skeeters
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Announcement: faculty enrichment
grant resolution of appreciation
Grading Scale
Senate Chair's Report:
Library serials review
Health benefits: consultant, study panel, online
enrollment
Classroom/facility problems
________________________________________________________________________________
The Faculty Senate Journal
for the regular session of October 9, 2006 was approved.
President Boren “received
with appreciation” the resolution of appreciation for the faculty enrichment
grant approved by the Faculty Senate on October 10.
Prof. Frech explained that he
had invited Prof. Joe Rodgers (Psychology), chair of the task force that is
looking into the possibility of changing the grading scale, to give an overview
of the systems used by other universities and to talk about advantages and disadvantages. Other members of the task force include
Cheryl Jorgenson, Director of Institutional Research; Patricia Lynch, Director
of Admissions; Richard Skeel, Director of Academic Records; faculty members
Louis Ederington (Finance) and Mike McInerney (Botany & Microbiology); and
students Kyle Abbott (Graduate Student Senate) and Matthew Burris, Chair of the
UOSA Academic Affairs Committee. In view
of the importance of a possible change in the grading scale, the Executive
Committee thought it would be useful for the Senate to hear a presentation from
Prof. Rodgers and then make comments sufficiently early in the deliberations. The recommendation of the task force will
come to the Senate for approval and then to the general faculty.
Prof. Rodgers said the task
force was in data collection mode right now.
Early on in the process, the members planned to survey relevant
constituencies before deciding what they believed about the grading system. Six student leaders, four undergraduates and
two graduate students, met with the task force on November 7. Informal exchanges through email are going on
all over campus. This is a domain in
which there is a lot of passion and interest.
The task force is trying to maintain neutrality and to be open to all
ideas.
This initiative sprang from
the Faculty Senate and Provost’s office as a joint effort. With the revamping of the student record system,
it is a good time to consider changes in the grading system. In the 1980s, the Faculty Senate approved an
expanded scale, but it was not implemented because of the cost. Mr. Skeel expects the new system to be more
flexible in its ability to handle the grading system. He has said several times that the system
should not drive the policy. A new
member, Prof. Karl Sievers (Music), was recently added to the task force to provide
representation from humanities and fine arts.
Now the task force has nine members: four faculty, three administrators and two
students. Its first meeting was
September 26; November 14 will be its seventh meeting. Faculty members are evaluating the system
through their chairs and directors. The
task force provided the units with an information sheet and a survey (http://www.ou.edu/admin/facsen/GradingScaleTfInfoSheet.htm).
Articles and an editorial have appeared
in the student paper. UOSA passed a
resolution recently stating an opinion on behalf of the student body. Using Google, Prof. Rodgers searched for “plus/minus”
to find web sites developed by other universities. Many universities recently have or are
currently evaluating whether to implement a plus/minus grading system. A few have had an expanded system and have gone
back to a regular system. The task force
is not going to find the “right” way. It
has not had to do much surveying of other universities because of the
information available online. In
particular, the
Prof. Rodgers summarized the
grading procedures at the Big 12 universities (http://www.ou.edu/provost/pronew/content/grading-scale-taskforce/BIG12-grading-scales.pdf). Eight have some form of plus/minus grading,
with five being a pure form; that is, that is all the system they have. Seven have some form of regular grading, with
four (
Some universities have
evaluated what happens to student grades and faculty behavior when a university
adds a plus/minus grading system. Simulations
say about the same thing as the empirical data.
Prof. Rodgers ended by
saying, if we do make changes, they could be minor and trivial or major and
fundamental, and there are many options.
For instance, should we have an A+?
Almost all universities recommend against it. An A+ could exist on the transcript but not in
the computation. Another choice is how
the pluses and minuses are mapped into the points on the grading scale. Some students complain that the faculty
tightens its standards with the implementation of the plus/minus system and
that scholarships could be lost. At one
university, it was estimated that about one-half of one percent of the students
would not have graduated under the new system.
