Juniors and seniors who thought the SAT would be the last standardized test they'd ever have to take might be in for a rude awakening. UB officials have proposed using the Graduate Record Examination General Test to assess the quality of general education programs and evaluate how well students here are learning.
According to current plans, the GRE will be randomly assigned to about seven percent of junior students in a class each year to fulfill the SUNY requirement of 20 percent every three years. Although most graduate school-bound students have taken or will be taking the test, many students who aren't pursuing graduate school will still be expected to take the test if they are selected.
The idea of implementing a randomly assigned test elicited mixed feelings among faculty and students at the Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday.
Some voiced objections that poor GRE scores can hurt a student's future. Unlike the SAT, which allows students to pick their best scores, GRE scores cannot be removed from student records.
"I wouldn't encourage one of my students to participate if they weren't ready for the test," said Debra Street, an assistant professor in the sociology department. "They shouldn't be asked to compromise their future for the sake of UB statistics."
There were also concerns that students may not take the assessment seriously, not realizing that the test is the GRE and a low score could hinder their graduate school pursuits.
Student Association President Dela Yador said he worries about the consequences of such a program.
"Since every GRE score counts on a student's record, an alternative needs to be used to prevent students from potentially hurting their graduate school chances," Yador said.
UB officials said there is a possible solution: the use of a practice GRE, as opposed to the official exam, would prevent low scores from being reported to graduate schools and eliminate any academic risk for students participating in the study.
Unfortunately for students, the practice test carries additional costs. SUNY explicitly stated it would pick up the cost if the official GRE is administered, but with the practice test, the process of correction and data analysis would not necessarily be covered by state funding.
Some students, like Sonia Kang, a senior finance major and SA vice president, said they are worried students will ultimately have to bear the cost of such an assessment.
"I'm troubled with the cost of the test," Kang said. "I could see this eventually being tagged on as a student fee or some other cost."
Although many of these details are still in dispute, officials claim that the cost will be minimal. Administrators also assured the Faculty Senate that the situation is quite the opposite, citing that the program may one day even provide free GRE testing to students participating in the study.
With free testing as a possible incentive, some students may be willing to participate. But with randomly assigned assessment, student cooperation would still become a question.
"Every student has a chance to opt-out if chosen," said Carol Tutzauer, director for assessment and assistant vice provost for Undergraduate Education. "Forcing a student to test would not be possible or fair."
With that in mind, another problem could emerge in collecting data for the evaluation. If students had the choice to decline the test, a non-response bias could surface. Graduate school-bound students, as well as non-graduate school-bound students, must all take part in the testing to draw a true representation of UB students.
"To get results could be challenging, but nonetheless it's a novel idea, with a few kinks still needed to be worked out," Tutzauer said.
"There is much to discuss about this program," said Peter Gold, associate dean for General Education. "The GRE or practice GRE may be used, or we may see in a short while that tests like the MCAT and LSAT might be utilized."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
