Grade point average conceals student worth

by Don Asdel
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

Be on the lookout; there is an affliction of epidemic proportions spreading throughout campus, and with final exams around the corner, the symptoms are now more prevalent than ever.

The stress associated with unrealistic academic expectations has many students mentally paralyzed and the university facing the growing realities of grade inflation.

For an alarming number of college students, receiving anything short of an "A" this semester will be a scholastic failure. Setting lofty educational goals for yourself is one thing, but many students have become delusional and need a strong dose of reality. Learning is not directly proportional to your GPA.

Stop and listen to discussions students are having in regard to next semester's class registration. You will not hear many references to course-catalog summaries. It is all about matching availability with the easiest professor. And if it turns out next semester that your source's information was incorrect, you can always drop the class before endangering your average.

Although students bear a large portion of the responsibility, they are not solely to blame for the problem. Faculty and staff are contributing factors. For example, theoretically, adjuncts bring real-world experiences to the classroom. But you show me an

adjunct professor who challenges his or her students and evaluates according to the true grading standards and, in a semester or two, I will show you someone not teaching here due to poor student evaluations.

Too much emphasis is placed solely on GPA. As a result, the true letter-grade definitions are lost in the process.

According to the UH-Clear Lake catalog, an "A" reflects "exceptional scholarship and intellectual initiative," a "B" stands for "solid or significant achievement," a "C" is the result of "average or satisfactory achievement," a "D" reflects "minimally acceptable achievement" and a "F" depicts "unsatisfactory or below minimally acceptable."

Instead of identifying with the letter definition, we are consumed with a numerical average.

Factor in the decimal issues associated with the plus and minus grading system, and you have got a statistical headache.

In reality, the best your GPA can do is help get your foot in the door. Future career success depends on one's ability to identify both strengths and weaknesses.

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