The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees voted 9-3 to support the UW Faculty Senate in its three-year endeavor to implement a plus/minus grading system.
The current straight-grade system (i.e. A, B, C, D) will be replaced in fall 2014 with a plus/minus system (i.e. A, A-, B+, B, B-).
Discussion on the change began in 2008 when Faculty Senate researched universities in the region that already had made the switch, including University of Utah, Colorado State and Boise State University.
The Faculty Senate voted in favor of the change in 2010, which sent the issue to the university president.
UW President Tom Buchanan decided not to forward the issue on to the board of trustees and encouraged the faculty senate to find common ground with ASUW.
ASUW thrice voted against the plus/minus grading system, citing that there was no clear benefit for the students. Faculty senate voted 75 percent in favor of bypassing the president and sent the issue to the board of trustees, which decided to support the new policy at the Nov. 16 meeting.
ASUW President Joel Defebaugh said the turning point in the argument was citation of UW Regulation 6-700, which states, “University faculty is responsible for the establishment of educational and academic policies for the university as a whole.”
“When he said that unireg, the steam went out of our engine,” Defebaugh said.
After that regulation was read, there was little argument from the trustees.
“We put up a really good fight. We weighed in. We thought we were going to win,” Defebaugh said. “You can see it as a loss for students because we’ve been pushing so hard against it, but it’s a win in some respects because they weren’t going to make the decision without both sides weighing in. That makes us at the table, at least.”
Faculty Senate President Michael G. Barker said the plus/minus grading system has four benefits. First, it is a more accurate representation of student performance. Second, it lessens the significant difference between whole grades. Third, it keeps students engaged throughout the semester because there is the potential for earning a higher grade throughout the semester. Finally, it rewards more studious students with a higher grade.
“I think a plus/minus grading system is certainly a better system at the university setting,” Barker said. “There is a significant difference between a B+ student and a B- student. That right now is not being represented.”
Implementation is not set yet with the Office of the Registrar, but Barker said the change will take place all at once and that transcripts will denote when the switch was made.
“The registrar has told us that switching to a plus/minus grading system isn’t going to be that arduous of a deal,” Barker said. “They will have to modify the software system.”
However, Defebaugh had some doubts about how smooth the transition will be.
“As we’re looking at an 8 percent budget cut, you’re going to add a lot of man hours and a lot of potentially new staff, at least for a short period, to make this switch happen,” Defebaugh said.
