On the January 7th, 2013, the Director of Upper Iowa University (UIU) in Malaysia office, Mr. Kalai Poniah, announced the implementation of new grading system (as shown in the picture below), which takes effect from the Spring Semester 2013.
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| Comparison of new and old grading policy |
Those who have taken UIU courses before Spring 2013 will continue to be graded according to the previous grading policy.
Previously, grades were classified into five groups which were: A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D (60-69) and F (0-59), with the quality points range from 4.00, 3.00, 2.00, 1.00, and 0.00 respectively.
While the new grading policy categorizes marks into grade A+ (96-100), A- (90-95), B+ (86-89), B(83-85), B-(80-82), C+ (76-79), C(73-75), C-(70-72), D+(66-69), D(63-65), D-(60-62) and F(0-59), with the quality points range from 4.00, 3.67, 3.33, 3.00, 2.67, 2.33, 2.00, 1.67, 1.33, 1.00, 0.67 and 0.00 respectively.
The old grading policy for the American Degree Program (ADP) in SEGi University has been discussed and debated by students for the past few years.
Many students were unhappy with the old grading policy until the new policy was implemented.
According to Kalai, the change of the grading policy was mainly to mirror the grading system used in the main campus.
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| The reporter with Mr. Kalai |
“Students have been asking me why the grading policy of UIU is different with Sunway University, Taylors University, Help University and other institutions that offer ADP programs,” he says.
“Since other institutions have grade A+, A-, B+, B, and B- and so on but we have only A, B and C, they feel it is unfair to them.
“Hence, after receiving such feedback for a few years, this change finally happens in UIU,” Kalai says with a smile.
However, there are a handful of students who are not satisfied with the new grading system.
A 4th year marketing major student Chin Mei Wan, 24, says: “I personally prefer the old grading system as I think most of the students have become accustomed to it since the first year of the program.
“Therefore, I don’t think it is a good idea to implement this new grading system as it might affect us in a negative way.”
“For instance, in order to get an A, which is worth 4.00 quality points in the old policy, students have to achieve 90-100 marks throughout the course,” she says.
However, in order to get 4.00 quality points according to the new policy, students have to score an A+, which are 96-100 marks.
“That will be a problem to most of the students as it is like an impossible mission to get 96-100 in UIU (courses), I would say, ” she continues.
She goes on to explain that this will affect students’ CGPA score and don’t even have to think about to graduate with the honor of Magna Cum Laude (first-class honor that requires CGPA score 3.90 and above).
“Fortunately, it doesn’t affect me as we do not have to follow the new grading policy but I feel pathetic for the juniors,” she says.
Meanwhile, a 4th year Psychology major student Simon Seah Wen Jin, 22, says: “The new grading policy is way better and fairer for the students as we get what we deserve in terms of quality points.
“This is a fairer way to calculate our quality point compared to the old policy.
“For example, if I get the marks ranged in B+ in the old policy, I will definitely get 3.00 quality points; while in the new policy, if I get the B+ in my exams, I could get 3.33 quality points, which is much higher than 3.00,” he says.
Marketing major student Dheepan Rajagopal, 24, held a neutral position regarding the change of grading policy.
“It doesn’t matter whether we have to follow the new policy or old policy - in order to acquire good grades, one needs to strive for the best all the time, "he states.
“If you always aim for the highest level, you will still graduate with a four-flat (first-class honor) no matter in which policy.”
Summa Cum Laude is counted as CGPA score of 3.9.
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