The Academic Council has recommended that Hopkins repeal its long-standing first semester grading policy, generally referred to as "covered grades."
According to their public minutes, the Council reached this decision last summer on June 8, with all 12 voting members present, either in-person or via conference phone.
The minutes read, "The following motion was approved: Eliminate the current covered grades policy for first semester freshmen effective July 1, 2014, thus freshmen entering in the fall of 2014 will be graded using the conventional grading method that applies to all other students at that time."
The final decision on the covered grades policy rests with University President Ronald Daniels.
"I think the reason why you haven't heard anything from the President on it [thus far] is that he understands what a difficult issue it is," Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Andrew Douglas, said.
The Council has struggled with the issue of covered grades for many years, and has created various subcommittees to investigate the matter and make recommendations. In any of the past five years, the topic was also tabled for months at a time due to Council membership turnover or work on promotions, appointments and department reviews.
For October 15, 2008 the Council minutes stated, "It was decided that a subcommittee of the Academic Council, the Academic Affairs' subcommittee, will work . . . to discuss the topic of covered grades with students, faculty, alumni, and staff members . . . Following their fact-finding, the subcommittee will generate a report and a recommendation, with supporting materials, for the Academic Council to review and vote upon."
Later, the October 6, 2010 minutes recorded that, "Last year Council went through a process of examining [covered grades], and no consensus on a way forward emerged . . . there is an obligation to bring some closure to this matter."
The Council is comprised of 12 voting faculty members, four from the School of Engineering, three representing the humanities, three representing the natural sciences and two from the social sciences. Additionally, seven ex officio members, including Dean Douglas, sit on the Council, with the president of the University as permanent chair.
"The council members had various experiences and they really wanted to be very careful, so they looked into issues like what is the effect of covered grades," Dean Douglas said. "[Because of this] it really took a long time to get everything together."
The controversy surrounding covered grades hinges on whether the program eases the transition to college and encourages exploration, or facilitates slacking and partying. Additional concerns relate to the importance of introductory coursework as the basis for students' later study.
"Some of the arguments are that [the program] encourages students to go easy in classes, and this is especially a problem in the sciences and math where you need a foundation to go to the next level," Vice Dean for Undergraduate Education, Steven David, who is not on the Council, said.
Student opinion about the possible change in policy was largely negative.
"From the perspective of international students, it gives us time to adjust to a new culture, new surroundings and new methods of teaching," Madhvi Aggarwal, a freshman from India, said. "People say it's not good because you learn bad habits, but once you start figuring out how hard the classes are, you start realizing how things will be, because it's a huge adjustment."
Many students refuted the idea that freshmen slack off during their semester of covered grades.
"I feel like most of the students here . . . are working to their academic potential," freshman Natalie Richmond said. "We still have plenty of semesters without covered grades."
"We could find our study habits and which one is effective and also we could play or do something fun a lot," junior Sung Jin Jeong said. "I have good memories of that time. We could take challenging classes and see our limits."
Some students, fearing that the new policy would impact them retroactively, reacted with concern.
"Did you see how scared I was when I thought covered grades were going away?" freshman Miriam Million said. "That's serious. I was actually alarmed."
Though the debate has percolated on campus for years, it is now closer to a resolution.
"I guess right now we're waiting to hear whether the President agrees with this [motion], and if it takes effect it'll take effect," Dean David said. "We'll live with the change. We'll be more like other universities . . ."
