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A ‘D’ won’t cut it anymore

UMS demands better transfer grades beginning Fall '04

By Pattie Barry

Posted on Nov. 24, 2003, at 12:00 a.m.

The University of Maine System’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the adoption of a universal credit transfer policy last Monday. The policy, which will be implemented in the fall of 2004, requires that all course transfers for credit from any school into the University of Maine System must have a grade of C- or better.

For the past eight years, the Board of Trustees has required that students who transfer from a school in the university system to another school in the system receive full credit for any courses graded a “D-” or better. Alternatively, students coming to a school within the university system from outside must have received a “C-” or better in order to receive credit for the class. Grade point averages do not transfer with the student in either case.

The old policy was likely designed help students who transfer to other schools in the university system, said Elsa Nunez, vice chancellor for academic and student affairs on the Board of Trustees. It did not work effectively, however, because transfer students were be able to take classes they might not have been prepared for, she said.

The new policy, which was proposed by Joe Wood, the provost from the University of Southern Maine, received a unanimous vote from both the committee and board members. Wood said he pushed for the policy change because it is unconventional to transfer “D” grades with credit at other universities. With the current policy, students can transfer all of the credits for a “D” class, but no grade is recorded.

“If a student can take a ‘D’ grade into my institution, he or she should take the quality points with them,” Wood said. “At USM, we’ve never accepted a ‘D’ grade from Harvard, and now we don’t have to accept one from anywhere.”

The new policy wasn’t implemented until now because of opposition from admissions offices at some of the universities in the system, Wood said. According to Nunez, no one on the board seemed to oppose the change.

“I think the new policy is fair, because it treats both groups of students equally, and it is important for [the University of Maine System] to have high standards,” she said. “By not accepting D’s [from UMS students], we are raising these standards.”

Peter Reid, director of the office of Student Records, said he understands the reason for the policy change, but does not expect it to greatly impact transferring students.

“I’m not sure that it is going to affect that many students we get,” Reid said.

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