Jon Weinberg '13 explains the problems with median grade reports, and offers some suggestions.

The Student Assembly passed a resolution — by a vote of 17 to 1 — yesterday that seeks to ensure that current transfer students will not be subjected to the University’s new policy of publishing median grades on transcripts.

Andrew Brokman ’11, S.A. Transfer Representative, had proposed Resolution 26, which “requests that the registrar clarify the Median Grade Policy, so that it is in conformity with the Faculty Senate Resolution.” It states that students who will graduate any date earlier than June 2012 should not have the median grades on their transcripts.

Starting with the current freshman class, median grades will be reported on all students’ transcripts alongside the grade that they earned in the class. This new policy pits students against each other, creating an unnecessarily competitive climate. The University should reconsider this move, and allow students the choice as to whether or not median grades appear on their transcripts.