The value of pluses and minuses can vary. Some universities end the plus/minus at
C. Other universities use tenths of
points (quantitative) rather than letter grades. It would make it somewhat difficult to
challenge the state regents’ standards if we went with an A+ since they cap
GPAs at 4.0. The regular system has
strong student support.
Prof. M. Bemben asked if the
task force had given any thought to reporting what the percent was and letting
people decide the letter grade. Prof.
Rodgers said that was not done much in the
Prof. Marcus-Mendoza said
about three-fourths of the faculty in her unit were in favor of the plus/minus system. They were greatly in favor of an A+ but did
not know how an A+ would work in the system.
Prof. Rodgers said about 20 departments had met and sent information to
the task force. Most favor changing, but
at least four or five do not want to change.
Prof. Magnusson noted that an
A+ could count for more on the individual grade, but the cumulative GPA could
be capped at 4.0. She said she thought there
was a pedagogical difference between the grade scales. Students have a good idea what their grade is
about three-fourths of the way through the semester, and then they coast. A plus/minus system could give them an
incentive to keep working hard. Prof.
Rodgers said some schools do count an A+ but cap it at 4.0. The students at the forum said the most
important issue was which system led to better student learning. Prof. Houser asked if the departments that
responded had a preference concerning an A+.
Prof. Rodgers said that was not one of the discussion points on the
survey. A couple had mentioned the
possibility of using an A+ without numerical implications. Both students and faculty seem to like the
idea, though.
Prof. Hamerla said his
department was overwhelmingly in favor of the plus/minus system if for no other
reason than grade inflation. Faculty
members are not able to express the difference between a 99 and a 90 under a
regular grading system. Prof. Rodgers replied
that many faculty members like the plus/minus system because it includes the
regular system with the special case within it, and that provides
flexibility. They can choose to use the
regular system and state that on their syllabus. Those who think their grading is precise
enough to justify pluses and minuses have that as a method. Prof. Rambo remarked that if the professor
gave regular grades, it would disadvantage some students because it would look
as though a student with an 89 had actually made an average B. Prof. Rodgers responded that the current
grading system has that same problem because many professors do not use Ds and
Fs and others do. Faculty variability in
how to use the scales cannot be managed.
Prof. Vitt asked about the
rationale for not using pluses and minuses in Ds and Fs. Prof. Rodgers said the rationale given by other
schools is they are not sure that the faculty effort is justified in
distinguishing between a D+, D and D-. Also,
the students who are making a D may not be motivated to try to get a D+. The grading scale was designed to be used
across the whole breadth, but many professors do not use Fs and Ds in the same
way that they use As and Bs.
Prof. Schwarzkopf asked about
the consequences on historical grades of going to a plus/minus system. Prof. Rodgers said most universities make the
change all at once, without implications for past grades. It creates two to three years that are
difficult for universities and students to handle and manage. Transitional issues have been included in the
charge to the task force. Prof. Schwarzkopf
asked how many categories people could reasonable evaluate. Prof. Rodgers said the standard error of
measurement was about two points within a 100 point grading system. Most faculty members believe they can
distinguish between 81 and 89, and yet both grades equal a B.
Prof. Raadschelders commented
that with absolute grading scales, professors grade each individual student
rather than compare one student to another.
He asked to what degree grading scales were relevant, that is, grades were
adjusted to the highest performer. Prof.
Rodgers explained that what he was referring to was the difference between
criterion and norm referenced evaluation.
Criterion referenced evaluation means that everyone who jumps over a
certain set of hurdles will get an A or B, and it is often used only in
graduate classes. In other settings,
especially large undergraduate classes, the evaluation is closer to norm
referenced, where norms are defined across many semesters. Faculty members in the
Prof. Trytten said a big
disadvantage to the plus/minus system was the “whine” factor in borderline
cases. Anyone who is within a point will
be in her office whining. Prof. Blank asked
whether there were any data on that subject.
