And most all of these concerns directly or indirectly bear upon academic standards. Wulff said a Grading Forum involving FCAS and CIDR in Winter Quarter 2001 is a strong possibility. He said the focus of such a meeting would have to move beyond procedural issues in grading. The group agreed and suggested that earlier discussions of the council had mentioned grade inflation as a critical concern. Wulff said grade inflation remains a complex and ongoing issue.
Many faculty express frustration with students expectations for high grades.
Nevertheless, as Washburn noted, the grade most commonly awarded by faculty to undergraduate students is 4.0. Also, faculty do not want to have students doing worse than other students at the University, or belong to a department that has students achieving lower grades than students in other departments. The increasing importance placed upon student evaluations is one factor behind this distortion, but by no means the only one. Students cannot be graded adversely for lack of attendance or late submission of papers unless instructors link such behaviors to specific course goals. Wadden said grade inflation and grade depression together comprise a major problem in grading.