New grading policy announced

With all courses in a remote learning environment, students have expressed concern about how this new and unprecedented situation will affect their academic performance. On Sunday, March 22, Provost Christophe Pierre notified all students and faculty of an optional pass/fail grading policy for Spring 2020.

Undergraduate students are permitted to convert any course used towards undergraduate requirements to a pass/fail grading system. This includes graduate courses, either taken on campus or online, to fulfill undergraduate degree requirements. It does not apply to graduate and undergraduate students taking classes for graduate credit. Students can pick and choose which classes are on a regular A-F scale and those that are pass/fail. It is not an all or none policy. While courses that are converted to the pass/fail scale will count towards graduation requirements, they will not contribute towards a student’s undergraduate GPA. For example, if a student chooses to convert all classes to P/F, their cumulative GPA will remain unchanged from the previous semester.

Students will have seven days after final grades are posted to decide to move courses to pass/fail grading.

Provost Pierre has created guidelines for faculty to follow regarding teaching methods, online exams, labs, and design classes. These are suggestions, not enforced instructions. All instructors have revised their syllabi with an updated schedule as well as revised assignment and grading information. The faculty have been instructed to be flexible and accommodating while upholding educational integrity.

It has been suggested that exams be converted to a series of assessments worth fewer points, such as quizzes and online presentations. Professors shall not require webcam use during exams. Exams may be changed to another form of assessment such as a term paper.

While labs will not be the same as if they were held on campus, they will continue to run through the remainder of the semester with modifications. To continue instruction, professors may use previously recorded videos to demonstrate experiments and lab procedures or, with permission, they may enter the labs on campus to record a lab ahead of time.