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

[Office of the Provost/VPAA]

Dear Students,

In recent weeks, the topic of Pass/Fail grading and whether the usual
policy would be modified this fall 2020 semester has come to my attention.
I have spoken with Rudaba Ahmed, President of the Student Association, who
has shared student survey data and the desire of students to consider a
modified Pass/Fail option for this fall semester.

I asked the Faculty Senate and the Academic Deans to share their thoughts
on Pass/Fail this fall.  As a group, faculty and deans shared a variety of
concerns about how a Pass/Fail option across all courses could negatively
impact student progress toward degrees.  There is a concern that opening up
Pass/Fail for all enrolled course grading could result in students not
learning essential content they will need for later success in their degree
completion.

Considering all of the information collected, I want to share the following
decisions that will be in place for this semester *and* spring 2021:

*Pass/Fail Option available for *one* non-major course extended through
December 17, 2020*

Students will be allowed to select Pass/Fail grading for *one* non-major
course within 24 hours of grade submission this fall. Courses that fulfill
major and cognate requirements are not eligible. ENG101 College Writing II
continues to require a C or better for graduation and is therefore not
eligible. Graduate courses are not eligible. Students are encouraged to
reach out to their advisors with any questions they may have about this
decision.

Academic advisors can provide guidance on issues such as graduation honors,
minimum grades in professional programs, graduate school applications,
course transfer, and GPA calculations that may be affected by this
decision. Students will have the option to select Pass/Fail up to one day
after final grades are due at the end of the fall 2020 semester or they may
choose to keep the letter grade option.   **Additional information on how
to select the Pass/Fail option will be shared in the near future.

*Deadline for Withdrawal from a course extended through December 11, 2020*

For fall 2020, students may choose to withdraw from one or more courses
until the end of the semester.  Late course withdrawal requests should be
sent to the student's respective dean's office by the end of the day on
December 11, 2020 using the
Course Schedule Adjustment Form
<https://www.plattsburgh.edu/_documents/registrar/course-schedule-adjustment-form-2020-10-02-sigrows.pdf>.
Academic advisors can also provide guidance about this process.

I wish you the very best in your final weeks of this semester and
throughout the exam period.  I also hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving
and winter break.

Sincerely,
Dr. Anne Herzog
Provost
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ls.plattsburgh.edu/pipermail/critical-students/attachments/20201110/b313d2a5/attachment.htm>