At 10:09 AM 11/09/2000 -0500, Vincent Prohaska wrote:
><snip> How can we then tell students in good standing
>that they cannot enroll in their major of choice because its requirement
>is 2.5 or 2.75 or even 3.0? And once the dam is breeched don't we all have
>to go along? I would hate to be one of the programs whose requirement
>stays at 2.0 while others get raised. But is most of us raise, then "good
>standing" becomes meaningless. (I haven't even linked this to the grade
>inflation issue - a 2.7 requirement isn't going to be a problem if the
>courses in the major have A- as the average grade.)
I agree,
Several of the majors at Penn State have instituted admissions caps based
on GPA , residency requirements or both. I think it's a bad trend and
encourages grade inflation and cheating. It also tells the students that
some programs are more valuable that others. IMHO either raise the
admissions standards or the coursework needed to get into a major. In our
case requiring students to have completed both a rigorous math and english
course before entering the major would ensure better students.
Dawn
Dawn G. Blasko Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Experimental Psychology
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Station Road, Erie, PA 16563-1501
Office phone: 814-898-6081
http://www.pserie.psu.edu/hss/psych/blasko.htm
"There is the danger that everyone waits
idly for others to act in his stead."
Albert Einstein
