"T" Is For Trying (Hard)?

I remember applauding the removal of the Collegium Excellens from the AAUP censure list in June 2004. The Collegium had lingered in that version of Purgatory for 40 years and 40 nights. I always chafed at teaching at a place on censure (for whatever reason). Now, I know it could have been worse. Benedict College (private 4-year, Columbia, SC) is on double-censure for firing two profs who protested their Leader's latest contribution to higher(?) education: using student effort as a significant criterion in grading. Did the poor dear try hard? Did the poor dear spend hours preparing an asssignment? Give 'em an A for drivel! These profs objected to this intrusion into their professional province in the name of self-esteem and were fired by their Leader. If this is (fair & balanced) insipidity, so be it.

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Faculty Group Censures Benedict College Again, This Time Over 'A for Effort' Policy
By SCOTT SMALLWOOD

For just the fourth time in its history, the American Association of University Professors has issued a supplementary report on a college administration already under censure.

The report, which is being released today, may seem reminiscent of the Monty Python skit where the English bobby screams at the suspect, "Stop! Or I shall say 'Stop' again!" But AAUP leaders say Benedict College's challenge to academic freedom is so serious that it warrants a follow-up report.

The South Carolina college has been on the AAUP's list of censured administrations for a decade, ever since the faculty group found it had acted inappropriately in firing three professors (The Chronicle, June 29, 1994).

The new squabble began last year, when two professors were fired for not following a policy requiring them to base 60 percent of the grades for freshmen on effort. The untenured science professors, Milwood Motley and Larry Williams, later sued the university (The Chronicle, August 23, 2004).

The AAUP report, scheduled for release in the January/February issue of the association's magazine, Academe, argues that decisions about grades are an essential part of a professor's academic freedom.

"Those in the general academic community who are concerned about grade inflation, far from condemning professors who insist on grading according to academic merit, would doubtless find the position of Professors Motley and Williams admirable," the report says.

David H. Swinton, the college's president, did not respond to requests to speak about the association's report.

He has defended the grading policy, saying it is designed to help underprepared students adjust to learning at the college level. Benedict's open enrollment means some students do not have a strong academic background, he has said.

The policy calls for 60 percent of a freshman's grade to be based on effort, although it allows professors to define what factors will be used to measure effort. It means that students who get an A in the effort categories can pass a course even if their academic work merits an F.

For sophomores, effort counts for 50 percent of the grade. Grading policy for juniors and seniors is established by individual departments.

Administrators at Benedict have emphasized that the policy was officially adopted by the college and that professors who do not follow it are being insubordinate.

Chapter Leaders Rebuked

A bigger fight between the faculty and the president may be brewing.

After a draft of the faculty group's report was sent to Mr. Swinton, he told two campus AAUP leaders they would be demoted.

William F. Gunn, a longtime Benedict professor and president of the newly reinstituted local AAUP chapter, received a letter informing him that he would be stripped of the chairmanship of the department of health, physical education, and recreation at the end of the academic year.

The change amounts to a substantial pay cut as well because chairmen hold full-year appointments. Mr. Gunn, who earns about $74,000 a year, said it could mean the loss of more than $15,000 in salary.

Larry D. Watson, vice president of the local chapter, was told that he would no longer be chairman of the social-sciences department.

Mr. Gunn said he liked the president "as a person," but he criticized him as "autocratic." The faculty had no say in putting the new grading policy into effect in 2002. Mr. Swinton "dreamed it up and came and imposed it on us," Mr. Gunn said.

Jordan E. Kurland, an associate general secretary at the AAUP, said the group does not regularly write additional reports on a college once it has been censured. "If we did," he said, "we would have one in each issue" of Academe.

Mr. Kurland said issuing the supplementary report meant the grading dispute would have to be resolved before the censure could be lifted. "This kind of assault on grading on the merits was so unusual," he said, "as to warrant this kind of treatment."

Scott Smallwood covers labor relations in higher education for The Chronicle.

Copyright © 2005 by The Chronicle of Higher Education