reporting pixel for marketing campaign

Campus News

Rockford.edu / News

Pass/Fail Policy for Spring 2020

04/03/2020 1:54 pm

Effective for the Spring 2020 semester only, all students will be permitted to convert individual courses to Pass/Fail grading. Students may choose to receive a passing grade (P), rather than a letter grade, in courses where they have earned a D or above. This policy will be noted on the transcript. These courses will still count toward major, minor, academic progress, and graduation requirements. (Grades of “P” are not calculated in the grade point average (GPA); however, grades of “F” are calculated in that average.)

Some important exceptions to this rule:
– In Rhetoric 101 & 102 courses, a passing grade (P) will be considered only for grades C and above.-
– In Education courses, as well as all supporting courses tied to the education major or minor, a passing grade (P) will be considered only for grades C- and above.
– In Nursing courses, a passing grade (P) will be considered only for grades C and above.
– In all Graduate courses, a passing grade (P) will be considered only for grades C and above.
– Finally, prior to choosing a (P) in a course for their major, students are strongly encouraged to speak with their advisor (and faculty in the major if their advisor is from a different department).

Faculty will grade student work as normal during the semester and submit the letter grade (A-F) to the Registrar’s Office via Self Service at the end of the semester. Students will have 96 hours after the final grade posting deadline to choose a P designation in selected courses wherein they earned the required letter grade needed to pass that particular course (see above exceptions). For traditional classes, the final grade posting deadline is Monday, May 18, at 11:59pm (an extension of the deadline previously published in the academic calendar).

Academic Affairs and IT will collaborate on an electronic form that students will be able to fill out and submit within the 96-hour period, which ends Friday, May 22, at 11.59 pm for traditional courses and Wednesday, June 3, at 11.59pm for adult accelerated courses. If students do not respond by the deadline, the letter grade recorded by the faculty member will be entered on the transcript.

Academic Affairs will keep a record of all submitted letter grades for Spring 2020.

In addition to the above, the three following changes will go into effect:
– The date for withdrawing from a course (earning a W) will be extended until Friday, May 8 for traditional and adult accelerated courses.
– Academic Dismissals will not occur based on spring results; rather, academic probation, when appropriate, will be extended one semester.
– Eligibility for Honors designation upon graduation will not be impacted by choosing a P during Spring 2020.

Over the next week, students will receive guidance regarding the implications of choosing this option from various constituents, including academic departments, registrar, financial aid, athletics, and veteran affairs.