At a competitive university, such as Boston University, the goal of any student is to get the A. Controversy outside the grade book, however, may play more of a role in achieving a 4.0 than a student's effort. Two factors that play a large part in the grades students receive are both grade inflation and grade quotas. These two extremes represent difficult issues to staff members and faculty who must submit and justify their grades to department chairs and deans.
People talk about grades of students.
And students talk about the grades of other students. According to Student Union Chairman of Educational Affairs Jen Cross, she has received several secondary reports from students that professors will give only a certain amount of As, Bs and Cs each semester. Through her preliminary investigations, Cross said the only schools that do not suffer from grade quotas are CGS and the College of Engineering. Provost and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Dennis Berkey said the discussion of grade patterns does vary school by school. He said CGS and the School of Management regularly discuss grade patterns while other schools, such as CAS, allow more variability.