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Kwantlen University Grading Proposal Lowers Standards, Faculty Fears

Change would bring school in line with others, but some students and staff are opposed.

Katie Hyslop 18 Dec 2014TheTyee.ca

Katie Hyslop reports on education and youth issues for Tyee Solutions Society. Follow her on Twitter @kehyslop.

Proposed changes to grading at Kwantlen Polytechnic University are getting an F from some faculty and students.

The proposal includes aligning the minimum grade for passing a course and the minimum grade required to enrol in a subsequent course. Currently, students can pass a course like Anthropology 1100 with a D, or 50-55 per cent, but need at least a C, or 60-63 per cent, to move onto Anthropology 2100. If the proposal is adopted the policy would change to make both grades a D.

The university posted details about the proposal to update the grading policy on a blog in late November.

The move is intended to provide more clarity for students, because a student might not realize they need a C to move forward in their education until they try to apply for a higher course, explained the university's deputy provost Jane Fee.

"Then they need to go back and repeat that course to get the higher grade," she said, adding about 1,000 Kwantlen students apply annually to take a course for the third time, although the university doesn't collect data on students' reasons for retaking courses.

The blog post has garnered over 90 responses, mostly negative, from faculty, staff, and students so far. The university is seeking feedback through the blog until Jan. 14, 2015, after which the university will review comments. A second draft will then be presented for more feedback. It could take anywhere from six months to a year and a half before a final proposal is approved by the school's senate.

Few post-secondary institutions in the province have two different passing grades. The proposal will bring the university in line with Simon Fraser and Capilano universities, where a D is both the minimum passing and prerequisite mark.

Grading up for debate

Like Simon Fraser, Kwantlen's proposal allows for programs and departments to set their own prerequisite requirements. But Fee said few faculties at Simon Fraser require more than a D.

That doesn't sway Kwantlen criminology instructor Mike Larsen. The university is an open-admission university, he said, where students who meet admission requirements are typically accepted. Other universities like Simon Fraser are more competitive, seeking students with higher grades than the minimum marks required for application.

"We don't have mechanisms that are built in at the admission stage to filter students who may have serious challenges in terms of writing or time management skills," he said. "This is what this prerequisite [mark] functions as."

Fee said the university will require undergraduate applicants to have at least a C+ in English 12 by fall 2015. But in order to graduate from Kwantlen, students will still need a 2.00 Grade Point Average (GPA), equivalent to a C.

"If you look at the discrepancy between the D prerequisite and the 2.00 GPA, I think it's an argument against this policy, not for it," said Larsen.

Second-year criminology student Sarah E. Braaten chose Kwantlen because of the small classes and proximity to home. She's concerned the proposed changes would devalue her degree, and is considering transferring to another university as a result.

"It's making Kwantlen lesser in my opinion, and future students aren't going to want to go there," she said.

Kwantlen Student Association president Jessica Lar-Son is less concerned. She said the proposal "might seem kind of scary to some people, but... we need to make sure everyone's opinions are heard and everyone's concerns are dealt with," she said, adding she has faith that the university administration is listening.

*Inaccurate headline changed Dec. 18 at 10:15 a.m.  [Tyee]

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