After pressure from students and faculty, dean’s list cutoff is raised to 3.50
The Faculty Senate voted to raise the dean’s list cutoff to 3.50 in a meeting on Friday, April 26. The cutoff was previously set at 3.25, and in the fall 2018 semester, 52 percent of undergraduate students made the dean’s list.
According to Dr. Joseph Zimmer, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, the percentage of students who would have made the dean’s list in fall 2018 had the cutoff been 3.50 is 14 percentage points lower; 38 percent of students would have made the fall 2018 dean’s list with a 3.50 cutoff.
Dr. Althea Kaminske, assistant professor of psychology and the chair of the Academic Standards Committee, said that her committee conducted an investigation into the possibility of changing the cutoff. The committee met over the course of the semester and decided that the best course of action would entail raising the cutoff.
“My committee evaluated it, and we came up with some initial options. We sent it to the deans to get some feedback from them,” said Kaminske. “We also consulted with Ann Lehman to look at some institutional data to see what the trends showed. We found that the number of students on the dean’s list had been going up.”
Emily Daigler, a freshman accounting major, acknowledged that some students may feel disappointed that they are no longer on the dean’s list. She said she sees it as a motivating factor, though.
Kaminske said that Chris Brown, executive director of Student Success and HEOP, said that there would likely not be damage to students, which was a main concern of the Academic Standards Committee while investigating the issue.
Zimmer said that he believes St. Bonaventure already has a strong academic reputation, so the change will not impact that reputation.
Sophia Robinson, a freshman marketing major, said, “I think it will definitely make St. Bonaventure more well-known for their academics, and I think that it will push students to work harder and bring up the overall GPA of the school.”
In fall 2018, the average undergraduate GPA sat at 3.1. Lehman, who serves as director of institutional research, did not respond to requests for data surrounding the number of students, by academic school, that made the dean’s list in fall 2018 under the old cutoff and how those numbers would change under the new cutoff.
Only one member of Faculty Senate, James Fodor, professor of theology, abstained from the vote. None of the members of the senate voted against the motion.
Lara McCormick, the new president of the Student Government Association Executive Board, voted to pass the motion. McCormick, a junior political science and international studies double major, serves as a representative for the student body on the Faculty Senate.
“A raise in the GPA requirement would increase the esteem of the honor for students. Right now, more than half of students meet the requirements and it is more of a common occurrence,” said McCormick. “Raising the standards will allow students to take pride in the great academic achievements they make. I hope to see students reach the new standards.”
Though the senate passed the motion, Dr. Dennis DePerro, university president, has to sign the motion in order for it to take effect.
Zimmer said he sees no reason DePerro would not sign the motion.
“When the faculty senate passes policies, it’s almost always for the next catalog year,” said Zimmer. “I’m pretty sure that we will be going with the old standard for this spring, and then this would go into effect in the fall.”
By Meghan Hall, News Assignment Editor
hallml18@bonaventure.edu
