New grading policy halfway toward goal

Less than a year and a half after faculty members approved an initiative to combat grade inflation, the University is halfway toward its goal, Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel announced at a faculty meeting Monday.

The number of A-range grades handed out by University professors during the 2004-05 school year decreased to 40.9 percent from 46 percent the previous year, a pace that will enable the University to reach its target if it is maintained this year, Malkiel said. But the proportion of A's in independent work remained about the same as in previous years.

The grading initiative — the most drastic action taken to reduce grade inflation by an elite school — aims to limit the percentage of A's given in undergraduate courses to 35 percent and the percentage of A's in independent work to 55 percent.

Malkiel said she was pleased the University had changed its grade distribution so quickly.

"We have shown we can move the needle in a very short space of time," she said.

Humanities grades changed the most, with the proportion of A-range grades declining from 56.2 percent to 45.5 percent in 2004-05. In the social sciences, the percentage fell from 42.5 to 38.4, while A's in engineering courses decreased from 48 to 43.2 percent.

In the natural sciences, the percentage of A's remained at 36.4 percent, essentially the same number as last year.

Malkiel added that she particularly wants to focus on reducing grades for independent work, since the number of A's for junior papers and senior theses remains much higher than those given in regular undergraduate courses. In 2004-05, 57.9 percent of junior papers and 58.6 percent of senior theses received A-range grades, a decrease of less than two percentage points from previous years.

Adopted in April 2004, the 35 percent target for A-range grades met with considerable controversy when it was proposed, with some students concerned that reduced GPAs would negatively affect their graduate school and employment opportunities.

Malkiel cited a conversation last year with an official from the Marshall scholarship program, who told her one reason so many University students received the award was that the judges knew they could take Princeton A's seriously.

The official attributed his respect for University grades to its anti-grade inflation policy, Malkiel said, though the Princeton students who won Marshall scholarships last year had not received grades under the policy at the time of their application.

"The [policy's] impact on our reputation goes far beyond its actual effects [on grades]," she said. "I truly expect no adverse effect on students."

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Looking ahead, Malkiel said the administration's next move is to collect data on how different departments implemented the new policy and compile a list of recommended methods to alter grading distributions. The list will be shared with departments whose grades do not yet conform to the policy, she said.

In an interview after the meeting, Malkiel outlined the methods departments have used to effectively reduce the number of A's given to independent work.

"When more faculty are involved in evaluating independent work, rather than relying exclusively on the adviser, the grades go down," she said. "When there are detailed questions that the faculty must answer [when assigning grades], the grades go down. When committees as a whole discuss grades [for independent work], which is done in some smaller departments, the grades go down."

Responding to a question about whether junior faculty might shy away from giving lower grades for fear of poor student evaluations that would hurt their chances for tenure, Malkiel said tenured professors could help allay this fear by being trailblazers.

"As senior faculty adopt an ethic that says 'this is the way we do business,' that will provide cover for junior faculty to follow suit," she said.

During the meeting, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said the new policy hasn't significantly affected the University's recruitment efforts, though some parents and students have expressed concerns about it.

"Most of the questions are coming from parents," she said, to laughter from the faculty. "This group of parents is quite concerned about their children's future. We reassure them that, if their children do their best at Princeton, they will receive grades that reflect that."

Rapelye also discussed the makeup of the newly-arrived freshman class, praising the increased number of low-income and international students.

She responded to a question from Dean of the Engineering School Maria Klawe about the reduced percentage of female students in this year's freshman class. The Class of 2009 is 45.6 percent female and 54.4 percent male.

Rapelye said the proportion of male and female students "is not necessarily engineered" during the admissions process, with the focus instead on the merit of the applicants. But she admitted that this year's yield was slightly lower for women than men.

"That's a concern we'll pay attention to as we move forward," she said.