Students at UT have ended their first semester with the new grading scale instituted by the Undergraduate Council.

The new grading scale added "minus" grades for students. For example, instead of receiving an A for a 90, the student would receive an A-, which would lower the student's overall grade point average. The Undergraduate Council proposed the new grading scale in September 2007 and put it into practice for the fall semester of 2008.

Some students have complained that the university did not do a good enough job of letting the students know the new grading scale had started, and they said they felt like they were robbed of their grades.

"I wasn't even sure that it was official," Janna Schrott, a junior in logistics and marketing said. Schrott works for Undergraduate Business Programs answering phones and filing paper work.

"I hadn't really heard from anyone about it until the end of the semester," she said. "Students started coming in, and calling and asking me if there was a new grading scale.  I really didn't know what to tell them, but I finally asked and found there was."

Other students said they were more worried about their HOPE scholarship, and how their grade point average would be effected. To maintain the HOPE scholarship, students must have a cumulative grade point average of 2.75 upon completion of their first 48 course hours and a 3.0 every semester thereafter. The new grading scale could cause a problem for students trying to keep or regain their scholarships.

Chelsea Arnold, a junior in communications, said, "It's hard enough to get an 'A' in classes in the first place. Now, I get a 93 in one of my classes, and I don't get the 4.0 that I feel like I deserve. I'm a junior and have had my scholarship for three years, and I just don't think it's fair that I could lose it because of the new scale."

Other students said they are in favor of the new grading scale.

Luke Keller, a senior majoring in Portuguese, said he thinks the new grading scale is effective and pushes students to work harder.

Keller said, "I think that the grading scale prior to this one was inaccurate. I don't think it's fair for me to have a 96 and get the same grade as someone with a 90. If I put the extra effort into the course, I deserve the extra points added to my GPA. It only makes sense."