I thought I'd share an event that occurred yesterday that relates to our
previous discussion on altering grades.
A student whom I had in class last semester contacted me. He is trying to
get into law school. The law school requires a 3.5 GPA for admission. He
graduated with a 3.45. This student (who earned a B in my finance class)
asked if he could "do extra work" so as to raise his grade in my class
(recall, the class ended in May) and thereby increase his GPA to 3.5.
In another case (and at a different institution), several years ago I served
on the Academic Affairs Committee. The Committee received a request from a
student who had graduated in 1953 (I'm not kidding). The student, who had
since gone on to become a successful business leader, was asking that the D
he received in Management be changed to an A on the grounds that he had now
proven his business acumen. (The Director of Admissions was pressing the
case because the individual in question was hinting that he would endow a
couple of scholarships.)
The topic we originally discussed was altering a student's grade (from C to
C+) so that the student could graduate. There is, however, no substantive
difference in that case and the two cases above. All three involve altering
a grade for a reason that is not germane to the student's performance (i.e.
graduation, law school admission, or personal pride). If one argues that a
grade should be adjusted so that the student can graduate, then one opens
the door to other cases (like those above) that are more outlandish yet
fundamentally equivalent.
Antony Davies, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Finance, Economics, and Statistics
John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA 15282
412-396-6268
http://www.bus.duq.edu/faculty/davies
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