The University of Colorado will disclose class rank – but only for students who request it, regents decided Tuesday after spirited protest from professors who opposed tougher, mandatory remedies to curb grade inflation.
Regents opted for the weakest of president Hank Brown’s suggestions, which included posting grade-point-average percentiles on transcripts or listing the average grade in a course.
The president, who wanted to give employers and graduate schools a clearer idea about what grades are worth, said he was pleased with the decision and would not push for stronger policy.
Several professors balked at the suggestion that grade inflation is even a problem, attributing the slow climb in grade-point-averages to better-prepared students coming to the university.
At the Boulder campus, the average GPA rose from 2.87 in 1993 to 2.99 in 2004. At the Colorado Springs campus, it increased from 2.93 to 3.0, and in Denver, from 2.97 to 2.98.
A CU-Boulder survey of 37 peer universities found that only nine keep track of class rank and that none post it on transcripts.
CU officials have not determined whether class rank will appear on transcripts when students request it or on an official letter. The policy starts in August.
Regent Tom Lucero voted for the class rank proposal, but would have preferred a much stronger policy – one that would put quotas on the number of A’s and B’s professors are allowed to give.
He vowed to continue to fight for more academic rigor at CU, saying Tuesday’s vote was “not the end of the discussion.”
Lucero raised the ire of professors who believe they, not regents, should handle curriculum issues when he offered a resolution that would have directed the Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs campuses to create departments of Western civilization. The departments would offer a core curriculum in the classics and American history and government.
After faculty and some other regents objected, Lucero amended his resolution to direct university staff to research the possibility of establishing the departments. The resolution was postponed until January.
Regent Cindy Carlisle said it was not the board’s job to “superimpose” curriculum on faculty and students. Plus, she said, CU doesn’t have money to create three new departments.
Regent Gail Schwartz said the board should not be “micromanaging or pushing the administration into spending resources or creating programs at the insistence of any single regent.”
Boulder chancellor Bud Peterson also objected to Lucero’s proposal, saying it was not “consistent with the concept or process of shared governance” among regents, administrators and faculty.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
