On November 10, the Student Government Association (SGA) sent a proposal to the Provost, explaining reasons why an Optional Pass/Fail (P/F) grading policy should be implemented for this semester. The policy the proposal advocates for is identical to the policy implemented last semester, in which students were given the option to have any class be P/F instead of receiving a letter grade as usual. The discussion surrounding implementing a P/F grading policy comes as a result of the current coronavirus pandemic, as most students have been forced into remote learning and are facing unprecedented challenges.
Interest in pursuing this proposal began within the SGA, during discussions at Senate meetings where senators voiced their stance that P/F should be implemented this semester. To collect student interest, a Google Form was distributed on October 15 by students Patricia Pulini, Jason Buckman, and Robert Adams, which surveyed students’ opinions on P/F and collected testimonials from students who are facing hardships. (Correction: interest in pursuing the proposal did not begin within the SGA — Pulini, Buckman, and Adams initiated the survey on their own and they are not involved in the SGA. They started the conversation within the SGA after they distributed the survey.)
After receiving over 600 responses, the results were translated into arguments for implementing P/F and arguments against implementing P/F. These arguments are included in the proposal; one argument for implementing P/F states “both students and faculty are not accustomed to virtual learning to an extent that it becomes comparable to the traditional classroom setting,” while one argument against implementing P/F states, “companies may look down upon students who utilize the Pass/Fail option.”
The proposal additionally includes direct responses to the arguments against, and states “employers will almost certainly be sympathetic to the extreme circumstances of this entire school year.” For the argument against that states professors and students had the summer to prepare for virtual learning, a direct response states, “the majority of the Stevens community became aware that courses would be fully held online, rather than hybrid through StevensFlex, on August 4th when an announcement was made. This delayed decision left many upperclassmen students struggling to cancel August 1st leases and flight bookings if they were traveling from quarantine advised states. This left both students and faculty three weeks to prepare for the virtual learning format.”
The proposal states that “the SGA supports the implementation of and will continue to advocate for the Optional Pass/Fail policy through all available channels. Vice Provost David Zeng asked the SGA to compile student arguments both for and against the Pass/Fail grading policy for the Fall 2020 semester.”
SGA President E.J. Hannah worked with Andrew Kinney, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, to write the proposal and send it to the Provost. When asked about the process for writing the proposal, Kinney responded, “First we had a meeting with the Academic Affairs Committee to write the first draft, then we presented the document at that week’s Senate meeting and opened it up to student feedback, and then we held one last meeting which was open to everyone to accept any remaining feedback and finalize the document. Outside of making this document [the proposal], we also met with the Faculty Senate and administrators from Student Life and CAPS to get their perspective on reimplementing Pass/Fail.”
Hannah voiced his views on why he feels P/F is important for students to have, as he expressed, “I am hoping that we get the same grading policy as last semester. This semester is taking a far greater toll on students than a traditional semester would. Nobody is prepared for virtual classes. There is no social aspect to counteract the stress of Stevens’ rigorous coursework. There is still a raging pandemic, reaching record cases each day at this point. Students need relief and assistance from their university, and I trust the Office of the Provost will be understanding.”
It is currently unknown when the Provost will respond to the proposal or what their response will be. Kinney stated, “I’m not sure if the Provost is going to make a decision based solely off of the document we already sent them, or if they are going to want to schedule more meetings about this, but any response that shows they are open to or leaning towards reimplementing Pass/Fail would be very welcome.”
The Stute attempted to reach out to the Provost regarding their reactions to the student efforts, and the following response was given by David Zeng, Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Faculty Affairs: “We have received information from various groups regarding this topic. Currently the academic leadership team at Stevens is carefully evaluating the information and will make a decision before the start of final exams. We will let the students know when a decision is made.”
The Stute will continue to update readers on announcements from the Provost regarding this semester’s grading policy.
December 3 Update: The Office of the Provost has responded to the proposal with the following sent out in an email to all undergraduate students:
“For the Fall 2020 semester, all undergraduate students at Stevens will be permitted to convert one course used towards undergraduate requirements to pass/fail grading … This option also applies to graduate courses taken either online or on-campus to fulfill undergraduate degree requirements. Note that for graduate students, and undergraduate students taking classes for graduate credit, there will be no change in the grading policy that is currently in effect.”
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