Can Untenured Faculty Members Stop Grade Inflation?
By Barbara Wendell I had to laugh last month when administrators at Harvard University said that the emergence of an “A” or “A-” grading system reflects the increasing excellence of their students. Talk about spin. I taught at Harvard as a teaching fellow and lecturer in the humanities for seven years, and the only time I felt safe giving a grade lower than an “A-” was when students didn’t show up or turn in major assignments. Yes, the gentleperson’s “A-” arrived a long time ago. And, of course, everyone is “shocked.” Of course, for PR purposes, the big administrators will hold a few well-publicized meetings. But the people who can most easily explain grade inflation — the underpaid and overworked teaching fellows and postdoc lecturers who do almost all of the grading — will not be invited. Or, if any are invited, they will act “professionally” and say there is no problem (just more excellence) rather than risk speaking the “unprofessional” truth. Here is what I would tell them if I
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- WHAT CAN FACULTY MEMBERS DO ABOUT GRADE INFLATION?
