University Senate votes to allow pass/fail option for all Spring 2020 undergraduate classes

Proposal includes May 1 deadline for students to decide to take a class on a pass/fail basis 

Celina Tebor / Associate Editor / The USD Vista

The University of San Diego’s University Senate voted on April 2 to allow all undergraduate students to take any USD undergraduate course on a pass/fail basis in Spring 2020. 

Any number of courses taken on a pass/fail basis in Spring 2020 may be applied to the requirements of the student’s major, minor, or Core Curriculum, according to the proposal.

Many USD requirements for taking a class on a pass/fail basis have been waived due to the extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19. For example, limits on one pass/fail course per semester and the successful completion by lower-division students of at least 12 units at USD in order to take a class pass/fail have both been waived. 

Courses taken on a pass/fail basis in Spring 2020 will not count toward USD’s maximum of 15 pass/fail units that may be taken toward the fulfillment of degree requirements. 

The proposal states that students have until May 1, 2020 at 5 p.m. to decide to take a class on a pass/fail basis or with a grade.

This May 1 deadline was a hotly-discussed item during the University Senate meeting, with questions from faculty and students about whether this deadline should be pushed to after grades are posted.

Ronald Kaufmann, Ph.D., the director of the Marine Science Graduate Program at USD, Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, and a professor of Environmental and Ocean Sciences compared USD’s Spring 2020 pass/fail policies to those of other schools.

“An overwhelming majority of institutions that have these kinds of policies have decisions prior to grades being posted,” Kaufmann said. “A simple logistical argument — it’s more consistent with current practice for students to make decisions with some knowledge, but not full knowledge with the grades they would receive.”

USD Associated Student Government President Marion Chavarria Rivera was one student at the meeting who hoped for a later deadline.

“I think for students, this is such an unknown situation, none of us has ever gone through this,” Chavarria Rivera said. “Honestly, the later this date will be, the better it’ll be for students.”

Some questions arose about the ability for students to pick and choose which courses will be pass/fail, instead of making a blanket choice for all courses to be pass/fail or graded.

Michael Kelly, a professor in the School of Law, explained why he supported the decision for students to pick and choose which classes would be pass/fail.

“Some of these students need grades in these courses,” Kelly said. He cited the fact that some students will want to apply to post-undergraduate programs that might require certain classes to have grades. “It’s possible where the school will not accept pass as such a grade in a course.”

ASG Vice President Greyson Taylor and Senators Justin Daus and Angelo Tharp were also supportive of giving students the flexibility to select which courses they would like to take pass/fail, citing that some types of classes may be more difficult to succeed in within an online setting. 

“For a lot of students, whether they like it or not, school is no longer a priority,” Taylor said. “This policy gives students the freedom to choose how they will proceed.”

“Each class is affected differently,” Daus said. 

Amy Besnoy, associate professor and reference librarian, pointed to the universality of the situation surrounding COVID-19.

“I think what’s lacking in part of the conversation is that we’re in a global pandemic,” Besnoy said. “Every institution around the globe is being impacted. When you think about grades that are transferable, every institution around this globe is going to have some weird asterisk around Spring 2020. We are not unique in this. I think that we need to consider the emotionality of all of our students, not just for people who are sick or can’t work, etcetera.” 

Thomas Herrinton, Ph.D., Vice Provost and associate professor, said that advisors will need to lift advising holds for students if they want to change a class to pass/fail.

“Registration holds in Banner are global,” Herrinton said. “If students have any registration hold, they will not be able to change their grading mode. Faculty who are advisors need to get with their students and lift advising holds for all.”

The May 1 deadline may be discussed and changed at a later date as it was contested by various members in the meeting, but the University Senate decided the urgency of informing students necessitated a vote in the moment. 

Noelle Norton, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, was one member of the senate who voiced the need for a vote in the meeting.

“The day (May 1) was debated through and through,” Norton said. “I just worry in the long run about not giving students something today. That is making me crazy.”

Soon after Norton’s comments, the University Senate moved forward with a vote.

33 members voted to approve the proposal. 0 voted against it. 2 members abstained.