Beachfront

Published: Friday, 26 February 2021

Updated: Monday, 15 March 2021

Written by Alicia Casey

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Updated: Monday, April 19 2021

On April 14, the Curriculum and Educational Policies Council (CEPC) met for its second reading of the revised final grading policy which included a proposed plus/minus grading amendment. The committee did not approve the plus/minus amendment.   The grading scale will continue in its current format.

Students had the opportunity to provide feedback in ASI’s Plus/Minus Grading Policy Survey.  There was a total of 10,435 responses recorded, of which 95.79% were not in favor of the plus/minus grading policy amendment, 2.18% were in favor, and 2.02% were unsure and needed more information.  

Respondents shared a total of 10,433 comments, of which 9,996 were against the policy change, 227 were in favor, and 210 need more information. The most prominent themes from a sample of open-ended submission were stress/mental health impact, negative impact on GPA, harmful/disservice and unnecessary/current grading system works. 

To see the full data summary from the survey, click on the button below.

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 A new plus or minus grading policy has been proposed at Long Beach State University (LBSU). According to representatives in Associated Students Government, LBSU is one of two California State Universities that has not adopted the new system. Currently, the Curriculum and Educational Policies Council (CEPC) has the grading policy open for review with the recommendation to consider plus or minus grading.

The policy proposal is not an Associated Students (AS) initiative. The descriptions of the policy are to inform students of the possible impacts of the university approving a plus or minus grading policy. Three AS student representatives are voting members on the CEPC committee and advocate on behalf of the student body. Below, there are also opportunities for student-feedback.

The new policy is not yet approved by CEPC, the overall grading policy was reviewed at their meeting on March 10, 2021. The proposed amendment of plus or minus grading is anticipated to be discussed at the next CEPC committee meeting planned for March 24, 2021. However, this date is subject to change by CEPC as the meeting agenda is not yet set. Official voting will take place during this spring semester and if approved, the policy will go to the Academic Senate to vote on in fall 2021. If passed by the Academic Senate, the policy will move forward.

If the policy is not passed by the CEPC, it will not move forward to the Academic Senate and it will not be implemented. As of now, an official implementation timeline and plan is not concrete as the policy is still under review and has not yet been passed.

Review the following list to learn more about the proposed plus or minus grading policy and its potential impacts:

• The goal of the proposed grading scale is to allow students a more comprehensive evaluation of their academic progress for their transcripts.

• Final course grades "A" through "D" will be qualified with plus or minus GPA amounts. The plus or minus amounts indicate student performance to varying degrees. Receiving an "F" denotes no GPA points.

• Grades and GPA points include: A+ at 4.0 GPA points, A at 4.0 GPA points, A- at 3.7 GPA points, B+ at 3.3 GPA points, B at 3.0 GPA points, B- at 2.7 GPA points, C+ at 2.3 GPA points, C at 2.0 GPA points, C- at 1.7 GPA points, D+ at 1.3 GPA points, D at 1.0 GPA points, D- at 0.7 GPA points and F at 0.0 GPA points.

• The policy impacts overall GPAs for students. In general, GPAs are set to increase or decrease based on the students’ percentage grades in their courses.

• As of now, the policy proposal is not retroactive, meaning that if passed, it would not affect the past GPAs of students.

• To receive course credit per accreditation requirements, course grades must be a minimum of a C grade. It is up to the discretion of the colleges if they would like to change the requirement from a C to a C- or leave it as is.

• Courses requiring a minimum grade of a C will need to be retaken if students earn a C- grade.

• Financial aid recipients are required to make satisfactory academic progress including a minimum of 2.0 GPA. Student GPAs will be affected by plus or minus amounts on grades, and those who fall below the minimum GPA requirement may become ineligible for aid.

• There is a 2.0 GPA requirement to be eligible for on-time graduation. Those below the requirement are susceptible to academic probation and may delay timely graduation.

Have questions or want to share your opinion on the proposed policy? Attend the office hours of your student government leaders, make time for an AS Judiciary or Senate meeting to get more insight, or email asi-studentgovernment@csulb.edu.

Thank you for those who took our brief survey by the deadline March 7. The information gathered will be presented to the CEPC, Academic Senate, and campus administration to ensure the student body’s voice is accurately represented on this measure.

For further information on the proposed plus or minus grading policy, check out the CEPC's meeting agendas to see the progress of the policy. Also, refer to the Academic Senate's website and review their meeting minutes. Make sure to sign-up for the AS Inside Student Government newsletter for updates on the policy's next steps.

To stay informed and up to date on news regarding the policy, please refer to this article, as it will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

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Updated: Tuesday, March 16 2021

Changes to this article were made on March 16 to reflect recent updates.

Attend the informational event held by ASI student government on March 25 at 6 pm. Visit the asicsulb.org for more information.