Purdue Annual Letter

"When I signed up for the course, I thought I was playing it smart. I thought, 'I'll take shop. It'll be such as easy way to maintain my grade point average.'"
--Brian Johnson (The Breakfast Club)

Interesting annual letter from Purdue University President Mitch Daniels. Purdue made headlines last spring when it acquired the assets of online education provider Kaplan.

Daniels updates stakeholders on the Kaplan acquisition and how the institution plans to integrate the Kaplan assets into its higher ed processes. It remains to be seen whether a top tier institution can simultaneously do both face-to-face and distance education exceptionally well.

I found Daniels' comments on gradeflation particularly interesting. The evidence at Purdue is consistent with what is happening elsewhere: grades are drifting higher without commensurate improvement in student skills. Here is his central concern:

"In too many places, 'self-esteem' has apparently taken precedence over candor in student assessment. For many of our arriving students, anything less than an A comes as a jolt and a rude surprise. The student evaluations of our faculty which are collected at the end of each term are thought by many to be heavily tilted toward professors who are less demanding or inclined to easier grading."

I can attest to his latter point. Want better end-of-course evals? Grade easier.

Daniels admits that his "bias on the topic is evident." Further, he states that, "I believe that, in a sea of leniency, a university that maintains tough standards of performance will set itself and its graduates apart in a highly positive way."

Perhaps, but there be a wind in the face of an institution that seeks to attract large numbers of students by advertising candor and rigor in its evaluation systems. Students have been conditioned to seek out 'easy' classes and professors in order to achieve the highest mark possible.

I should add that Daniels writes like a CEO who demonstrates solid understanding of his organization's external environment and internal strengths/opportunities. Purdue is fortunate to have him.