Cambridge Rindge and Latin ninth-grader NATHANIEL VOGEL gives a speech in support of changing the name of the Agassiz School, which he once attended, to the Maria L. Baldwin School.

At yesterday’s Faculty meeting, professors unanimously adopted a new 4.0 grading scale and restricted the proportion of honors awarded each year to 60 percent of the graduating class.

The policy changes mark the culmination of a year-long discussion by the Faculty about how to best combat grade and honors inflation at Harvard.

The honors changes, which will take effect for the Class of 2005, should drastically reduce the number of honors degrees awarded by Harvard each year, said Dean of Undergraduate Education Susan G. Pedersen ’81-’82 yesterday.

Pedersen said that roughly five times more students will graduate without honors once the change is implemented, citing a report on grading practices and the determination of honors that her office published earlier this month. Last year, roughly 90 percent of seniors graduated with some form of honors.

Under the new honors guidelines, the proportion of seniors who may graduate with summa cum laude and magna cum laude degrees will be limited to 20 percent of the class. Summa cum laude honors will continue to be capped at five percent of seniors, as they have been for the past few years.

Those students recommended for honors by their department with the next highest averages will then be awarded cum laude degrees—with the total number of students receiving summa, magna and cum degrees not to exceed 50 percent of the graduating class.

The caps do not limit the percentage of magna degrees awarded to 15—if fewer than five percent of seniors are awarded summa cum laude, the remainder may be awarded magna cum laude degrees. Similarly, if fewer than 20 percent of seniors earn magna and summa distinctions, more than 30 percent may receive cum laude honors.

Candidates not recommended for honors by their department will still be eligible to receive a cum laude degree, but this distinction will be limited to ten percent of seniors. A proposal to eliminate this form of honors faded after it was discussed at a Faculty meeting earlier this year.

The proposal for the honors changes did not provoke much opposition from Faculty at yesterday’s meeting.

The greatest concern voiced by professors was that the honors restrictions will discourage students from writing theses, since students will be less likely to receive official recognition for their thesis in the form of an honors degree. Currently, writing a thesis is an almost surefire way of graduating with honors.

Professors also worried that the new rules might encourage students to select easier classes to inflate their grades.

Pedersen acknowledged yesterday that there will be unforeseen consequences to the changes, which is why she the new policy has built into it a recommendation that it be reviewed within five years of its implementation.

The switch to a 4.0 grading scale from the Faculty’s current 15-point scale was not controversial. Most Faculty who spoke on the change at yesterday’s meeting agreed that it could only help to clarify the meaning of Harvard’s grades to the general public as well as to professors and students.

University President Lawrence H. Summers expressed his approval for yesterday’s legislation.

“I welcome the Faculty’s adoption of higher standards for honors, more transparent grading and sounder grading practices in the future,” Summers said in a statement.