MSA Senate supports unified grading system
Published March 29, 2005
At its final meeting before spring break, the Missouri Students Association Senate passed a resolution to support a uniform grading system.
Interim Provost Lori Franz spoke at the meeting about the plus/minus grading scale and other academic concerns.
Academic Affairs Committee Chairwoman Allison Horne said her committee wrote the resolution.
"One of our members said she'd heard some people discussing grading systems," Horne said. "This has been a continuing discussion since the plus/minus system was first incorporated. We thought the biggest problem with the system is that it's inconsistent. A 'B+' in one class is only worth a B in others."
Franz told senators the MU Faculty Council has been discussing the plus/minus grading system and members of the council feel there is a lack of consistency with the policy.
"Since Faculty Council is considering the issue as well, we wanted to have something to give them to show them how students feel about the issue," Horne said. "For a long time people wanted to get rid of the plus/minus system completely, but there's really no way to do that. We just hope to see some consistency with the system."
Senate Speaker John Andersen said he felt Franz's presence at the meeting helped foster discussion on the issue.
"I thought we had a lot of great discussion, and I'm glad we had a debate on it," he said. "We've been trying to get Franz to come to a meeting for a while. We thought it was important for her to explain how the academic side of the university operates. It was helpful to have her saying a lot of the same things we've been saying to senators."
Horne said her committee will continue to look at the grading system.
"This isn't something that's going to go away, there will be more legislation in the future," she said. "We're going to continue to work and see how to make the system more consistent."
Bill passes to pay chief of staff
During the meeting, the Senate passed a bill to pay Chief of Staff Eric Smith.
"It says in the bylaws that the chief of staff can be paid as much as the Senate clerks, but a bill has to pass for that to occur," said MSA President Tony Luetkemeyer, who co-authored the bill. "The president isn't required to have a chief of staff, but if he does, Senate has to approve his pay."
Senator Tara Brandenburger said the bylaws were changed earlier this year to make the position permanently paid, but the bylaw won't go into effect until the next fiscal year, starting July 1.
This was the last time a bill would be required to pay the chief of staff, she said.