Has the Dean’s List lost its value?

The Dean’s List is considered the highest academic honor a student can receive on a semester-basis at Clarke University. However, every fourth student made the prestigious list last semester. While this showcases that many students are successful in their academic work, it raises the question whether the Dean's List adequately distinguishes between good and excellent work. There are many ideas to reform the Dean's List, like a President's List or First and Second Honors.

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For the fall semester of 2024, 237 students made the Clarke University Dean’s List, meaning that of all undergraduate students, 27% made it on the list. After speaking with the Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Yvonne Zimmerman, she believes that part of the higher number of students “is connected to the phenomenon of grade inflation in higher education.” Does this still truly represent academic excellence and what could be done to improve the selection?

Some argue that the Dean’s List should remain as it is, especially since it encourages students to work hard to achieve the threshold of a 3.65 GPA. This number is connected to the academic honors every student can achieve at graduation, where 3.65 is considered the sufficient grade point average for a the “Magna cum Laude” honor, the second highest honor after the “Summa Cum Laude”, which is a GPA of 3.8 or higher. The current threshold also makes the goal well achievable for students, which leads to more involvement in the classroom. Zimmerman adds that “it is a nice way to be able to recognize students who are doing well”. Additionally, employers welcome academic achievements, no matter the number of students on the list, which serves as another argument for not being concerned about a large number of students on the Dean’s List. Academically, Clarke University is looking very successful if a fourth of the student population makes the Dean’s List every semester, highlighting the importance of good education that Clarke stands for.

Another major concern that comes up with mentioning the list, is the difference in the levels of difficulty between majors. Many students agree that there are significant differences in difficulty between majors, which makes it harder for some students to make the cut, while other students with easier classes have it less difficult to earn academic honors for their efforts. Changing the Dean’s List would make it significantly more difficult for a majority of science majors to keep up with the raised bar. Such a change might be perceived as unfair to those students who have to manage more difficult classes.

While those arguments make a good point of encouraging students, there is a number of issues that others see with the current state of Clarke’s Dean’s List. The most obvious is the number of students that achieve those honors. The list exists to honor extraordinary work in the classroom each semester. By definition, if 237 individuals of the student population are extraordinary, every one of these becomes ordinary and making the list doesn’t have the sense of standing out amongst your peers anymore. Being part of a fourth of any group, hardly makes one feel special or honored in a certain way.

There are several possible alternatives to honor students in a more unique way, while differentiating more between great and extraordinary work. The first option is a President’s List, which would only include the Top 5% every semester. With around 900 undergraduate students, this list would include the top 45 students every semester. When asked about the idea of a President’s List, the Vice President answered that “anything we can do to recognize student achievement is a good thing”, but also stated that creating this list would be another thing that the Academic Affairs Office has to run at the end of every semester, adding to the administrative tasks already at hand. She also brought up the point that a President’s List is not yet established as a readily recognized academic honor and a name throughout higher education in the U.S. yet, which would make the significance of this honor something students would need to explain on their resumes. Rarely do students have to explain to potential employers the significance of appearing on the Dean's List. To remove the issue of prominence, another option would be adding first and second honors to the already established Dean’s List. These ranked honors could be in compliance with the academic honors at graduation, with First Honors being above 3.8 in accordance to the “Summa cum Laude” and Second Honors being above a 3.65 following the “Magna cum Laude”. While these are major changes to the current existing Dean’s List, some lighter adjustments could include an asterisk after the name to highlight students with a perfect 4.0 in that semester. Zimmerman loves the idea and thinks this could be easily established in the following academic year, if supported.

The Vice President for Academic Affairs supports students in their academic pursuits: “I do like the idea, whether it is first and second honors, President’s List or just an asterisk next to the names of students who have earned a 4.0 to point out all of these students have done really well and are recognized and honored for their achievements.”