The Key as we know it is no longer available from the University. To view current and past versions of the key visit http://www.ugakey.com.
March 30, 2006
March 29, 2006
It’s the End of the Key as we Know it
In an email received today:
Good afternoon.
"The Key" is maintained by the Office of Institutional Research.
http://www.uga.edu/irp/the_key/
The format of this site has recently been revised. The following note will be placed on that site to explain this change:
"Please note that information on this site has been reformatted so that grade distribution is now provided by course rather than by instructor. This change follows extensive discussions that have taken place over the past year on ways to promote a climate of academic excellence at the University of Georgia. The revised format is intended to encourage students to choose courses that will best fit their educational goals. While information is still provided
about the relative difficulty of particular courses, the revised format is intended to discourage students from choosing a particular course instructor based on grade distribution in his/her classes. Students are additionally urged to review course descriptions and syllabi in the UGA Bulletin
http://bulletin.uga.edu/bulletin/courses/index.html
Please contact me if you have questions. Thanks, Bob Boehmer
END EMAIL
This was confirmed in a phone conversation with Bob Boehmer, Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness. In short, grades on The Key will soon solely be listed by Course, not by Instructor. Mr. Boehmer assumed ultimate responsibility for the decision.
Also concerning the email, the last section mentioned "[reviewing] course descriptions and syllabi in the UGA Bulletin." I personally would love to see all my course syllabi online, but the majority of my classes did not have online syllabi last semester.
More coming soon.
March 28, 2006
Plus/Minus and the Honors Program
Confirmed:
The GPA requirement for the Honors Program and for Honors Scholarships (Bernard Ramsey, Foundation Fellowship, etc.) will be computed under the Plus/Minus system.
Source: Dr. David Williams, Honors Program Director, by way of Kathryn Bowers, SGA Academic Affairs Committee Chair
Agriculture commissioner candidate forum to be conducted at University of Georgia
For Immediate Release
Contact: Betsy MacMillan
betsymac@uga.edu
The candidates for the Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture will meet on stage for an open forum on Wednesday, March 29, at the University of Georgia Chapel on North Campus. Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin, the only Democratic candidate, was invited but unable to join the group.
A meet-and-greet reception will start at 6:15 p.m. At 7 p.m. the forum will begin allowing each candidate to give a prepared statement and answer questions. All four Republican candidates, Gary Black of Commerce, Bob Greer of Cumming, Sen. Brian Kemp of Athens and Deanna Strickland of Brooklet, have agreed to participate.
Black recently served as president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council, Inc., an agribusiness trade organization with more than 650 Georgia member businesses. In 2003, he was appointed to the Governor’s Rural Development Council, where he serves as chairman of the Economic Development Committee.
Greer is a Vietnam Veteran and Master Mason. He is a charter member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity at his alma matter, the University of West Georgia. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Pest Control Operators of Georgia.
Kemp represents the 46th district in the Georgia Senate. He currently serves as chair of the public safety and homeland security committee, as well as the vice-chair of the higher education committee, secretary of the agriculture and consumer affairs committee and member of the appropriations committee.
Strickland is the owner of D.L. Strickland, Inc., and grows her own tobacco crop. She is a member of the Georgia Tobacco Growers Association, served on the Georgia Tobacco Advisory Board, was a delegate to an agricultural trade mission to Cuba and was employed by the U.S. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service.
The University of Georgia chapter of Sigma Alpha professional agricultural sorority and UGA Student Government Association are sponsoring the forum.
March 24, 2006
Confirmed Plus/Minus System
http://www.uga.edu/news/artman/publish/060324_Plus_MinusGradingSystem.shtml
http://www.bulletin.uga.edu/PlusMinusGradingFAQ.html
In short, the Plus/Minus system will be implemented in Maymester for a three year trial.
The breakdown will be A (4.0), A- (3.7), B+ (3.3), B (3.0), B- (2.7), C+ (2.3), C (2.0), C- (1.7), D (1.0) and F (0.0).
