Academic Affairs Archives - Student Government Association Blog

Student Government Association Blog

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SGA Supports Long-Range Scheduling Database

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Senate has recently passed a resolution supporting the implementation of the periodicity and modality database. This involves a uniform and easily accessible database for students and faculty to view and input long-range scheduling plans for preparation and registration purposes.

The database extends for three years and displays summer, fall and spring intersession course schedules. It also lists the course’s modality (blended, I-NET, seated, etc.).

A team assembled of faculty and staff has been developing the database, with student input, for several years and it is now in the final stages of development. The database will be available to students by the Summer 2013 semester.

 

For information, please contact Riana Sears, Chief Communications Officer, at Riana21@live.missouristate.edu.

SGA Approves Extension of Library Hours during Finals Week

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Student Government Association has approved a resolution in support of extending Meyer Library’s hours of operation during final examination periods to 24 hours per day.

The Student Government Association passed a similar resolution in the spring of 2011 to extend the library’s hours until 2 a.m. throughout the year. Considering that students have used the library heavily during these extended hours, SGA and the Meyer Library staff are excited to see the turnout during “Finals Week.”

After considering student feedback regarding the library’s hours of operation, the library staff and Thomas Peters, dean of library services, will provide 24-hour support during the final examination period this fall.

Instead of its regular hours of 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Mon-Thurs, beginning Sun. Dec. 9 through Thurs. Dec 13, Meyer Library will stay open non-stop.

Students present in the library during these extended hours can expect various promotions from the library staff aimed at keeping students motivated for their exams.

For more information, please contact Riana Sears, Chief Communications Officer at Riana21@live.missouristate.edu.

SGA Unanimously Suggests Abolishment of Plus/Minus Grading

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After months of research on behalf of Student Government Association members, a resolution asking for the abolishment of the Plus/Minus grading system was passed with unanimous consent during the February 28, 2012 senate meeting.

Drafted by the Academic Affairs Committee, the resolution draws upon data gathered by Missouri State University in addition to the results of a student poll hosted by SGA. Over 1500 students responded to SGA’s Plus/Minus poll, with the overwhelming majority of students stating that they would favor the removal of the Plus/Minus grading system.

Introduced in the fall of 2009, the Plus/Minus system was aimed primarily at reducing grade inflation. However, data from Office of Institutional Research indicates that implementing the system led to the largest instance of year-to-year inflation of mean undergraduate cumulative GPA in 10 years.

Student Government Association members approved the strongly worded resolution unanimously in hopes of indicating to faculty how strongly the majority of the student body feels in regards to the current system.

The next step for SGA is to present the resolution to Missouri State’s Faculty Senate, where faculty members will have the opportunity to hear from student representatives and provide feedback on the resolution.

For more information, please contact Paige Oxendine, Chief Communications Officer, at Oxendine100@live.missouristate.edu

SGA Asks Professors to Make Syllabi Available in Advance

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Missouri State’s Student Government Association unanimously approved a resolution on October 26, 2011 asking professors to make course syllabi available to students prior to course registration.

The resolution, which will be given to Faculty Senate for consideration, emphasizes the role that syllabi play in students having a full understanding of a course. The resolution also highlights the benefits of students being able to view a course’s syllabus before registering for the class.

The Student Government Association has created a list of items they feel instructors ought to include on all syllabi, with the understanding that the syllabi made available prior to registration may not be completely finalized.

Plus/Minus Effects

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http://sga.missouristate.edu/docs/Plus-Minus Effects Fall 2009.xls

Attention students!  For information over the effects of the plus/minus system, please see the link above which lists grade and grade point average distributions for the Fall 2008 and Fall 2009 semesters (before and after the implementation of the plus/minus grading system).  This data was collected by the Office of Institutional Research and was shared with the Student Government Association.

A few things to note:

  • The overall GPA decreased by .03 points for undergraduate students and decreased by .06 points for graduate students.  However, the data shows that this cannot be attributed solely to the implementation of the plus/minus grading system because the amount of Ds and Fs increased.
  • There were 3.3% fewer 4.0s awarded to undergraduate students and 10.7% fewer 4.0s awarded to graduate students.
  • Only 16% of all grades given were followed by a plus or a minus, reflecting on the low number of courses using the plus/minus grading system.