What’s the Point of a Professor?

[Buzz Clik]

4. The pivot point for grade inflation started with one very specific change:

During all the student upheaval in the 60s and 70s, the student let it be known that they felt their faculty were generally distant and disengaged and the resulting education was "irrelevant." As a concession to the students, student evaluation of teaching became mandatory at just about every institution. (Student evaluation of teaching likely began around 1920, but it was in the late 60s that the tide turned.) Retention of young, untenured members of the faculty hinged in part on receiving outstanding evaluations. Ditto faculty raises. This may or may not have helped with "relevance", but it certainly impacted grades. Faculty soon learned that happy students give great evaluations, and happiness is an A or a B in your class.