The necessity for Pass/Fail
The necessity for Pass/Fail
By: USD GESP, Gender Equity & Sex Positivty Collective
The University of San Diego announced on July 29, 2020, that all Fall 2020 courses would continue virtually, yet USD insisted on maintaining the newly expedited schedule, which was crafted specifically for in-person instruction. Furthermore, USD did not extend Pass/Fail (P/F) accommodations from Spring 2020 to the Fall 2020 semester because the University expects students to have adjusted to online learning, impacted living situations, and other COVID-19 complications. The University expects students to achieve academic success when in reality, the worsening conditions associated with COVID-19 continue to greatly impact students on physical, emotional, and academic levels. Because USD granted students opt-in P/F last spring, they must recognize the worsening pandemic conditions this fall as well as the increased difficulty of a shortened semester, thus they must opt to honor P/F as an option.
USD has to provide students with a P/F option for every course. P/F should allow for courses to count toward a student’s credit requirements, general education requirements, and major/minor. The P/F option would maintain that P/F courses cannot count toward a student’s GPA. USD must allow every student to opt into the P/F option after final grades are posted, allowing for students to try their best in every course and depending on their success, determine what is best for them as well as allow professors ample time to update their gradebooks. The expedited semester has greatly reduced the speed at which gradebooks are updated; currently some students’ Blackboard are weeks behind. Therefore, for P/F to truly assist students and faculty, final letter grades must be posted on Blackboard and then students should be granted 72 hours to determine whether to keep their letter grade or opt in to P/F.
To assume that all USD students have reliable Wi-Fi, quiet study spaces, and access to the necessary technology when they are not on campus is a form of classism. Many students chose to live at home during this pandemic, and it is unrealistic to expect students to have the same academic assurances at home as they do on campus. When studying at USD, students have access to reliable Wi-Fi, the ability to study in a variety of campus spaces, and free rentable computers in different campus locations. It is unfair to assume students can replicate the accessible environment of USD’s campus in their homes.
In the past few months, COVID-19 has increased financial hardships for students which is not only an added mental stress, but also means that many have needed to get a new job or take on more hours on top of the hours of class and school work. Students who do not have access to the tools they need to succeed should not be punished by receiving strictly letter grades, but should instead be met with the compassionate option of P/F.
Due to USD opting for virtual learning, many students chose to attend this year’s classes from their home states or countries. As a result of these mass migrations, a large population of students are not attending classes on Pacific Standard Time. For international students, classes could be held in the middle of the night. Other students in the United States have to grapple with time zone changes, especially those on the East Coast and in Hawai’i.
The expedited semester has greatly enhanced student stress. Fall semester honored Labor Day, but we had make-up class the next Saturday with no Thanksgiving break. From the first day of classes on Aug. 17 to the last day of classes on Nov. 13, students will have no break from class. Without the ability to decompress, the expectation to learn the same amount as a normal semester’s worth and the stress of heightened academic demands in a shorter amount of time, USD students are in emotional turmoil. Simply put, students are suffering burnout.
On Oct. 13, The USD Vista published a student op-ed discussing the mental health effects this semester has had on students. The Op-Ed author discusses the difficulty students have in separating their “school” brains from their “relaxation brains,” as school has become synonymous with home. Students are meant to work on the computer for 12 hours a day and have virtually no way to escape technology. In the op-ed, the author wrote about the “eye fatigue, headaches, and pain from sitting at (the) desk all day” now being normal parts of a student’s lives. Being expected to work from home and manage time well within this new environment has proven to be extremely stressful, while also making it nearly impossible to concentrate. This op-ed is one of the most popular pieces published by The USD Vista and has garnered great support from students feeling similarly on social media.
Although the university is legally responsible to honor academic disability accommodations, its actions to do so have been unimpressive and potentially harmful. Disability accommodations look different for each student, yet USD expects students to replicate these accommodations at home. Students who normally take tests in individual rooms in the disability center are told to “find a space at home.” Students who have time and a half or double time for exams are expected to sit still for Respondus exams when, in the past, the Disability Center has accommodated them. The Disability Center monitored them, allowing for bathroom usage, stretch and snack breaks, and scratch paper usage. To assume that students with academic differences can simply “accommodate themselves” and adjust to Respondus is impossible.
Due to the expedited semester, many professors have felt the need to assign extra readings, assignments, and discussion boards to make up for the lack of class time and their difficulty in conveying the information they need to at the same caliber that they did in person. With many professors increasing workload, students who work and those with a lot of extracurricular involvement or distractions can’t keep up in the way that they would normally be able to. This isn’t just a matter of having more difficult classes, but rather professors are having a more difficult time conveying the same information. They are assigning more work to make up for it, which puts an extra burden on their students. These asynchronous learning activities are more work with a significantly lower quality of teaching. Despite these efforts to make up for this shortened semester, they merely add stress and lower performance — especially when that material is tested the same way as what is traditionally covered.
Other universities, including Penn, Stanford, Duke, University of Southern California, University of North Carolina, Bowdin, Northeastern, George Washington University, and University of Connecticut have allowed students to opt into P/F for Fall 2020 and we call for USD to follow their lead.
We call for justice concerning the academic, physical, and mental health of USD students. For justice to be obtained, USD must grant students 72 hours following the posting of their final grades to opt in to P/F. Again, we call for this specific demand as a result of the expedited semester which has resulted in many gradebooks being irregularly updated and assignments due up until the last day of class, giving professors no time for grade turn around. Allowing for this P/F opt in time frame best suits the professor and student needs.
Sign the petition and join the 1,350 other students who agree that P/F must be instated as an option after final grades are posted so that each student has the opportunity to try their best given these difficult times.
The views expressed in the editorial and op-ed sections are not necessarily those of The USD Vista staff, the University of San Diego, or its student body.