The faculty voted to send a proposal to raise the standards of Latin honors back to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee for revision during the April 14 faculty meeting, according to Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe in an interview with the Justice. The vote to send the proposal back to the committee followed discussions in which concerns about increased competition among students were expressed as well as a proposal to hold a discussion about grading methods and grade inflation.Jaffe said that during the meeting, the discussion partially revolved around the method of raising the standards.

The proposal originally stated that the top 30 percent of the graduating class would receive Latin honors, according to a March 22 Justice article. During the faculty meeting, Andy Hogan '11 and Jenna Rubin '11, who opposed the method of using a cut-off percentage, said that awarding honors based on percentages would foster competition among students. A higher cutoff GPA of 3.7 was suggested in place of a percentage, but was not passed in a vote.

Currently, students must earn a 3.5 GPA to be awarded Latin honors, and graduate cum laude, according to the March 22 Justice article. Students with a 3.7 GPA graduate magna cum laude, and students who achieve a 3.8 GPA and departmental honors graduate summa cum laude.

Hogan, who voiced his concerns about the proposal during the faculty meeting, said in an interview with the Justice that although he agrees the standards of distributing Latin honors should change, a cutoff percentage is not the correct method.

Hogan said that the percentage method would "pit students against each other," which he said is "not the reason students come to Brandeis."

According to Jaffe, having a percentage cutoff would not lead to competition among students."You would have no [way] of knowing [that] someone who was taking one of your classes was the person who would be just above you [in the ranking]" said Jaffe.

In an interview with the Justice, Dean of Academic Services Kim Godsoe also said that she did not see a change in the Latin honors system increasing competition among students. "We're so steeped in the values of community [and] helping each other, that to me, Latin honors don't, in any form, encourage competition between students," said Godsoe.

Another point of discussion, according to Jaffe, was an underlying issue of grade inflation. Jaffe said that because many professors distribute high grades to students, it is difficult to distinguish students who have performed well compared to their classmates. Additionally, Jaffe said that there is grade inflation in some departments, so students who major in sciences, or other subjects, where distributed grades tend to be lower, are at a disadvantage.

Prof. Ray Knight (PSYC) said at the meeting that professors need to reevaluate the way that they distribute grades to students.

Hogan also said that grade distribution and grade inflation are issues that need to be examined. He added that students should be a part of the discussion in moving forward. "It's always good to have discussions about what our practices are. ... I think those kind of discussions are just healthy for an institution to have," Godsoe agreed.

Jaffe said that the proposal to raise Latin honors standards will be looked at; however, he also said that faculty at the meeting concurred that a discussion about grade inflation needs to take place before discussing the proposal. Jaffe said that the proposal would most likely be reviewed in the fall or later during the next academic year, after a discussion has taken place.

According to Jaffe, the Faculty Senate Council, which represents the Senate in discussions with the University president and Academic deans according to Professor and Chair of the Faculty Senate Timothy Hickey (COSI) in an e-mail to the Justice, will speak with the Faculty Senate about organizing a discussion, but a date for a meeting has not been scheduled yet.