Having a policy statement prevents students from taking two courses at the same time. Clearly, Metro State instructors were not concerned with approaching a bell curve grade distribution. They preferred criterion-based measures that, for many of them, included competency demonstrations rather than testing, and included plenty of opportunity for revision. They applauded rubric systems and clear grading criteria listings which must be handed out and explained clearly to students. Some used checklists, and many lamented the loss of the narrative evaluation which completed their competence and outcome based syllabus-grading system.
Grades represent levels of mastery of the material relative to other students.
Grading systems vary from one institution to another. They seem relative. We need to acknowledge that grades do matter to students, whether we want them to or not. Graduate school admission, for example, is very dependent on grades. Grades represent demonstration of mastery and independent thought.