When students turn in CCA papers every semester, they play Hillsdale’s version of Russian roulette. That’s because Hillsdale’s CCA paper grading system is neither reasonable nor transparent.
The CCA grading system is anonymous. Students don’t know — or at least aren’t supposed to know — who grades their CCA papers. The system is also unpredictable. Different graders mean that students receive a whole array of grades, regardless of the quality of work. This is unfair and inconsistent with Hillsdale’s personal approach and transparency in education.
The college boasts small class sizes and interaction between students and professors, and professors encourage students to visit office hours for out-of-classroom help. Professors aren’t out to get students.
But the mysterious CCA graders are.
January 2015’s CCA was titled “American Journalism, Yesterday and Today.” I registered, attended all lectures, wrote my paper a few days before the deadline, and turned it in. Simple enough.
More than two months later, upon receiving the graded paper, I was shocked to read scribbles such as “nonsensical” next to clear sentences, and “a little over the top here!!” next to the phrase “the last best hope of America.”
You know what is nonsensical and over the top? Awarding a 78 percent for a well-written and coherent paper for a one-credit seminar. I know from experience what a C+ paper looks like, and this was not a C+ paper.
Next step: Appeal the paper. Another difficult process. The office warns students before making an appeal: “If you choose to have your paper reviewed, I must caution you that your grade could go up, remain the same, or even possibly go down.”
After writing an appeal nearly half the length of my initial paper for why my work deserved a better grade, I received an 86 percent, but not without further comments: “Argument quite hostile for asking for more points.” I was satisfied with the grade, but not with the process.
The anonymity and inconsistency of the system is absurd. Who are the graders, and why can’t students know who they are? Do graders have guidelines by which they grade? Or is it subjective? Students deserve more clarity.
The office can provide help on how to write a better paper next time, but one can never discuss one’s specific paper with the grader. The comments are often stylistic rather than textual, which makes one question if the graders were even at the lectures.
Director of Programs for External Affairs, Matt Bell, explained the system. He said that he grades a number of the papers himself, but because of the quantity of papers, faculty, past faculty, qualified staff members, and Ph.D. students who are working on their dissertations help grade the papers.
“Both I and my predecessor CCA director, Timothy Caspar — a current and longtime adjunct faculty member — review the grades to ensure uniformity and fairness,” Bell said via email. “We do not make public the names of all the graders, because they are employed to help grade the papers, not to consult with students.”
But when individual graders are not held accountable for their specific comments, it is much easier to grade without careful consideration. The CCA anonymity is illogical. Students can’t know who graded their papers, and they can’t even know why they can’t know.
Finally, the grading is arbitrary. If anything, it is pure luck. If Grader Bob picks your paper out of the pile, you’ll get an A, even if you wrote the paper the night before. But if Grader Sue does, it’s a C for you. And if grading is alphabetical, students at the end of the alphabet are out of luck.
The college should make the grading system more transparent and fair. Students who attend the lectures and write decent papers should not receive C’s in the CCA. It is against Hillsdale’s mission and educational standards to grade papers anonymously and without grader accountability, and students deserve an explanation.