a student newspaper of the university of tulsa
Young Hurricane pulls historic comeback
march 4, 2013 issue 19 ~ volume 98
Faculty senate approves new grading system Friday faculty senate voted that TU professors will be able to give plus and minus grades beginning fall 2014. Kyle Walker Managing Editor
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Logan Miller / Collegian
Forward Kauri Black makes a shot in the Golden Hurricane’s 12-point victory over Tulane. For more on the game, see page 2.
SA to run out of event allocation funds Declaring current event sponsorship rates “unsustainable,” SA has requested that all further events be submitted before spring break. Oscar Ho Staff Writer
Steven Buchele Student Writer
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ast week, student organization leaders received an e-mail from the University of Tulsa Student Association asking that all funding applications for student events to be turned in by March 18. As of Feb. 27, the SA event sponsorship fund had just under 10 percent of the original $180,000. “The rate we’re spending at is unsustainable,” SA Treasurer Katlyn McGouran said. While she said that this is “not a crisis,” McGouran called it “an interesting problem to have.” “I don’t think this has ever happened before,” McGouran added. SA is asking that all organizations submit their applications for funding early so that SA can look at their programing and evaluate the costs. “The budget crunch has prompted Senate to ask if we are being good stewards. I think the answer is yes, but I also think this is good so that we can ask that question,” said McGouran. SA has three major accounts. Cabinet has its own budget, which is used to pay for Springfest and
Homecoming. There is the Contingency Fund, which is mostly used for travel allocations, and the event sponsorship fund. Both Cabinet’s account and the Contingency Fund seem to be at adequate levels. The contingency fund has 36 percent of its funds remaining “which is right on track,” McGouran said. Ben Chong, Event Sponsorship Committee Chairman, said that event sponsorship has been a problem, though it may be temporarily alleviated: “We are adding $25,000 to (the fund) to take account of the student activity fees that were paid this semester.” “However,” Chong said, “the reality is that some organizations
will have to fund projects themselves or turn elsewhere for it.” Since SA is funded by student fees, SA has increased its overall budget because of the University of Tulsa’s record-breaking enrollment this year. However, McGouran said, “(SA doesn’t) increase event sponsorship in proportion to the number of students. At the end of last year the event sponsorship fund had a $10,000 surplus, and even then we increased the budget, so it was a bit of a surprise when it was depleted this quickly.” “I attribute this (budget crunch) to the increase in volume of the
See Funds page 4
Graphic by Jill Graves / Collegian
SA has just under ten percent of its annual event allocations funds remaining (represented by the orange portion of the pie chart).
n a nearly unanimous voice vote, the University of Tulsa’s faculty senate passed a recommendation Thursday that will allow TU faculty the option of assigning students grades with grade modifiers—pluses and minuses—starting in the fall of 2014. President Steadman Upham has already approved the senate’s recommendation, sources say. Dr. Robert Donaldson, professor of political science and president emeritus, has been, according to one professor, the “prime mover” behind the effort for this change. “This is something I’ve been trying to accomplish,” Donaldson said, “since I came to TU in 1990. This is the first time the faculty senate actually passed it.” Donaldson has brought this suggestion to the faculty senate before, and on one occasion the Student Association asked the faculty senate to consider the measure. But in both instances the recommendation was either never debated or voted down. The new grading system gives faculty access to a more finegrained evaluative scale. Donaldson pointed out that, under the current system, a student who makes an 89.4 and a student who makes a 79.6 earn the same grade—a B. Allowing grade modifiers lets faculty give students a more “precise measure of just what their performance is,” Donaldson said. Dr. Jacob Howland, professor of philosophy, agrees. “We don’t grade our papers and exams using a crude A, B, C, D metric,” he said. “So why shouldn’t the final grades for the course reflect the same level of specificity in assessment?” As part of his efforts to accomplish this change, Donaldson looked at grading systems used by other universities, especially TU’s peer schools (Tulane, Wake Forest, Baylor, Rice, Southern Methodist and Texas Christian) and aspirant (Washington University, Vanderbilt and Duke) institutions, as well as schools ranked in the top 50 by U.S. News and World. “This is the first time we’ve looked at what the high-quality universities are doing,” Donaldson said. He found that the only peer or aspirant institution not to use a full grade modifier system was Baylor, which uses only positive grade-modifiers on only B and C grades. He also found that of the U.S. News and World top 50, 44 use the system recommended by the faculty senate. According to Dr. Lara Foley, professor of sociology and president of the faculty senate, this was one of “the most compelling arguments.” She also noted that “this
TU’s new plus/minus grading system will assign the following values to each letter grade: A 4.00 A3.67 B+ 3.33 B 3.00 B2.67 C+ 2.33 C 2.00 C1.67 D+ 1.33 D 1.00 D0.67 F 0.00 time a lot of research went into” determining the best path for the university. In addition to research presented by Donaldson, the faculty senate sought the assistance of the University Leadership Council (ULC), a component of the Advisory Board Company based in Washington, D.C. The ULC compiled a 17-page report detailing the results of changing to a grade-modifier system at six universities where such a change occurred within the last eight years. According to Jerry McCoy, professor of physics, the faculty senate postponed discussion of the system change until the ULC provided its report. One of the most common concerns among students at the ULC contact institutions was that the use of grade modifiers would negatively affect GPAs overall. But the ULC found that “the addition of grade modifiers does not raise or lower overall institutional grade point averages,” but also found that “some high-performing students may experience a decline in their GPA,” according to its report. Sophomore Devin Stranford opposes grade modifier systems on these grounds and feels that being weighted down by A-minuses ought to be balanced out by providing a bonus for A-pluses—a feature not currently part of the faculty senate recommendation. Freshman Gunner Jensen, however, feels that the new system will produce grades that are “representative of what the student earned.” Faculty are “going to give you the grade you deserve,” he said. “So it’s up to the student really.” The new system has some builtin safeguards as a result of other specific concerns. For instance, the use of grade modifiers is entirely optional—faculty are free to choose which system they want to use. However, this variability introduces its own problems for some. Stranford voiced opposition to this measure on the grounds that certain classes would end up “being graded differently than the others,” sowing confusion and irritation. Additionally, overall grade point averages will remain capped at 4.0. McCoy explained why. “As soon as a graduate school sees that
See Grades page 4
Medicine Wheel Award The Medicine Wheel Award is given out annually to a faculty member, staff member, student, and organization/team for meritorious service to the community. Nomination forms may be picked up in the Housing Office, Registration, McFarlin Library, Collins Fitness Center, Student Affairs, and the TBN Volunteer Center or email kathy-shelton@utulsa.edu for an electronic form. Junior Achievement Junior Achievement is a non-profit organization partnering with volunteers from the community to teach elementary students about their roles as individuals, workers and consumers. 12 volunteers are needed who can commit 1 hour a week for 5 weeks and the initial 90 min. training. Campus Wide-Baby Shower This is the first ever True Blue and Pink Campus Wide Baby Shower. Collection tubs will be placed across campus to collect items for infants and children, birth to 5-years-old. Clothing and items such as car seats, strollers, or high-chairs may be gently used, clean items. Other needs will be sent out in an email and also on Campus Connection, Facebook, and Twitter updates.