My opportunity is the proposal of removing the pluses and minuses in the grading system. This opportunity would benefit the students at the University of Florida, but also the TA's and professors as well. The students benefit alot from this because they will be more motivated in school, have higher GPA's, more time to pursue activities outside of school such as clubs and internships, and lastly, they will have higher chances to be admitted in graduate school. The TA's will benefit from this opportunity because if they have high pass rates then they are eligible to be TA's again the next semester in that course. Some international graduate students rely heavily on this because their performance as a TA can lead to how long theyre able to stay in the United States so it's very important. Lastly, professors benefit from this opportunity because they will have higher pass rates in their classes. If the professors have low pass rates they could potentially lose their jobs or have lower rankings as a professor which will result in fewer students taking a course with them. The forces that created this opportunity were the difficulty of courses at the University of Florida because of the increase in rankings in the past few years. It is clear that the University of Florida wants only the best students, and wants their degree to be filled with absolute value once their students graduate. Currently, students are enduring the stresses of school and relying on third parties sources such as Study Edge, Smokin Notes, and other tutoring stations either on campus or outside of campus. Not all students can afford these resources, taking into consideration that many are taking out student loans for their undergraduate studies and will be taking out more for their graduate studies as well. This opportunity is very big because it can make the academic lives of students a lot better. Fewer students will have mental breakdowns and anxiety because they're for example "one point away" from that A and won't have to suffer the consequences of their GPA.
This idea does not make money. It is kind of similar to a law. It's a proposal to improve the academic career of students at the University of Florida because of how difficult the courses are currently. Many students are having lower chances of becoming admitted to graduate school and losing their scholarships at the expense of their mental state because of the difficulty of their coursework. What I would hope to do with this proposal, if it gets approved it extend this idea to other top 10 universities, as well as Ivy League schools. I believe that all students in those schools are going through the same struggles UF students are going through and need to have this proposed grade change to help them out. I think about it this way, if you're constantly discouraged to do your school work because whatever you do you still wont get that A, then you will end up doing really bad in the long run, so it helps if things are just a little bit easier but not unbelievably simple to the point that it will lower the prestige of your degree.
Universities will switch to this idea because they do not want to their students to drop their university and have staggering GPAS which can in fact bring down the ranking of that school and limit the opportunities the alumni have in terms of the job market. Major factors that play into role in a university's ranking is how well the alumni do afterwards. If Harvard University for example had a ton of loser alumni that weren't going anywhere in their life, then their ranking would drop drastically. It will be difficult to get other schools to switch because they're afraid their school will be seen as more easy, but having many students drop the same courses isn't too good for them either. The competitor in this idea would be UF Registrar. This is because they set the grading policy for each school, therefore I would have to somehow convince them that this proposal is justified and many students would benefit from this idea. Customer support is going to play a huge role in my idea, which is why I have conducted interviews with people from student government, academic advisors, other students, TA's, professors, and students as well. Student government was the most important interview in my opinion because student government has the ability to play a significant role on campus. In other words, if there is something a group of students want to change on campus, getting support from senators in student government would be your best bet. This is because student government officials have the connections and platform to promote change if they want it to happen. What I would do to gain more support is hold peaceful protests on campus, out up signs all over the place, and hold meetings that students can attend. I would also create a petition and go into Turlington or Plaza of the Americas and explain the proposal to students and see if theyre interested in signing and joining the cause.
I believe my most important source will be gathering support and connections from different people to help me with my opportunity. This will not be very simple because I have run into people that aren't too fond of my idea, because they worry a lot about the university's statistics. My idea isn't meant to be exclusive to just the University of Florida, I want other schools to implement the same thing I am proposing therefore I am not too worried about anyone copying my idea. The next thing I want to do with this opportunity is spread it to other top 10 schools and Ivy Leagues. What next for me is I want be heavily involved in addressing faults in the university system and help working with schools and students to improve certain things on campus.
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