Faculty Council meeting addresses 1994 grade forgiveness policy, current problems

A discrepancy in the grading system at IU surfaced during the Bloomington Faculty Council meeting Tuesday. \nRobert Eno, associate professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and a member of the educational policies committee, said the new grade forgiveness policy the Council passed in 1994 still has not been implemented and will not be for three or four more years.\n"The University is in the process of moving to a new database for student information," Eno said, and added that this was one of the reasons he was given for the delay.\nEno said the Educational Policies Committee told him it would cost more to implement the new grading system under the current database and alter it for the new one than to wait.\nThe new policy was approved in 1994 to replace the FX grading option, with which students can retake a course they previously failed, Eno said. The grade they receive in the second class replaces the F on the student's official transcript. The option cannot be used for more than three failed courses, totaling no more than 10 credit hours.\nUnder the new grade forgiveness policy, students can retake three classes in their first three semesters at IU to improve their grade. This can be used for any class, not just ones the students failed.\nBut the FX policy is still listed in the course bulletin as an option for students.\nCouncil president James Sherman, a psychology professor, suggested IU implement an interim program in which new grades are entered by hand. IU-Purdue University in Indianapolis has started a similar program because its new grade system was also postponed.\nIn other Council news, Ball State University professor Dan Reagan, a member of the Indiana Commission on Higher Education, spoke to the Council about working with faculty in decision-making. Reagan tackled issues including Commission involvement in low enrollment programs and communication problems between faculty members, the Commission and legislators.\n"Most legislators think they give a lot of money to higher education," Reagan said. "They think universities are happy to ask for money and reluctant to let legislators know what they are doing."\nBecause it is a budget year, he stressed the added importance of open communication between all parties.