Ever feel like you got an A without trying in a class at DePaul? Did you ever give the professor who gave out good grades a more positive evaluation? Apparently you are not alone. The Faculty Council passed a motion to investigate grade inflation and whether some professors may be giving out higher grades in order to receive more positive student evaluations come review time.
The Faculty Council heard a presentation about these issues at its retreat Jan. 25, bringing numerous concerns with DePaul’s current grading system to light. The realization came about as the result of studying the connections between DePaul students’ evaluations of faculty and grade inflation.
According to the Faculty Council’s agenda, “a 23 point gap exists between national educators’ opinions that students are prepared for work and employers’ views on that topic.” About 72 percent of educators believe students to be well prepared, but only 49 percent of employers share this belief.
Kit Main, a junior studying international relations, thinks that it is very hard to get an A at DePaul, “although it depends on the class.”
“Its really all what you make of it, and DePaul provides great tools to help students,” said Main. He does not believe that student evaluations incentivize grade inflation.
Crystal Rivera, a freshman in health sciences, disagrees. “I believe that evaluations influence grades. It’s easy to get good grades sometimes, but there are professors who don’t give out As.” Rivera completed the evaluations in the fall, but did not fill them out last quarter.
National grading curves have demonstrated that there has been a “steady increase in the number of As and Bs awarded to students since 1960,” according to Teacher College Records, even though students are reportedly studying less and partaking in more extracurricular activities.
The Faculty Council believes this discrepancy has occurred largely as a result of faculty evaluations by students.
The Faculty Council has concluded “some employers of DePaul graduates find those graduates unprepared for work, despite the increasing number of high grades that DePaul students earn in their coursework.” All of this was brought up at the Faculty Council’s January retreat, spurring those present into action.
“After the retreat, my co-sponsors and I brought the motion because we thought it was important that the issues be investigated further,” said DePaul Professor Roshanna Sylvester.
The Faculty Council stated in its agenda that it wants to “examine best practices on ways to combat grade inflation that provides concrete recommendations for uncoupling student grades and student self-reports of teaching excellence from the tenure and promotion process.”
“The motion is only to study the issue and report back to faculty council. We will have to see,” said Economics Professor John Berdell, who was on the discussion panel.
For health sciences student Lizzie Ernest, a sophomore, core classes have been the most difficult at DePaul.
“I feel I don’t have to try (in class) to get a B. For an A, though, I have to apply myself more,” said Ernest.
When asked if the evaluations provide incentives for higher grades, Ernest, who fills out evaluations religiously, didn’t think so. “I certainly hope not.”
