Dean’s List should be a higher distinction at UNC

TO THE EDITOR:

In response to the story on grade inflation (“Number of students making UNC Dean’s List increasing,” March 25) and the Dean’s List, the current GPA threshold seems inadequate to combat grade inflation and give true meaning to the title of being on the Dean’s List.

The purpose of the Dean’s List is to recognize the best students based on academic performance. Given that the primary metric of performance (i.e. GPA) has been questioned for its reliability over time and between programs (e.g. hard sciences vs. humanities), a better method is needed.

I propose using the method used at my undergraduate institution in which the Dean’s List reflected the top 10 percent of students in each program (including an undecided major category). This is fair to students in every program as the same proportion of students in each program is represented.

Benjamin Heumann
Professor
Geography