By Sharon Keeler
Photography by Dick Shelton

Bill Zawatski ’03 came to Saint Anselm College because he wanted to attend a small college with a strong biology program. He flourished under its rigorous academic standards, graduated magna cum laude, and is now pursuing a master’s degree in public health at Boston University. Despite a grading policy he “didn’t like at first,” because he felt he was at a disadvantage to students at other undergraduate schools that inflated grades, Zawatski admits his uneasiness was unfounded.

“It seemed Saint Anselm students would be disadvantaged, but in fact the policy was fair and just and never affected my grades,” he says. “I have high expectations…I enjoy learning and that enthusiasm drove me to do the best work I could.”

The policy Zawatski refers to is actually a standard for awarding grades of A and B at 30 to 35 percent for excellent or above average work. Average or satisfactory achievement, students quickly learn, earns an average or satisfactory grade of C. Even faculty acknowledge they are reputed to give more C's than their counterparts, which can sometimes displease students and parents, and has the college trying to shake its nickname “St. C's.”

But the fair grading policy, most faculty and administrators agree, is evidence that the college awards grades that accurately reflect accomplishment.

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