A Short History of Grading Practices at Dalhousie University (1901-2021)

Grading practices at Dalhousie University have changed considerably over the past 120 years. From 1901 until the early 1970s, Dalhousie used a variant of the British system. Initially, a grade of 65% or higher was required for distinction. In 1937, Dalhousie moved to a 2-category system (Distinction vs. Ordinary Pass) and in 1942 the distinction grade cutoff was lowered to 60%. By the late 1940s, the British system returns, “Second Division” was subdivided into Seconds and Thirds, and First Division required an 80% or higher. By the late 1960s, there were conversions between American letter grades (A, B, C, D), divisions, and percentage grades. Moreover, there was a 4pt “merit point” system that served as a prototype to Grade Point Averages (GPA). Experimental teaching and grading practices were explored in the 1970s. Officially, percentage grades were abolished and replaced with an 11-point letter grade scale from A+ to F. Unofficially, most professors and departments continued to use percentage-to-letter conversion schemes that were highly idiosyncratic, though they were eventually standardized within (but not across) departments. In the 1990s, the 4.3 GPA system was standardized university-wide largely because it was thought to give students a competitive advantage for federal scholarships. In the 2010s, Dalhousie standardized percentage conversion schemes across all departments into one unified Common Grade Scale, partially due to GPA requirements for scholarships and graduate schools. Overall, most grading changes in the past 120 years were implemented for the external communication value of grades rather than for their pedagogical value.

2. Leadership from the Top

This chapter examines the general issue of leadership in the British political system and the stresses and strains of this task, examining the role of the prime minister. As well as being leader of the largest party in the House of Commons, able to command a majority, and potentially able to get government business through Parliament and into law, the prime minister has executive powers, which helps keep this focus. Despite the power of the position and its importance in the British system of government, there are fundamental weaknesses in the role that come from the instabilities of party politics. Overall, the picture of prime ministerial and core executive power and capacity is a mixed one that is changeable over time. In recent years, over Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, the prime minister's fate can change dramatically, even week-by-week.

Gandhi, Indian Nationalism, and Temperance Resistance against the Raj

Chapter 7 follows Mahatma Gandhi’s embrace of prohibitionism as resistance against Britain’s “narco-military empire,” first in South Africa and then in India. Gandhi understood that the British system of imperial dominance was built upon trafficking addictive opium and alcohol, the revenues from which paid for military occupation. Nationalists Gandhi and C. Rajagopalachari adopted temperance tactics such as picketing liquor stores as part of their noncooperation activism. Their Prohibition League of India—a “social” rather than “political” organization—provided organizational safe haven for nationalists of the Indian National Congress when the British clamped down on Gandhi’s nationalist efforts. Making common cause with transnational temperance norm entrepreneurs such as “Pussyfoot” Johnson added greater legitimacy to both Indian nationalism and prohibitionism, which became utterly synonymous in Gandhi’s quest for independence.

Unemployment and Social Disorder during the British Colonial Period in Eritrea (1941–1951)

This article investigates the connection between unemployment and social disorder that characterized British colonial rule in Eritrea between 1941 and 1951. Using the archives of labour of the British period, this article documents the causes of social disorder that galvanized the British period in Eritrea. Based on archival documents, the article argues that the public insecurity and social disorder of the British period were largely related to socio-economic conditions resulting in mass unemployment caused by (1) the dissolution of the colonial army institution; (2) the destruction of the manufacturing industries; (3) the importation of labour from neighbouring British colonies. Upon the defeat ofItaly by the British in Eritrea during WWII, the British system had a clearly diminished appetite for colonialism and abandoned any agenda of capitalist expansion, inflicting massive redundancies on the labour force. This produced new social groups such as migrant workers, brigands, and vagabonds. Based on these archival documents, an alternative explanation is introduced pinpointing far more accurately the sources of public insecurity and social disorder during the British colonial period between 1941 and 1951.

http://jibas.org/index.php/jibas/article/view/6

Islam is a very vast religion. It guides in every aspect of life. The servants of Allah should obey all the laws of Islam. Similarly, Arabic language is our religious language, so its education should be according to Islam. But there are many challenges to the Islamization of Arabic language education. The major of them are the British system. This research work will describe the major challenges, and this research work will try to force others to Islamize education system.

Corporate Tax Integration in Light of Falling Corporate Tax Rates: Using the 1803 British System for Withholding Taxes on Corporate Income as a Model

Tax competition has morphed the corporate tax into a source-based tax with falling rates. Past proposals to integrate corporate taxes with the residence-based personal income tax were rejected because of revenue loss and poorly designed alternatives, but in light of falling tax rates and revenues, integration has become viable. An updated version of the simple and practical 1803 British system would impute corporate income to shareholders and have corporations withhold taxes paid on that income. It would reduce distortions of the current code, including that between domestic and foreign production, could provide more government revenue, and would be more progressive.

Afterword

The overall picture emerging from the preceding chapters is one of social work survival in a cold climate. The halcyon days of the early 1970s with double-digit growth rates have never been repeated. Even when the Blair/Brown government was investing heavily in the NHS during years of plenty, social care was the poor relation. (And in the British system social work is regarded as being subsumed within social care.) It was not before about 2010 that government came to realise that the effects on the NHS of a failing social care system will be disastrous....

Inequalities in the application of welfare sanctions in Britain

Unemployed people in Britain who are in receipt of government welfare benefits canhave these benefits stopped if they fail to comply with certain conditions. Such astoppage is known as a ‘benefit sanction’. The present working paper has two aims: i)to provide an introduction to British system of sanctions, specifically as it applies tounemployed people who are not disabled, and ii) to identify demographic inequalitiesin the application of sanctions. Using data published by the UK Department of Workand Pensions, we find that some groups of unemployed claimants (younger people,men, and ethnic minorities) are at substantially higher risk of experiencing a sanction.This working paper will be updated at a later date with analyses investigating thedrivers of this inequality.

HEALTH CARE FOR IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: HOW IS THE BRITISH SYSTEM PREPARED FOR SERVICING PATIENTS WHO ARE FOREIGNERS?

The article presents solutions that enable access to British health care system by foreigners. The migration situation and health care system in the UK is presented. The actions that have been taken to ensure foreigners get access to medical care are described. According to the law, the Primary Care is free for all patients staying in the UK. Secondary Care is free for patients with ordinary residents status, people who have access to healthcare on the basis of international agreements or immigration health surcharge. In order to enable the use of medical care, for non-English speakers, telephone interpretation is commonly used. The Equality and Diversity Council is dealing with problems related to equal access to medical care. Actions taken in the UK can be a reference point in searching for solutions that can be introduced in Poland to ensure equal access to medical care for foreigners.