Grades earned in A/F classes that are “pluses” and “minuses” will now be factored into grade-point average calculations differently, according to the Office of the Registrar. AU first implemented the change in the fall 2012 semester.
Grade point equivalents of letter grades will now include two digits after the decimal, whereas since 1978, they had included just one. For example, an A- goes from being the equivalent of a 3.7 to that of a 3.67 and a B- changes from a 3.3 to a 3.33.
The GPA change was one of the revisions to academic regulations that the Faculty Senate discussed during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years and put into place last fall.
“The objective for rewriting the academic regulations was to streamline processes, clarify expectations, and raise academic standards for students at AU,” Interim Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies Virginia Stallings said in an email.
Other changes include limiting the number of pass/fail classes students may take each semester to one and mandating registration stops be put on students who do not satisfy the College Writing and University Math requirements in the first 30 credits they accumulate.
Students have not taken issue with the changes, Stallings said, citing the grandfather policies allowing grades earned before last semester to be calculated under the old system.
“Most of them relate to the grandfather policies,” Stallings said. “The new regulations are much more clear and easy for students to understand.”
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