Please Stop Minus Grades From Affecting G.P.A. at UC colleges!

(Note: We do apologize for the length of this article, but it will be worth reading, and possibly even signing, so please take the time to read it.)
To whom it may concern, and to all who are interested,

We have brought up a petition that would like to remove the currently implemented plus/minus grading system from colleges, particularly that of the UC colleges. We are not advocating the removal of the actual plus or minus signs affixed to grades. We are mainly advocating the removal of the effect that the signs cause in regards to G.P.A. One of the main reasons is that, although it does provide a separation of students who do extraordinary work from other students, it also discourages those who do work hard to the best of their abilities by discouraging them from working harder, because in effect, it is saying that no matter how hard one tries, they won't be able to achieve a good grade.  We find this system unfair because we know students who took concurrent enrollment at a community college while in high school, where the grading system ( /-) was absent in both levels, and for those that did use signs, it did not affect G.P.A. We have also known many who had done the same level of work and are in college now, mostly in the UC, but are dissatisfied by the current grading system because the work they had done in high school / community college did not seem like an accurate measure or training for their college careers, and thus they felt disappointed. Second, on a statewide level, educational systems that do use a sign system, such as high schools, often do not affect the G.P.A., regardless of the sign that is used. Most community colleges have similar practices as well. Other measures of success that can be used can be community service or volunteer work, rather than just the letter grades themselves. G.P.A. should not be the only factor in determining a person's potential, self worth, or success. If anything, volunteering is better because not only does it help people get to know others, it actually gets someone out of their chair or nose from a book and actually do some hands on work in their respective fields. Not to mention it would boost the community because more younger people would be involved. After all, colleges are where mostly young persons are studying. Volunteering as a source of competition would make more sense than a G.P.A affected by mere signs because it would give a name to people doing work, rather than just being reduced to a statistical mathematical figure. After all, actions speak louder than words and numbers Furthermore, the presence or absence of the system has little bearing on actual grades, other than lowering the G.P.A. of a student who would be doing excellent otherwise from previous institutions. In other words, you get the same letter grade, but depending on the sign affixed to it and the institution, it affects your G.P.A. It also provides mixed effects for all involved. The reason it has mixed effects is because some college professors, many of whom are older, still favor the straight grading scale they most likely learned under themselves, which is the 90-100= A, 80-89=B, etc, which had been the standard until recently. As a result, some instructors are not enforcing the grading policy anyway, even though it is supposed to be a standard within the UC colleges, and possibly other colleges as well, such as CSU colleges. Also, to our knowledge, there are no ways that the institution can retaliate against professors who refuse to enforce their choice of grading method. However, this is slowly being replaced as older professors are now retiring and younger professors are starting to teach, who are beginning to enforce these rules implemented just recently (one source at a UC admits this began around 2001, but it varies from college to college. Some have begun in the 1970's. Overall, it has only been recently, but these are tthe closest pinpointed dates we could find). While curving may still be up to the professor, some even do so while pretending to implement the prescribed G.P.A scale now, which stipulates that -(minus) grades subtract .3 percent from the overall G.P.A, while (plus) grades, only for an A grade, have no effect, even if you do earn them. As mentioned earlier, there is no uniform enforcement, so if this grading scale did not exist (i.e. a reversion back to the 90, 80, 70 straight scale as the universal grading method), then it would not make sense to enforce it. One of our arguments is, if not all professors are going to enforce this, then why have some enforce it all? Why not just go back to the regular 90, 80, 70 scale, etc, with the decision left to curve in the hands of the professor? Again, why not examine other factors, such as volunteer hours in their particular field, community service, and other extracurricular activities, like they did when they were considering applicants before they entered college? The last main reason has to do with the overall effectiveness of such a system. Most psychologists would agree that a reward system works better than a punishment system, so if this current system continues, students who work hard will feel more punished by a minus(-) grade than rewarded by a plus( ) grade. There is no uniform statewide system for this, just all the UCs, perhaps a few CSU, and maybe some of the 110 community colleges within California, (although there are also a few out of state ones). Why should one feel subjected to a lower G.P.A. when a student who earns the same grades or letters at a different college does not receive the same effect on their G.P.A.? If the intention is to really separate students in regards to achievement, then why not adopt this measure universally, that way all classes can be graded the same way, students can then focus on their schoolwork rather than a distracting "symbol" affixed to their grade, and professors can concentrate on better serving students, rather than focusing on questions such as "Will you use signs for grades in this class?" A simple web-search can be performed to find some of the merits of these arguments above, and their supporting evidence, and these facts are not made up. In concession to those who hold the opposing view, we just respectfully disagree with the current system in regards to its goals with education. We are just in favor of the traditional straight scale that had been used just up until a little while ago, and we have considered the reasoning of the current system, but we do feel we raise a valid point ourselves, and students who have been accepted now should not have to pay for administrative errors of the past such as passing (accepting) students who probably should not have been accepted to college in the first place, and thus causing the implementation of the current system. We do not seek to offend anyone, but we just wish to make our point heard as well, and we hope that those who are reading can consider the validity of the points we are raising. If anyone feels this is intentionally biased, we would gladly remove this petition, but we don't feel this is so. This letter could have been much longer, but this is not a petition of one or two persons. This is for many students who disagree with the current grading system. We are not advocating lowering standards. Far from it. If anything, the sole focus on G.P.A. alone sends the wrong message to students. Removing one less distraction from students will help them to focus on more important things: success in college! As for those who think we are lazy, or make college easier, we know college isn't supposed to be easy, and we're not saying it should, but making something that is already hard even harder only discourages those already in college. There are already enough distractions in the average college student's life. One should not be burdened more than they already are. We also feel the standards we are being judged against are high enough as they are (which are most likely being raised even as we write) while the quality and standards of our education are being lowered (which is being lowered as we write. Just pick up a newspaper or watch the news and judge for yourself, budget cuts, crowded classes, school protests, etc. This is why we are reluctant to put any specific sources up. We want you, the reader, to do your own research, free from any biases. We know there are two sides to the matter, but that is not our concern. We merely want to bring attention to the matter, not bias opinions.). Why should have to work more with less material when others before us had an easier time? This system has to be reformed. Either it should be universal, or it should be scrapped. We are voting for the latter, and we hope that you support us as well. In closing, we just wanted to thank all the readers of this petition, and especially the signers, because without you, this petition would go nowhere, so we thank everyone who has put forth the time and effort to read this long petition, one which must have representation and a voice. It is for this reason that we humbly ask that you please make you voices heard, and do share with everyone you feel who may be interested in this petition, especially to those who signed and those who are most affected by this. Thank you to the readers and also to all the people who are hosting this on the care2.com petition site. Please spread the word, sign this petition now, and Have A Nice Day!

Update: 1-30-11

This will be a new feature that will be added at various times. To date, we have 63 signatures. But we will need more if those of us who agree on this issue want to enact change.  I encourage those who have already signed to please spread the message to others, especially those who are connected to others who can spread the word to large groups of students. Also, we want to encourage students from affected institutions to really spread the word to bring light on this discontentment. We would really like to enact change soon, and we believe also that those who have been affected by this, even if they had received grades, a long time ago, or at any time since this has been enacted, should be allowed to have their G.P.A.s restored. But right now, signatures are important, as this will show that not only do we care, but we also want to change the system! So get everyone you know , and inform as many people you know, to sign this petition immediately, please!!! Thank you.