Both emergency grading policies — for undergraduates and for graduate students — extend from Spring 2020 through Maymester, Summer Session I, and Summer Session II.
The following is the text of an announcement from Dean Fouad Abd-El-Khalick sent to undergraduate students via email on March 20, 2020:
This is a follow up on the communication from Chancellor Guskiewicz and Provost Blouin about the Emerging Grading Accommodation regarding grading of courses for the Spring 2020 semester. This accommodation expands the pass/fail option for undergraduate students (see details included below).
The School of Education will follow the same policy for our undergraduate students and undergraduate courses. You do not need to confer with me before making your decision as suggested in the policy. Instead, for those undergraduate students in the School who are considering the pass/fail route, we strongly encourage you to contact your academic advisor to discuss the possible implications of this decision before you file any paperwork with the Office of the University Registrar.
Details from the Chancellor’s message:
Our faculty continue to show great compassion for their students, and that has never been more evident than the past week as we contemplate the challenges all of you are now facing in this new reality. We all understand the uncertainty and anxiety that moving to a remote teaching format may cause our students, and we want to offer as much flexibility as possible to support the academic goals of our community. With that in mind, we write today (March 20, 2020) to share an Emergency Grading Accommodation regarding grading for this semester. Among the key changes: beginning March 23rd , we will expand the pass/fail grade option to undergraduate students. Undergraduate students can elect the pass/fail option on undergraduate courses registered in the Spring 2020 semester. Students, including undergraduates, enrolled in professional schools or programs in the Graduate School will follow the decisions of their professional school or of the Graduate School about which courses, if any, are eligible for the pass/fail declaration.
We are making these changes in consultation with our deans, registrar, and the Faculty Executive Committee.
- Courses graded as pass/fail under this exception will count towards applicable curricular, major, continuation, and graduation requirements.
- A grade of pass will not count toward a student’s GPA but will count toward earned semester hours.
- Students will have until Friday, August 7, 2020 to elect to put a course on or take a course off of pass/fail for the Spring 2020 semester.
- The Dean’s list recognition for the spring semester will be suspended.
- A note will be added to all academic transcripts indicating the major disruption this pandemic has caused to the academic experience.
Further, for undergraduate students unable to complete their work because they are adversely affected by COVID-19, we will create a new grade of ‘CV’ as an alternative to the Incomplete (‘IN’) grade. Students with ‘CV’ grade designations will have an additional three months beyond the ‘IN’ guidelines to complete their work.
We are making all of these modifications understanding the extraordinary circumstances COVID-19 has created for us all. Even with these changes, we know our students may face unexpected challenges. We are working to create a Student Success Hub so they can access the resources they need and will share those details as soon as possible.
Additional Resources:
If you have any academic, personal, or financial concerns because of the COVID-19 situation, please do not hesitate to contact us and/or utilize the following resources:
The following is from an announcement from Dean Fouad Abd-El-Khalick sent to graduate students via email on April 2, 2020:
For the Spring 2020 semester, all graduate-level courses in the School of Education will adopt the following grading scale for all students: High Pass, Pass, and Fail. All students will be graded using this scale; there is nothing for you to do. We feel this policy best acknowledges the challenges facing many of you while still allowing clearly excellent work to be recognized (i.e., High Pass). If you have questions about this policy, please contact your academic advisor or our Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Harriet Able.
School of Education faculty and instructors encourage you to contact them if you are experiencing difficulty in any of your courses. In addition, if necessary, you may elect to receive a temporary grade of Incomplete, which allows you to complete the work for the course at any point up to the last day of classes in Spring 2021. More information on Incomplete grades can be found here.
Academic Milestone Meetings
Finally, the School of Education has also adopted the Graduate School’s policy on academic milestone meetings (e.g., program of study, comprehensive exam, thesis or dissertation oral exam), which allows for those meetings to be held via Zoom video conferencing, as well as allowing them to be rescheduled or postponed if necessary. Please contact your academic advisor if you would like to discuss these options.
Additional Resources:
If you have any academic, personal, or financial concerns because of the COVID-19 situation, please do not hesitate to contact us and/or utilize the following resources: