By Clyde Noel

Recommendations by the District Academic Senate to revise the current grading policy to include plus/minus grading raised its head again before the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees. The proposed grading system would allow assigning a plus or a minus value to the standard letter grade based on performance.

After reviewing student input and their own concerns, the board returned the issue to the Academic Senate for further study regarding the consequences of implementation in various areas: uniform application of the policy in both colleges, faculty consistency, academic standards, the effect on student successes and the acceptance of plus/minus grading in technical courses.

“One A will keep a student from getting a 4.0,” Foothill student Javad Aghamiri said. “Everybody is here for a reason. They want to transfer to four-year colleges, and the students know what is best for them.”

Foothill student Kristy Wiehe, who will continue her education at Stanford University, said the plus/minus system is unfair to those who transfer to four-year colleges. “Getting into college is harder than ever. I encourage the board to vote no because the grade point average is the most important factor in transferring,” she said.

Kelly Roche, a Foothill student admitted to the University of California at Santa Cruz, said the problem is unfair because if every teacher used it, it would be satisfactory — but two classes can be different, and that is unfair.

Sandy Hay, a board member, said, “We have been over this for the last 19 years. There must be a naivet/ to this grading system.”

In the plus/minus system, the grade point value of a plus is computed by adding 0.3 to the value assigned to the letter grade; the grade point value of a minus is computed by subtracting 0.3 from the value assigned to the letter grade. No grade point value can be less than 0 or greater than 4.0.

Among California community colleges, only Gavilan College in Gilroy had adopted the plus/minus grading policy in 2002.

Students’ concerns are that currently there are no provisions for a grade of A+ and no way to numerically compensate for it compared to an A. Interim Chancellor Lois Callahan said the board of governors of California Community Colleges controls that.

Inconsistent implementation is a concern at both colleges as students feel the plus/minus system would be detrimental if teachers of the same course graded differently. Callahan said if the faculty voted to approve a plus/minus policy, it wouldn’t take effect until the fall of 2004. changes could cost the college $16,000.