Proposition: 15-18/19 Title Plus/Minus Grades - NMSU President · the NMSU Las Cruces campus is...

Proposition: 15-18/19

Title: A Proposal to Change the NMSU Grading System by Removing Point Value From

Plus/Minus Grades

Date Submitted: February 25, 2019

Sponsor(s): Rosendorf (A&S), Corran (DACC), Prentice (Education), Lamonica (A&S),

Campbell (NTT), Arroyos (Education), Morrow (Ex-Officio)

Proposed Committee: University Affairs

Assigned Committee:

Prior Approvals:

Proposal: Change the NMSU grading system by eliminating the Fractional Grading Policy that

was implemented in Summer 2013, and amend the NMSU Undergraduate and Graduate catalogs

“University Grading System” section where it currently reads:

Letter Grade Grade points per Unit of Credit

A+ 4.0

A 4.0

A- 3.7

B+ 3.3

B 3.0

B- 2.7

C+ 2.3

C 2.0

C- 2.0

D+, D, D- 1.0

F 0

Replacing it with the following grading scale to be utilized by all instructors, departments, and

colleges:

Letter Grade Grade points per Unit of Credit

A+, A, A- 4.0

March 2019 UAC Materials 92

B+, B, B- 3.0

C+, C, C- 2.0

D+, D, D- 1.0

F 0

Implementation: The proposed changes will go into effect Fall 2019 and be reflected in the

NMSU Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs. It will affect all grades earned in all classes by

students in all catalog years from that point onwards. This will give all units time to prepare for

the changes. This proposal would affect GPA calculation for all grades assigned following its

implementation date; courses taken before its implementation would be unaffected.

Rationale: The grading policy currently in the NMSU Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog has

been subject of much debate and disagreement from the time it was first implemented over five

years ago. This proposal is to remove the arbitrary varying point values for grades assigned the

same letter. This proposal will still allow for the assignment of chromatic variants (+/- grades),

which had been given to students for decades before they were assigned different point values.

We provide the following reasons for this change:

The January 2019 Grading Analysis conducted by the Office of Institutional Analysis (OIA)

shows that more students are being harmed by the current fractional grading policy than are

benefitting from it. The OIA Student Semester GPA Calculation analysis shows that a whole

grading system would have benefitted more students than the current system. For example,

13.2% of Graduate students (over 200 students) would have had a higher GPA if NMSU used a

traditional/whole grading system in Spring 2018.

Departments and individual professors are able to opt out of using the current fractional system,

and many do. This means one professor could use a whole grading system and another could use

a fractional grading system, even if they are both teaching the same course. This could result in

students receiving different values factored into their GPA though they may receive the exact

same scores on assignments or exert the same amount of effort.

The system currently in place has not been proven to “motivate the best students,” as it was

supposed to. It provides no incentive for students to strive for top grades. For A and A+ students,

this system serves only to lower their GPA,

Questions and Concerns:

(1) Will students existing grades be recalculated?


No. This system will be implemented in the Fall 2019. Grades earned before then will remain the

same.

(2) What will be the estimated financial impact of implementing the standard system?

A minimal one-time cost to the University Registrar’s office for the design and order of new

transcript paper.

(3) What peer institutions currently have the NMSU fractional grading system? What institution

uses a whole grade system?

Colorado State University has a very similar policy, but with different exact values assigned to

each grade on their GPA scale. No peer institution has the exact fractional grading system

currently used by NMSU. Conversely, six of our 15 peer institutions (University of Arizona,

Texas Tech University, Oklahoma State University, Kansas State University, University of

Idaho, University of Texas at El Paso) use a traditional/whole grading system.

(4) When did the current policy go into effect at NMSU?

The policy was passed by the NMSU Faculty Senate in Spring 2011 and implemented in Fall

2013.


Grading Analysis

JANUARY 2019

NMSU Institutional Analysis


January 20192

IntroductionThe grading analysis study compares three grading methodologies: -- Whole Grade Method (traditional method)- 4.0 Fractional Grade Method (currently in use)- 4.3 Fractional Grade Method (theoretical method)

Each grading method’s effect on grade point average (GPA) calculation for the NMSU Las Cruces campus is demonstrated, given the grades assigned over a five-year period.

New Mexico State University (NMSU) began using the 4.0 Fractional Grade Method in Summer 2013. Prior to that, the Whole Grade Method for GPA calculation was used.

Notes: - In the Whole Grade Method, +’s and –’s may appear on a transcript but

do not have a positive or negative effect on GPA.- The 4.3 Fractional GPA method is shown for comparison purpose only.


