UGA to start plus/minus grading policy
Starting this summer, UGA students could find something extra on their transcripts: Plus signs.

That’s because the University System of Georgia Board of Regents recently approved a plus/minus grading system for use at UGA and Georgia State University.

Instead of the strict A, B, C system, students’ achievement will be measure on a tighter scale that includes A-, B+ and C-.

Faculty members say it could add to their ability to more precisely evaluate students’ accomplishments, according to Delmer Dunn, vice president for instruction at UGA.

“The task force that met last year also strongly endorsed the rationale that this would give students more incentives to work hard throughout the course, rather than slack off toward the end of the semester if they knew they had a solid A or B,” he says.

The system goes into effect at the start of the first through session of summer semester, which begins June 8.

The board of regents is allowing the university to operate under plus/minus system for three years on a pilot program. At the end of three years, the program will be re-evaluated for long-term adoption.

Anti-poverty group will meet March 27
University faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend a March 27 meeting to organize citizen participation in Partners for a Prosperous Athens, the initiative to combat causes of persistent poverty in Clarke County. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Cedar Shoals High School.

UGA is one of five convenors of PPA along with the Athens-Clarke County government, the Clarke County School System, the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and Family Connection.

The initiative, launched in January, is aimed at developing a long-range plan to reduce the county’s 28 percent poverty rate, one of the highest in Georgia. A steering committee has spent two months organizing the initiative, and the March 27 meeting will be the first opportunity for local citizens to get involved in the effort.

At the meeting, committees will be formed to study six topics that impact poverty. The topics are education attainment; building a competitive workforce; building diverse housing and transportation options; promoting physical and mental health; promoting dependable, affordable, quality child care; and building a diverse economy.

Committees will be asked to thoroughly research their topic to understand how it relates to poverty, and to develop recommendations on how the information can be used to attack causes of poverty. Committees will be chaired by a member of the steering committee, and each group will be assisted by facilitators from UGA’s Fanning Institute.

Alumna wins top honor for thesis
Jennifer McMahon was awarded the Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award by the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools at its 35th annual meeting in Little Rock, Ark.

McMahon, who earned a master of arts in sociology in May 2005, also holds undergraduate degrees in criminal justice and psychology from the university. Her thesis, “Marital Rape Laws, 1976-2002: From Exemptions to Prohibitions,” won in the social sciences, business and education category.

The award recognizes excellence in research and writing by graduate students. Graduate deans in CSGS member institutions nominate one candidate from their institutions, whose thesis is then judged by CSGS faculty members in the discipline. The other category that received an award this year was life sciences. Winners each received $500 plus travel expenses to attend the 2006 CSGS meeting late last month.