Achievement Index

We, the undersigned students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, do hereby petition the Faculty Council to vote against the resolution to adopt the Achievement Index (AI) as the Metric for University-wide Comparative Rankings of Students, and we do so based on the following concerns:

AI is not transparent, and therefore it is not a responsible grading system. Students can calculate their GPA, and they know clearly what they have to do to earn their grades. AI is the product of advanced statistics, a veritable magic box over which individual students have little control.

There is no student demand for the AI system. Rather, AI seems to be a solution in search of a problem. The financial costs of this resolution are not even mentioned in the proposal, but AI will be expensive to implement. Student fees will likely be hiked as a result, and such programs as the degree-audit system may be less of a priority.

AIs inherent competitiveness will set students against each other in a zero-sum game for points that could irreparably damage the friendly environment of student collaboration and peer tutoring that UNC now embraces.

As students, we are the constituency that will be most affected by the Achievement Index if it is implemented, and we have very real and serious concerns about the effects of AI. Consequently, we urge you to keep students in mind when you cast your votes. We urge you to vote against AI.