January 20193

Grade points assigned to each grade are presented in the following table.Table 1: Grade Points by Method

LetterGrade

Grade Points per Unit of Credit

Whole Calculation 4.0 Fractional Calculation

4.3 Fractional Calculation

A+ 4.0 4.0 4.3A 4.0 4.0 4.0A- 4.0 3.7 3.7B+ 3.0 3.3 3.3B 3.0 3.0 3.0B- 3.0 2.7 2.7C+ 2.0 2.3 2.3C 2.0 2.0 2.0C- 2.0 2.0 1.7D+ 1.0 1.0 1.3D 1.0 1.0 1.0D- 1.0 1.0 0.7F 0.0 0.0 0.0

*Source: Banner Grade Code Maintenance Table

Irrespective of the methodology used, the GPA calculation is as follows, GPA =(A+Val)(A+Cr) + (AVal)(ACr) + (A-Val)(A-Cr) + (B+Val)(B+Cr) + (BVal)(BCr) + (B-Val)(B-Cr) + (C+Val)(C+Cr) + (CVal)(CCr) + (D+Val)(D+Cr) + (DVal)(DCr) + (D-Val)(D-Cr) + (FVal)(FCr)

A+Cr + ACr + A-Cr + B+Cr + BCr + B-Cr + C+Cr + CCr + C-Cr + D+Cr + DCr + D-Cr + FCr

where xxVal=GPA Point Value and xxCr=Credit Hours. Thus, the calculation depends on both the point value assigned to each grade a student earns and the credit value of the class the student completed.

Grade Point Average (GPA) CalculationMarch 2019 UAC Materials 99

5 Year GPA Comparison


January 20195

Las Cruces Campus – Grading Methodology Comparison

2.959 2.961 2.9662.956 2.952

2.975 2.976 2.981

2.967 2.9652.970 2.972 2.976

2.964 2.960

2.920

2.940

2.960

2.980

3.000

3.020

Fall 2013 Fall 2014 Fall 2015 Fall 2016 Fall 2017

Undergraduate Fall Semester

UG 4.00 Fractional UG 4.33 Fractional UG Whole Grade

3.6793.694

3.7073.721

3.7533.715

3.7383.753

3.763

3.794

3.7013.715

3.7253.744

3.770

3.660

3.690

3.720

3.750

3.780

3.810


Graduate Fall Semester

GR 4.00 Fractional GR 4.33 Fractional GR Whole Grade

2.950 2.954

2.990 2.9953.006

2.9652.969

3.0033.010 3.019

2.9612.965

2.999 3.0053.015

2.920

2.940

2.960

2.980

3.000

3.020

Spring 2014 Spring 2015 Spring 2016 Spring 2017 Spring 2018

Undergraduate Spring Semester

UG 4.00 Fractional UG 4.33 Fractional UG Whole Grade

3.722 3.728 3.7313.741 3.748

3.767 3.774 3.777 3.7843.797

3.741 3.749 3.751 3.760 3.767

3.660

3.690

3.720

3.750

3.780

3.810


Graduate Spring Semester

GR 4.00 Fractional GR 4.33 Fractional GR Whole Grade


January 20196

Whole Grade Calculation



Fall 2013Undergraduate 2.970 2.959 2.975Graduate 3.701 3.679 3.715

Spring 2014

Undergraduate 2.961 2.950 2.965Graduate 3.741 3.722 3.767


Spring 2015



Spring 2016



Spring 2017



Spring 2018


Total / Average


Las Cruces Campus – Grading Methodology Comparison(Table Format)


Supplementary Information

-


MethodologyChange

Effect on Individual Students


January 20199

7.6% 8.0% 6.3% 6.3% 7.0%11.7% 11.5% 9.5% 9.0% 9.2%

80.7% 80.5% 84.2% 84.7% 83.8%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%


Undergraduate (Fall)

Harmed Helped No Effect

7.5% 6.7% 6.6% 6.7% 6.5%10.5% 10.4% 9.6% 9.0% 8.6%

82.0% 82.9% 83.8% 84.3% 84.8%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%


Undergraduate (Spring)


4.3% 5.1% 5.2% 4.3% 4.1%11.1% 11.4% 10.7% 12.4% 9.9%

84.5% 83.6% 84.1% 83.3% 86.0%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%


Graduate (Fall)


5.0% 5.1% 5.7% 6.1% 5.0%11.0% 12.9% 11.5% 12.0% 13.2%

84.0% 82.0% 82.9% 81.9% 81.8%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%


Graduate (Spring)


Student Semester GPA Calculation (If Whole Grade Method had been used instead of Fractional Method)


Proposition: 15-18/19 Title Plus/Minus Grades - NMSU President · the NMSU Las Cruces campus is...

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