Highacres Colleg a) = El Volume 1 No. 1 DEAN McCALLUS Welcome to the New Grading System Three Decades at PSU by Gene Maylock Penn State student Joseph L. McCallus had no idea of his commitment to Penn State when he started his college career back in 1955 at the Hazleton campus of Penn State. The Dean, father of a four-month-old son, entered the Penn State University system as a freshman in the spring of 1955, completed two years at Hazleton, transferred to University Park, and graduated in 1958 with a B.S. in Business Administration. After graduation, McCallus accepted a position 'as assistant manager of the Hetzel Union Building--the HUB at State College and after three years returned to the Hazleton area in 1961 as- Dean of Student Affairs of y the local campus. Having ties with many friends and acquain tances at University Park and still wanting to con tinue his education, Dean McCallus enrolled in a mas ter's program, earning his M.S. of Business Adminis tration in 1966. Dean McCallut, looking back three decades, readily ad mits that the best years of his life have been spent at Penn State. "I'd never change it for anything' else," McCallus said. "I've seen students, friends, and relatives go through Penn State for bigger and better things in life. There are many doc tors, lawyers, teachers, clergy, accountants, and other professionals, out there because of Penn State." It is not strange that the Dean's four sons selected Penn State for their college. Three of the four have gone on _for advanced degrees. McCallus, in his quest for knowledge, and his drive to do a better job, notes that life is a never-ending learning process and-a col lege campus provides the best opportunity to learn. The Dean's responsibilities include admissions, recruiting, financial aid, placement, student organi zations, resident life, veterans affairs, health services, and career devel opment. He .is assisted by Dr. Joseph Marchetti (Coordi nator of Residential Life), Mrs. Maureen Gaffney (Health Services), Mr. Cy Falatko (Recreation Hall Coordinator), Bruce Young (Student Recreation), and Pat Zubritsky and Joanne Pritulsky (Office of Stu dent Programs and Ser vices). The Pennsylvania State University by Matthew Harris In a landmark decision in this part of the state, the Pennsylvania State University Senate Committee voted in favor of a bill that would alter the grading system for undergraduate courses from the current system of (A) Excellent, (B) Good, (C) Fair, (D) Poor, and (F) Failure, to a system consisting of "+" and "-" along with the letter grade. This new procedure will begin during the fall semester of 1987. The Senate feels that a revised grading system will provide an incentive for students to improve their academic performance and will be an equitable and more precise evaluation of a student's academic achievement. Through the years, this topic has been a major concern to the University. However, it remained on the "back burner" until the Spring semester of 1984 when two independent surveys were conducted among faculty and students. The results of these surveys showed an overwhelming majority in favor of the change. Students felt that if the "+" and " -" system was going to be installed, then there should be grades consisting of C-, D+, and D-. This recommendation was turned down by the Senate Committee which, in turn, discussed and finalized the new system. The grades will lan October 14,1985 be as follows: In contrast to the students' suggestions, the committee voted in favor of a grade of A+ that would be equivalent to a grade of 4. 33. This caused disagreement among the Senators, one of them whom was Dr. Donald Rung, who stated that producing the A+ "would have very serious ramifications on the legislation written on 4.00 honors and other things." Others in the committee who disagreed with the charge did so on the grounds that it would cause grade inflation. Keep in mind, though, that this entire scenario is only tentative. At the time of this meeting, only 111 members voted. There is an approximate total of 205 Senators in the University Faculty Senate and 94 of them were absent on the day this vote took place. This one loophole and what results from it can change the course of history of Penn State for many years to come. In fact, it has been decided that a new vote will take place on October 8, 1985. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8) = 4.00 = 3.67 = 3.33 = 3.00 = 2.67 = 2.33 = 2.00 = 1.00 = 0.00
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