People look forward to a lot of things come graduation. Most, if not all students simply want to get on the stage during the graduation ceremony and celebrate getting through four years of hard work and dedication. Others aim for the elusive latin honors, while others still look forward to departmental awards.
Although not given as much attention as the ones given out during graduation, periodic academic achievements are very much still sought after. A student enrolled in at least 15 units and has garnered a Quality Point Index value of 3.35 and above is considered an honor student for the semester and is included in the Dean’s List (DL).
Getting into the DL is something that is often talked about and aimed for by many students not only because of the fulfillment and prestige, but also because of the benefits attached to it.
An unusual privilege
Perhaps the most prominent among the privileges bestowed upon students who are part of the DL is that of unlimited cuts. The 2016 Loyola Schools Undergraduate Student Handbook states that “[h]onor students are allowed unlimited absences, unless specified otherwise by the instructor in the class syllabus.”
For some classes, this policy is actively enforced. “If students have been part of the DL prior to that particular semester, I ask them to submit a copy of their AISIS grades and I will record that as unli cuts,” says History instructor Nicolo Ludovice.
The procedure seems simple enough, although this has also given rise to some complications over the years. Psychology instructor Ma. Tonirose Mactal and Assistant Professor Emerald Jay Ilac, PhD have noticed some irregularities based on past experiences.
“That’s not something I announce or even pay attention to, really, unless the student will be the one to assert the right,” says Mactal. “I think students usually will not [provide] that information,” Ilac adds. This leads to the situation wherein the unlimited cuts policy does not even get mentioned in most classes because neither the professors nor the students are willing to initiate the discussion about it.
Leadership and Strategy instructor Johnny Filart is another professor who acknowledges, but has reservations about the system. “That’s a school policy. I will honor it, but I don’t necessarily promote [it],” says Filart. “People that are absent haven’t really gained much more than those who have been physically present,” he adds. Indeed, some students may be competent enough to understand concepts and ace tests regardless, but Filart stresses that this comes at the cost of giving up the valuable opportunities to clarify, consult, and gather insights within the classroom.
Looking into it further reveals that it is seemingly not much of a benefit for students as well. “There are students in the semester who do not take the cuts because they want to maintain their status [of] being DL,” Ilac says.
Ludovice echoes the same sentiment: “From my own personal observation, minsan ang mas sumasagad pa nga sa mga cuts are those who were not part of the Dean’s List (sometimes the people who maximize their cuts are actually those who were not part of the Dean’s List).”
Although the prospect of being able to have the freedom to cut classes without being penalized may seem enticing, all these concerns and contentions make the unlimited cuts benefit seem strangely out of place and counterintuitive.
Risk and reward
Evidently, the unlimited cuts policy can have major repercussions on both the students and professors. While they may not be immediately evident, there are also behavioral ramifications for students who utilize the benefit.
Using real-life businesses as an analog, Filart says that “[for] the most valuable companies, ‘dun na natutulog ‘yung mga may-ari eh. Walang absentee na may-ari. (For the most valuable companies, the company owner sleeps there and then. There are no absentee owners).”
Job interviews and other endeavors outside of school rarely ever focus solely on grades or academic performance, and the skills and attitudes necessary to succeed are tempered nowhere else but inside the classroom.
Complacency is another factor to consider. “Kahit na Dean’s Lister ka for the previous semester, it doesn’t mean that you will automatically do well for this coming semester,” says Ludovice.
To this, Filart says “Nanghihinayang ako with these people that say ‘kaya ko na ‘yan, grade lang naman ‘yan eh’ (I feel bad for these people that say ‘I can do it, it’s just grades’).” Having this attitude can be detrimental in and of itself, but if the students choose to push it further and maximize their cuts, they face a greater risk of undoing their hard work in the past semesters with one small misstep in a major test.
Aside from this, the handbook also includes a few other lesser known perks attached to being part of the DL such as having an easier time overloading classes. The student handbook says honor students may overload up to three units beyond their maximum load for the semester.