Where did D+ go? One of the central arguments for not having an A+ is to balance the number of plus and minus grades. In the proposed system, this balance does not exist.
The numerical breakdown (What does an A equal, what does an A- equal…) will be at the discretion of the professor.
And finally, perhaps the most interesting point…”For purposes of University policies or regulations which state that “a grade of C or better is required,” a grade of C will be considered a 2.0. This means that for these policies and regulations, a grade of C- will not satisfy the standard. The same is true for rules and regulations that require “a B or better” or “a grade of A.” An A- or B- will not satisfy this standard.”
March 23, 2006
University Council…In Brief
Some interesting proposals were made at the monthly University Council meeting today. They will be considered at the Executive Committee meeting of University Council next month.
1. A plan to enact a stricter new member education process for Greek organizations. Specifically, new member education (does this mean pledgeship?) will be shortened to eight weeks. This plan may also include shortening the rush period.
2. A recommendation by the Student Affairs Committee to start a Mandatory Substance Abuse Program for incoming freshman.
GSU Plus/Minus Arguments
Dervied from a 1999 Georgia State University Senate Resolution
Pros:
1. It is unfair to reward students equally when there are large disparities in their accomplishments. For example, under the current grading system, both 81 and 89 yield grades of B, while a 91 earns an A and a 79 a C. The plus/minus system allows this difference to be expressed on grade sheets and thus allows faculty to reward the superior performance of the student who earns an 89.
2. The simple letter-grade system gives students a strong disincentive to work hard at the end of the term. A student has no reason to work hard at the end of a term if she or he has, say. an 85 average, and knows that unless s/he does extremely badly on the final examination, s/he will get a B for the course. Therefore, there is reason to think that students will work harder and learn more if pluses and minuses are added to the grading system.
3. As noted below, adding pluses and minuses would make GSU’s grades more reliable by reducing grouping error.
4. Adding pluses and minuses may aid GSU’s best students in their quest to enter the most competitive graduate programs. If a student with a 4.0 from GSU is being compared by an admissions officer with a student with a 4.0 from an institution with pluses and minuses, the admissions officer would have reason to favor the other student over the GSU student. The other student’s 4.0 shows that s/he got all As. The GSU student’s 4.0 shows only that s/he got all As or A minuses.
Effects:
1. Fewer students graduate with a 4.0 GPA because the students who have a 4.0 GPA under the simple letter-grade divide themselves into two groups–A- students and A students.
2. There are fewer students who graduate with a 2.0 GPA because those who were just barely getting by and whose Cs were C minuses, fail to remain in good standing.
3. There is no overall GPA effect on the students between 4.0 and 2.0. In other words, on average, there are as many B+ students as B- students. This is an especially important point here at GSU because it means that adding pluses and minuses can be expected to have no effect on the number of students who qualify for HOPE scholarships.
4. There is some, tentative, evidence that overall average GPA rises more slowly over time at institutions using pluses and minuses. In other words, there is some evidence that pluses and minuses reduce grade inflation.
5. Adding pluses and minuses causes an increase in the number of grade changes that Registrars have to perform. Interestingly, while some of this effect is, as one would expect, the result of more student appeals, it seems that much of it is simply due to more clerical errors made by professors on grade sheets. In other words, given more bubbles on grade sheet, professors fill in the wrong bubble more often.
A Sign of Things to Come?
New withdrawal policy passes at Georgia State University (the other university doing the plus/minus grading pilot) amid student protest.
http://www.gsusignal.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/03/21/4421d6df05d99?in_archive=1
Plus/Minus Grading System
In short, it looks like there is going to be an A 4.0, A- 3.7, B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B- 2.7…etc….system. Possibly going into effect during Maymester.
Just some information about the history of the plus/minus grading system.
The First Post
Hey Guys,
I’ll be using this as a section to get out information on what’s happening at UGA. From time to time they’ll also be guest posters using this space. If there’s an issue you want addressed, or a question you want the answer to, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll do my best to address it.
-PAR
