Brittany CowanN.C. Central’s Office of the Interim Provost issued an email statement on April 7 revealing the university’s implementation of a Pass/Fail grading option for the Spring 2020 semester.
According to the email statement, N.C. Central’s Pass/Fail grading option was enacted “to avoid penalizing students who are adversely impacted by instructional or other changes which occur as a result of COVID-19.”
Under the implementation of this new grading option, instructors will continue to assign letter grades based on the student’s performance in the course.
The university statement also emphasized the impact the new grading option can have on students’ GPA/Credit Hours.
Within the grading option, pass grades give credit for the course but do not impact the GPA. There are no quality points associated with the Pass grade.
In addition, a Fail grade or a grade of F will remain F with no impact on the GPA.
N.C. Central’s Pass/Fail Grading option applies certain exemptions to various Spring 2020 courses and demographics of students. These exemptions include:
- The Pass/Fail grading option in a course is not available to students who are repeating a course to improve the grade in the course and their overall grade point average (GPA). In these situations, a letter grade must be issued for the course.
- The Pass/Fail grading option in a course does not apply to courses that were completed by March 23, 2020.
- Due to NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) requirements, student athletes might not be eligible to select the Pass/Fail grading option for their courses.
- Students enrolled in professional school programs should consult with their advisors or program directors regarding licensure or accreditation requirements.
The university statement also included the designated time frame for graduating and non-graduating students to receive and submit Pass/Fail/Withdrawal Spring 2020 (COVID-19) Forms.
The university’s online Pass/Fail/Withdrawal Spring 2020 (COVID-19) Forms will be sent to students on the following dates with the inclusion of the designated student demographics:
- Monday, April 27, 2020 (Graduating students)
- Monday, May 4, 2020 (Non-graduating students)
According to N.C. Central’s Revised Academic Calendar, graduating students must submit a request for a Pass/Fail grading option for individual courses by 11:59 p.m. on May 5, 2020.
In addition, non-graduating students must submit requests by 11:59 p.m. on May 22, 2020.
For more information regarding the new grading exemption for the Spring 2020, visit NCCU’s Website.
