Ohio State’s Undergraduate Student Government’s Emergency Grading System initiative passed in the university senate — but it wasn’t entirely what USG representatives anticipated. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Ohio State’s Undergraduate Student Government’s Emergency Grading System initiative passed in the university senate — but it wasn’t entirely what USG representatives anticipated.
The system automatically converts a D-plus and D letter grades to an Emergency Pass, or PE. Lower grades would become no pass for certain courses when exceptional circumstances are declared by the Senate or provost, according to an email from Provost Bruce McPheron Jan. 28. The resolution will go into effect this semester, pending full Board of Trustees approval Feb. 28.
Emily Needham, a third-year in history and philosophy, politics and economics and USG appointee for the Council of Enrollment and Student Progress, said the new emergency grading system does not provide as much relief for students as it should because it does not protect them against academic probations.
Needham said students will fall into academic probation if they have a grade point average below 2.0 — a C average.
“When we are dealing with cascading effects, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, students do not necessarily have complete control over the factors affecting their education, and thus a safety net, such as an alternative grading scheme, needs to be in place to help mitigate the effects of these inequalities,” Needham said in an email.
Needham said she served as a volunteer for the CESP Pass/No Pass Subcommittee, which consisted of eight members that met twice in November to discuss the students’ needs. She worked with USG to create a student-feedback survey in November 2020 that received 7,481 responses on the grading system, stress levels over the semester and online learning.
The survey, taken near the end of a semester of mostly remote instruction, indicated only 64 percent of respondents felt prepared for remote instruction with 41 percent saying they preferred face-to-face instruction.
Online course offerings increased 43 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2020, according to a report from the Board of Trustees’ Academic Affairs, Student Life and Research Committee.
The survey showed only 43 percent of respondents felt they understood their course material and 48 percent reported difficulty meeting their course deadlines.
Thirty percent of respondents took at least one course pass/non-pass in spring 2020 and 23 percent elected to in the fall.
Amani Samuels, USG appointee for CESP and volunteer for the CESP Pass/No Pass Subcommittee, said the student response from the survey showed that a new system was needed, but the student voice was still underrepresented when creating the policy.
“It’s a pandemic, no one’s in person, they’re not having those face-to-face interactions with students at all, they’re not seeing what we’re going through, they’re not seeing the whole experiences we’re having,” Samuels, a second-year in international studies, said. “So, you have two students advocating for the entire student body and like two dozen administrators who are advocating for administration, advising, professors, faculty and whatever. There’s a lack of the student voice present and understanding of the experience.”
Needham said the subcommittee worked with the Work Group on Spring Grading Issues, a committee of the curricular deans from each of the colleges, to compromise on a grading system that best suited every major.
Samuels said some colleges argued pass/no pass would negatively affect students’ grasps of concepts and could harm their chances of getting into desired majors if their GPA was not high enough.
“At the end of the day, they heard us, heard what we had to say,” Samuels said. “They did have an overall positive response, but I think they prioritized other logistical concerns they had over the student experience or opinions right now.”
Needham said the decision made between the two committees was presented to CESP that then voted and approved the grading system Dec. 1, 2020.
Students also have an extension to complete course work in which they received an Incomplete grade and the opportunity to withdraw from a class, according to the Office of Academic Affairs
