BSU agrees to implement pass/fail grading system for the fall semester
On Thursday, Dean of Undergraduate Students, Rita Miller, and Joesph Wolk, Register, sent out an email to the BSU student body to announce the Pass/No Pass (P/N) grading system that will be put in place this fall semester.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has forced most classes to be fully online, students have put pressure on BSU to adopt the P/N grading system as it was used in the spring semester, when the pandemic had just started.
The email stated that due to “strong student advocacy,” BSU’s All University Committee recommended that the school implement the P/N system to give students the option to opt-in to this grading style this semester if they have struggled with online learning.
The Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and President Clark approved the request for undergraduate students.
Academic departments do have the ability to request that the classes in their department aren’t included in this grading system. The Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Provost would have to approve that request.
If a department does opt-out of this grading system, it will be listed on the Registrar’s webpage by December 14th. Without this possible exception, all undergraduate courses will be eligible for a P/N grade in exchange for a letter grade.
If students chose to exchange their letter grade and earn a “P”, the credits will count towards graduation but will not count towards their GPA, overall and in their major. If a student receives an “N” grade, those course credits will not count towards graduation or towards their overall and major GPA. Students are only allowed to opt-in to this grading system for a maximum of 9 credits.
The email also stated that if a student opts-in to the P/N grading system for a pre-requisite, the letter grade received before the grade of P/N must be above what the grade requirement is to get into the succeeding course. For example, if a course requires a grade of “C-” or higher in the pre-requisite course, but a student received a “D” and substituted that grade for a “P”, the letter grade will be counted and a student would not be able to take the next course.
Students may still earn a spot on the Dean’s List as long as they’ve taken 12 credits and have a semester GPA of 3.3. Graduating students can still earn Latin Honors if they opt-in to the P/N grading system. In this case, their overall GPA will be taken into consideration.
Students can decide to opt-in to this grading system for one or more classes after final grades are released. The form can be found on the Registrar’s webpage and can be submitted from December 30, 2020, to May 1, 2021.