Prof. Rodgers said the data do support the “whine” factor, based on the
number of grade challenges and faculty reports of students coming to their
offices. Prof. Benson mentioned that the
Faculty Senate had recommended a change to a plus/minus system in the past, so
the faculty has thought it needed to be fixed.
He said he would prefer that the task force compare us with our actual
peers, not an athletic conference. Prof.
Rodgers said he agreed. The task force
has surveys from other major public and private universities. Prof. Fincke suggested that one other group
that should be surveyed was parents. It
would be useful to parents to know if their child’s B was a B+, B or B-.
Prof. Blank said he thought
the Faculty Senate had recommended a trial implementation of the plus/minus
system at the graduate level. He asked
whether the task force was considering a split grading system. Prof. Rodgers said the task force had paid
attention to the schools that had thoughtfully split their system. Ms. Fallgatter, Senate coordinator, reported
that the Faculty Senate had recommended an expanded scale in the late 1980s and
later the
Prof. Bemben asked about the
points assigned in a plus/minus system. Prof.
Rodgers said the approaches vary. What
happens within the classroom is up to the faculty. The way the faculty delivers grades and the
university translates those is defined at the university level. The modal approach is for an A- to be a 3.7 or
3.67 and for a B+ to be a 3.3 or 3.33.
One creates a bigger gap between pluses and minuses; the other keeps all
intervals equal. There was a brief
discussion of the impact of a plus/minus system and an A+. Prof. Gutierrez said he liked the idea of fine
tuning grades, particularly in large classes.
An A+ distinguishes certain students. Prof. Rodgers said he was taking notes and would
give the task force a summary of the discussion. Prof. Forman said he thought the legislature would
look fondly on efforts to make more distinctions. The law school already grades on a 12-point
scale, with an A+ equal to 12.
“Library Serials Review. This Thursday, the Provost, Dean Sul Lee,
Steve Bradford, Cecy Brown and I will meet to set up the task force that will
carry out an extensive and far-reaching study of the library system for the
next decade. This study will stress that
faculty must be involved at all stages of this process.
“Health benefits. Several discussions have taken place between
the Senate Executive Committee and the administration about concerns that were
brought to our attention at the end of September. Julius Hilburn (Director of Human Resources)
and Nick Kelly (Assistant Director of Human Resources) have also been involved
in discussions with members of the Executive Committee. It was the Committee’s strong, unanimous
recommendation that the University’s relationship with our current health care
consultant firm be terminated. This has
now been done, and an RFP to hire new consultants has been issued by Human
Resources.
“We have met with the
President to discuss the scope and charge of the “Blue Ribbon” health care
study panel. The panel will have a
number of tasks:
a.
Gather and analyze information on which we can base our health care planning
and decisions. The object is to identify
critical health benefit issues (both local and national) and gather the
information necessary to address those issues.
b.
Develop strategies for obtaining the best health care benefit options for
faculty and staff.
c.
Develop and implement local wellness programs, including education of faculty
and staff. The object is to become
better-educated health care consumers.
The study panel will consist
of several component groups, with its efforts coordinated by a Steering
Committee. The selection of the Steering
Committee is now under way. The work of
the study panel will be integrated with Human Resources.
“Feedback for comments about
the on-line health benefits enrollment should be sent to Nick Kelly, nickkelly@ou.edu.
Please be as specific as possible,
particularly about glitches, problems and frustrations.
“Classroom/facility problems
should be referred to the Classroom Renovation Committee. Judy Stockdale (classroom scheduling manager)
is on the committee and said that issues could be sent to her and she would put
them on the agenda for the committee. The
website for the committee can be found on the Provost’s website (http://www.ou.edu/provost/pronew/content/paccr.html).”
The meeting adjourned at 4:55
p.m. The next regular session of the
Faculty Senate will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, December 11, 2006, in
Jacobson Faculty Hall 102.
____________________________________
Sonya Fallgatter, Administrative Coordinator
____________________________________
Cecelia Brown, Secretary