We Put the Suck in Success

Here at the University of South Florida, some faculty members in the English department have noticed an upward trend of Freshman Composition student's final course grades. Reported at over 50%, this figure is evidently too high for an academic environment boasts just a 47% graduation rate. It has even been said that in some classes every single student received an 'A' (gasp!). However some schools like Princeton are taking steps to ensure that grade inflation is a thing of the past. Should the school administration hold the classes to a certain percentage of A’s regardless of the instructors’ personal evaluation of students’ work?

That is an interesting question. For instance, take this class where all the students received the highest possible grades. In some fields that would be considered an 'outlier', or an abnormality. Obviously, some teacher from New College transferred to USF and was intimidated by the rigid grade scale. That person then decided to forgo the standards and give those lucky students the same grades. Just imagine the delight of the Timmy the Timeless Guy who never came to class. Waking up past noon one day, just before he lights a bowl his eyes glaze over to his transcripts lying under his stash. He decides to finally brave his fears and take a gander. To his surprise, nestled between an 'Incomplete' and a 'D' is his ENC 1101 grade. Besides his bowl, there is now even more to be happy about. But what has Timmy learned? Putting his joy aside, one could say that nothing has been learned.

In college, no one should be given anything for free. Unless it is beer, food, books, clothes, goldfish... but I digress. At Princeton, they are obviously noticing an upward splurge in achievers. Achieving is not something everyone is supposed to do (according to Princeton only 35% should get the 'A'). Steps to curb that are being made and it looks like professors are going to have to stop the Love Train. I for one am glad.

There is a reason why I feel this way. Confession: I am the one who wrote a passionate yet tactful email to one of my professors at the end of last spring term. She had given the entire class license to cheat on the last exam by giving out the answer key. Having taught a fine class all semester, it was very much out of character. She must have had a lot of low grades or a few teary-eyed-mascara-smeared young ladies bawling their hearts out in her office with the best excuse they had on display. I was angry since it was a class designed with my major in mind. Most of the students in the class were technically competing with me, and for the slackers who didn’t bust it all term to get a final grade equal to mine in grade only… I couldn’t let that go by. I was also mad that I had ruined a perfectly fine weekend holed up in the library studying for a final when I could have been anywhere else.

That is the adult learner (Cough! Dickhead! Cough!) in me I suppose. It really didn't matter. The professor never even considered responding to my email. Why should she? She did a nice thing and I am the just the asshole who didn't want the other people to have a good grade. Besides, she couldn't change anything anyway. Maybe my letter did have some effect. Maybe this term she won't do that again. This grade deflation policy that Princeton is trying isn’t such a bad thing. If they can get some of old ‘softies’ to change their ways, then there wouldn't be guys (DICK!) like me writing long, unread emails at the end of the term.