New Grading Policy Stirs Up Yale MBAs

Anjani Jain, senior associate dean of SOM’s MBA program

Anjani Jain, senior associate dean of SOM’s MBA program

SCHOOL MAINTAINS THAT GRADING FALLS UNDER THE DOMAIN OF FACULTY GOVERNANCE

Jain told the Yale Daily News that he should have been more clear about the student government’s involvement in his email announcing the changes. But he added that the faculty made its decision based on long-term discussions that included the focus groups from the fall. Although student input is important, Jain maintained that decisions about the grading system ultimately fall under the domain of faculty governance.

“Decision-making with respect to all matters of academic policy rests with the senior faculty of the School—the grading scheme is certainly one of those domains,” Jain told Poets&Quants. ” A faculty committee was formed in the early fall to review the grading scheme and make recommendations to senior faculty.  This committee did meet with student academic representatives and had a focus-group discussion with a group of students chosen by the representatives, but there was no survey conducted. The choice of a grading scheme, however, is a recurring topic of conversation that faculty and staff have over the years with students, alumni, employers and other stakeholders.  It was the accumulated input of these informal conversations, along with personal convictions about the purpose of assessment and feedback in educational programs, that guided the faculty discussion and decision.”

Undeterred, King began a student petition against the change “to let the administration and faculty know that most students felt unrepresented, and that they need to have a true dialogue with the student body. The student body is troubled by the lack of consultation prior to the implementation of these changes. The students have disparate views as to the actual substance of the changes, and that is exactly the reason why we think that the administration should open a dialogue with its student body and alumni as well.”

King says he and other students are concerned that the new grading policy, especially the forced grading curve and the disclosure of grades, could change the student environment for the worse. “The culture of SOM has always been open and collaborative,” he says. “Students come to SOM for a variety of reasons, and I think that the culture of the institution plays a big part in many students’ decisions.”

‘STUDENTS WILL BE LESS LIKELY TO HELP EACH OTHER’ DUE TO THE CHANGES

“I think the combination of (1) moving to a grading system that is de facto A/B/C/D/F, (2) imposing a forced curve where 10% of the students must get a D or F and (3) disclosing grades on external transcripts will make students less likely to help their fellow students who may be struggling with a particular concept or class. This is especially important during the core curriculum in the first year, which can be challenging for many students.”

Jain disagrees. “It is remarkable how much interest faculty take in the experiences and professional aspirations of students and the time they spend engaging with students outside of class,” Jain told Poets&Quants. “Faculty also take a great deal of pride in this culture and are equally impassioned about preserving its best aspects. Most of them, especially our senior faculty, have spent the bulk of their academic careers here and have shaped the culture of the institution. These considerations of institutional culture were pervasively present throughout the deliberations that guided the faculty’s decision. My own sense is that the culture of collegiality and collaboration at Yale is founded upon the rich and meaningful interaction with classmates and faculty that underpins the student experience.  It is not the consequence of a particular calibration of the grading scale, and is therefore going to endure a recalibration of the scale.”

King says he also believes that an unintended consequence of the grading changes may result in students taking fewer challenging courses. “Most SOM students enjoy taking classes that are outside of their comfort zone both within SOM and outside SOM,” he says. “The current curriculum and grading system is designed to encourage this, and the administration has always highlighted the fact that we are the business school that is the most connected with its broader university. By changing the grading policy, I believe that there will be a chilling effect whereby students are unwilling to take classes to expand their knowledge base and the academic experience will be worse off for it.”

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