Unlike the unlimited cuts policy which can suffer from miscommunication between students and professors, other perks are embedded in school systems and can thus be enforced more consistently. For instance, when students undergo load revisions for overloading, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs checks the QPI of the students to verify whether they were part of the DL in the preceding semester.
On paper, these may indeed seem beneficial for students, but they also have the potential to become detrimental. In the case of overloading, as the name suggests, students who take extra classes bear the risk of being overwhelmed by all the requirements.
“Feeling ko there’s the tendency to focus too much on what [the students] can do intellectually…yes, the brain can hack it, but the other systems ng katawan hindi na kaya (yes, the brain can hack it, but the body’s other systems can no longer keep up),” says Mactal. If left unchecked, the pressure can lead to anxiety and panic attacks, depression, and other serious threats to the students’ mental health.
Delicate balance
Some people are wary of having these kinds of systems, and rightly so, given that they can ultimately become more harmful to the students rather than helpful. However, it is undeniable that they can also bring a lot to the table.
For one, rewarding good academic performance is simply a form of recognition for a student’s hard work and effort. “My own reason as to why I honor these awards is…to recognize the effort of the student. Mahirap naman kasi talaga mag-aral sa Ateneo (Studying in the Ateneo is truly difficult),” says Ludovice. A little motivation and recognition can go a long way towards making the students feel less pressure while at the same time making their achievements more gratifying.
Thus, it is evident that even though some of the existing policies may be a bit dated, the practice of rewarding good academic performance is still relevant. The pressing concern at this point is how these should be implemented while also minimizing their downsides. While it may seem that this is a simple balancing act, there are many more factors at play that make this difficult to achieve.
In the classroom setting, bonus points can help a lot but the rationale behind giving them must also be valid and relevant. It becomes a problem precisely “whenever [the students] fail to get whatever grade they want, they will keep on asking the teacher, ‘what can I do?’ [or] ‘can I do more?’” Mactal stresses. Giving too much bonus points may entice some students into the trap of getting too reliant on them to succeed.
In the case of implementing institutional rewards such as those attached to the DL, things get more complicated. “Incentives for the Dean’s Listers actually improve over the years primarily because systems also improve,” says Ludovice. Indeed, while the incentives themselves have not changed, better and more efficient implementation of school systems such as load revision also affect students who are part of the DL as it expedites some processes even further.
However, this also results in the dilemma wherein even proposed benefits such as priority in enlistment are becoming in danger of becoming obsolete, especially with the enlistment system becoming more streamlined.
The bigger picture
The existing DL incentives do indeed have their merits, but this is not to say that the Ateneo could not use some improvements in other areas. There are others who are involved and excel in sports, organizations, and activities outside of school who some would say do not receive enough recognition. “Papaano kung tipong you engage in [organizations] toward helping other people, wala namang incentive sa ganoon (What if you engage in organizations that help other people? There’s no incentive for that),” says Mactal.
Whether or not the Ateneo is truly too focused on academic achievements, the backbone of implementing rewards and recognitions is more or less the same. To put things simply, “We have to think about the purpose,” says Ludovice. Similarly, according to Filart, the best outcome will always stem from “continuous dialogue between students and the school.”
Policy-making is a complicated process involving the many branches of the administration and the students, through their elected Sanggunian representatives. Unless all of these groups communicate with each other openly and productively, any potential benefits may stay unrealized and obsolete policies may persist.
In this regard, some advancements have already been made. Sanggu spearheaded a DL subsidy project in collaboration with the Rizal Library while the Blue Card system was still being implemented. This allowed students to claim a substantial amount of load that could be used for the library’s printing services.
Currently, the Sanggunian is thinking of ways to implement the DL subsidy now that the Blue Card system has been phased out.
While incentives give recognition and reassurance to deserving students, they are never the focal point of Atenean education. After all, the Ateneo way is characterized by excellence and competence, not by the rewards that come after.
