Last week, George Leef and Duke Cheston argued that all graduation rates are not equal. In that column, they ended with this salient point:
Keep in mind that colleges don’t graduate their students. Students graduate themselves by doing what is required.
This statement hits the nail on the head in regards to assessment. Professors have a responsibility to assess fairly; part of that assessment should involve giving F’s when appropriate. It troubles me that I know more than one professor who is scared to fail too many students because of the student-evaluation repercussions. I imagine that those are not isolated cases.