DePaul Faculty Council votes to offer ‘pass/fail’ grading option for students
DePaul University Lincoln Park campus.
DePaul faculty council voted unanimously to allow all undergraduate students to opt into a pass/fail grading system for any and all of their classes this spring quarter. To get a “pass” grade, students must receive a grade of C- or higher.
Grades of D+, D and F will still be reflected under this policy.
Students will have until the day before classes end, not including final exams, to decide whether they want their grades to be reflected as a pass or fail.
Graduate programs will decide individually whether or not to offer this to their students because external accrediting institutions are a factor for many graduate degrees.
Associate Provost Caryn Chaden said the decision was unexpected, but came after the University of Chicago announced it would be offering the option to its students. She said the logistics surrounding the decision have only been sorted out in the last twelve hours.
“Frankly, we don’t want to be the only school that’s not doing this,” Chaden said. “What happens to the perception of our Vincentian personalism, in a moment where every student enrollment matters.”
The decision came during a faculty council meeting where CFO Jeff Bethke said the University could see a budget deficit of anywhere from 52 to 105 million dollars for fiscal year 2021.
A widget will be available on each course’s D2l for students to indicate to their instructor that they are opting into the special grading system.
The council voted on Wednesday at a virtual faculty council meeting, held via Zoom. They had to cast a vote on the item twice because more people voted than hold seats on the council.
Jacob • Apr 9, 2020 at 9:04 am
*mention not *me ruin
Jacob • Apr 9, 2020 at 9:03 am
The article me ruins that different grad schools will decide if they accept the “Pass/Fail” grading. Does that mean it’s up to the student to figure out which grad school programs will accept “Pass/Fail” credits? Many of us plan on attending medical school, occupational or physical therapy school. Will grad schools even look at a “Pass/Fail” course, or simply switch to the next applicant? Seems like a tricky decision to make as a student.
George Chlada • Apr 9, 2020 at 12:33 am
On top of the added stress of adjusting to online courses, we have got to remember we are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. It would be irresponsible on the part of schools to continue as if the outside world is not crumbling as we are in our courses. Right now, not a single person’s main concern should be if they are going to pass their classes or not. The more to alleviate this the better, I’d say.
Krupa Parmar • Apr 8, 2020 at 8:01 pm
As a student I think going through with the pass/fail option is a much more logical approach than normal grading. It is very difficult to adjust to having all classes be online and on top of that each professor has different rules and expectations. Keeping up with all of this is quite overwhelming and is creating additional stress. On top of that the level of difficulty for each course is different meaning this option is again more efficient. I would say this benefits both parties equally!