On Sept. 18, a meeting by the Undergraduate Council declared a new grading scale could potentially be used starting in the fall of 2008.

The current grading system has not been working to accurately reflect the students, thus robbing them of their true grade. - Todd Diacon, Vice Provost for Academic Operations The University of Tennessee is proposing to institute a new grading scale that will add minus grades into the current grading scale. The grade scale proposal has passed two committees of the Faculty Senate, but will have to pass the full senate before it can be accepted.

 "The reason for the proposal is to accurately reflect the student's grade," said Todd Diacon, Vice Provost for Academic Operations and history professor said. "Throughout the semester, professors can give plus and minus grades, but in calculating final grades, we don't have the range that we did all semester. For example, if a student should be getting an A-, we either bump them up to an A or down to a B+, which does not accurately reflect their grade"

If the grading scale is adopted, the professors would not be required to use the proposed grading scale.

Diacon said, "At the University of Tennessee, faculty can use their own grading scales as long as they are posted in the syllabus. Therefore, faculty do not have to give minus grades if they are adopted."

In speaking with the Student Government Association, Diacon and the students found that there would only be one group of people who would be seriously affected by the grade scale change: The number of students that will graduate with a 4.0.

"The current grading system has not been working to accurately reflect the students, thus robbing them of their true grade. Some students have been graduating with 4.0's when in actuality some of their grades may have been bumped up by their professors. This is where the minus system could reflect their true grade", Diacon said.

Different universities such as Georgia, Florida, UClA and UNC-Asheville have adopted this grading scale throughout the past 20 years and professors such as Diacon feel that the University of Tennessee would benefit greatly from this change.