sustainability Article The Sustainability of Institutional Policies Starts with “Know Thyself” Runna Alghazo * and Maura A. E. Pilotti   Citation: Alghazo, R.; Pilotti, M.A.E. The Sustainability of Institutional Policies Starts with “Know Thyself”. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4938. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su13094938 Academic Editor: Michele Biasutti Received: 27 March 2021 Accepted: 17 April 2021 Published: 28 April 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Department of Sciences and Human Studies, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar 31952, Saudi Arabia; maura.pilotti@gmail.com * Correspondence: ralghazo@pmu.edu.sa; Tel.: +96-613-849-8585 Abstract: In the present research, faculty at a university in the Middle East were asked to report their attitudes towards learning and grades through the LOGO: F scale. At the selected university, faculty are required to apply a student-centered approach to instruction, which is expected to be driven by active learning of key academic and professional competencies. Although the institutional policies explicitly emphasize active learning, the broader educational system in which the university is embedded puts a premium on grades to assess students’ academic success. The present research examined how faculty might respond to these institutional inconsistencies, which are typical of universities across the globe. Participants were the faculty of a university located in Saudi Arabia, which conforms to a US curriculum and a student-centered instructional model. The evidence collected underscored the faculty’s struggle between emphasizing learning and recognizing the undeniable relevance of grades in the educational marketplace. The usefulness of the evidence collected is discussed from the perspectives of the institution and individual faculty with an eye on sustainable objectives and outcomes. Keywords: teaching; learning orientation; grade orientation; sustainable higher education 1. Introduction According to Sterling [1] (p. 50), the principle of sustainability applied to higher education implies “not just another issue to be added to an over-crowded curriculum, but a gateway to a different view of curriculum, of pedagogy, of organizational change, of policy and particularly of ethos”. Yet, grades are treated as a ubiquitous and valuable currency in higher education [2]. Across the globe, higher education institutions rely on course grades to determine admission, thereby using grades to define the academic opportunities given to students. Grades are a required component of most of the classes in which students enroll, and are aggregated to compute a student’s grade point average (GPA), which symbolizes academic standing and defines graduation outcomes. At the start of every course, reminders of the relevance of grades are present in the grading policies highlighted in both the syllabus and the course overview. During the semester, students are given marks for their work, each of which condenses their efforts and work output into a flavorless digit or letter. More broadly, for students whose grades are less than desirable, universities customarily establish remedial classes or initiate dismissal, whereas a variety of rewards are available (e.g., financial aid, permission to take overload, academic honors, scholarships, fellowships, internships, etc.) for those with desirable grades. Students’ acquisition of knowledge and competencies remains the main function of institutions of higher education along with the lofty goal of developing “graduates with capabilities to improvise, adapt, innovate, and be creative” [3] (p. 245). Oddly, there is no remedial instruction for students unable to find enjoyment in the major they selected, but there is remedial instruction for students with low grades. If faculty fail to submit grades at the end of a course, swift punitive administrative actions are likely to be taken. However, if they fail to engage their students, semester after semester, dormant audiences Sustainability 2021, 13, 4938. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094938 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability