[Important Information for Employees] Pass/Fail/Late Withdrawal Fall 2020

[Office of the Provost/VPAA]

Dear Colleagues,

It's hard to believe that we are now just two weeks away from our full
transition to remote instruction for all fall 2020 courses.  Through my
conversations with various faculty and the academic deans, I am aware of
how challenging this semester has been, as we collectively worked to meet
students' educational needs in a variety of ways.  Each of you has played a
crucial role in our success in progressing to this point in the semester
without the type of infection uptick that would have resulted in much more
disruption of both faculty and students.  I want to express my gratitude
for your efforts.

In the past few weeks, student inquiries about a Pass/Fail option (much
like last spring) have increased in my office.  Additionally, I have spoken
at length with student leadership.  I asked Gary Kroll, Chair of the
Faculty Senate, to seek input from faculty on their thoughts and reactions
to these requests.  Gary shared and I have read all of the data
collected--including open-ended comments.  It is clear to me that faculty
do not support a P/F option that duplicates last spring's decision.
Additionally, I consulted with the academic deans on their perspectives,
which echoed our faculty.

In addition to the feedback shared, I have been personally concerned about
the 1st year students--whose high school careers were so abruptly
interrupted last spring with teachers who were caught without preparation
in the radical move to online teaching at the secondary level.  Our first
year students have begun their college careers, always a challenging
transition in students' life, at a very isolating and difficult time.
Because of social distancing guidelines, athletics, fitness activities,
clubs--really everything a student might be interested in *outside* of the
classroom--have been affected, limited and, in some cases, eliminated.
These are the types of experiences that allow students to build new
friendships and community that lessen anxiety related to academic
challenges they may face.  All of this is to say that I want to acknowledge
how our students' larger campus experience, whatever their class year on
campus, has been impacted.  If students are studying 100% remote from a
distance, a similar loss has occurred (especially, if they would have
preferred to be residential).

Given all of the above, the following adjustments will be in place for the
end of this semester *and* spring 2021:


*Pass/Fail Option for ONE non-major course*
The Pass/Fail Grading Policy is temporarily modified to permit the choice
of a single non-major course for Pass/Fail grading. Courses that fulfill
major and cognate requirements and ENG101 are not eligible for Pass/Fail.
As was the case last spring 2020, graduate courses are not included in this
option.  Students may opt in for pass/fail grading for a *single* course
through December 17, 2020, one day following the submission of grades. *Faculty
should calculate and submit letter grades for all students*. Pass grades in
repeated courses will be allowed to replace previously earned grades and
will remove the previous grade from GPA calculations. Students should be
advised about possible implications of Pass/Fail grading, including issues
related to professional or accredited programs, transfer or graduate school
credit acceptance and impact on GPA.

*Extension to Course Withdrawal Allowed*

The Course Withdrawal Policy is temporarily modified to allow late course
withdrawals without an extenuating circumstance, as COVID's impact is the
extenuating circumstance.  Students should submit the Course Schedule
Adjustment form
<https://www.plattsburgh.edu/_documents/registrar/course-schedule-adjustment-form-2020-10-02-sigrows.pdf>
directly to their respective dean's office prior to December 11, 2020.

Faculty survey feedback communicated a desire to make decisions of this
type *early* in the semester, so that both students and faculty will be
aware of these changes *before* the semester unfolds.  For this reason,
both of the above temporary modifications in policy will also be available
for the spring 2021 semester.

Again, thank you all for all of your hard work during this fall 2021
semester.  I hope that these final weeks of the semester are good ones for
you and your students.

Sincerely,
Anne

ANNE HERZOG,
PhD
(She, Her, Hers)
Provost
Vice President for Academic Affairs
802 Kehoe
101 Broad Street
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
(o) 518-564-5402
plattsburgh.edu <https://www.plattsburgh.edu/>
[image: Facebook Logo] <https://www.facebook.com/sunyplattsburgh> [image:
Twitter Logo] <https://twitter.com/sunyplattsburgh> [image: Instagram Logo]
<https://www.instagram.com/sunyplattsburgh/> [image: Snapchat Logo]
<https://www.snapchat.com/add/sunyplattsburgh> [image: LinkedIn Logo]
<https://www.linkedin.com/school/suny-plattsburgh/>
[image: SUNY Plattsburgh Logo]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ls.plattsburgh.edu/pipermail/critical-employees/attachments/20201110/86c78838/attachment.htm>