UNC Chapel Hill will offer pass/fail grading option to undergraduate students this fall
UNC Chapel Hill undergraduate students can choose to make any of their courses pass/fail this fall, the university has announced.
The university made the option available to students because of the stress and challenges caused by the changes to campus operations, including moving classes online and asking students to move out of campus dorms. Those changes came after a spike in COVID-19 cases on campus and clusters in residence halls and Greek Life housing.
“We recognize that the University’s recent shift to fully remote instruction for our undergraduates, and our efforts to further de-densify our campus, have created additional challenges and uncertainty to the start of the fall semester,” UNC Provost Bob Blouin said in a letter. “Many students are struggling and feeling stressed.”
The option will be available for undergraduate courses in the College of Arts & Sciences, Kenan-Flagler Business School, School of Information and Library Science, Hussman School of Journalism and Media, School of Education and the Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Faculty will not know whether a student has declared a course pass/fail and will assign typical letter grades.
If a students get a C or higher, it will a Pass. Grades of C-, D+ or D will be converted to a Low Pass and an F will be a Fail.
Mimi Chapman, chair of the UNC faculty, said at a meeting Friday that the decision to have a Low Pass grade was to make sure students were not advancing to courses they were not prepared for.
Terry Rhodes, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said leaders consulted with students and faculty about this change.
“We’re hoping this option … will help them in what has become an extremely disruptive period,” Rhodes said.
She said they asked students to talk to their mentors, advisors and peer colleagues to about choosing the pass/fail option before making it, particularly about the future ramifications.
Students need to make their decision by the last day of classes on Nov. 17.
