Unconditional Pass/Fail: A Hope for a More Understanding Grading System

by Natalie Peek

In October, AU students received yet another memorandum from the university stating that they “understand” the situation we all find ourselves in: a deadly pandemic, electoral uncertainty, and allusions to other devastating effects on students' experience. For reprieve, AU allowed students to change one major/minor course and one non-major/minor course to pass/fail. For 35 student organizations and at least 770 other signatories of the Unconditional Pass/Fail Petition, this was not sufficient. 

The Public Health Association at AU (PHA) started the petition for unconditional pass/fail in the weeks following the announcement, quickly bringing in other organizations at AU because of a core belief that the stressors of the pandemic and adjacent events are causing much more difficulty and harm to mental and physical health of students than the University recognizes.

Aena Iqbal, communications chair of the PHA, says that “students have family members that are dying, family members who have lost their jobs or who have to support their family.” According to the CDC, there have been more than 22 million COVID cases and 379,255 COVID deaths. Since the pandemic started , 25% of adults say that someone in their household has been laid off from their job. For these students, keeping up with academics may not be a priority, but instead, finding a job, taking care of family members, or needing to work harder to take care of themselves is more important.  

PHA president, Shalini Ramachandra, asserts that students should have the ability to make the decision of what classes they need to take pass/fail. Even though students are separated from classmates and campus, PHA wants to make sure that all students feel heard and supported.

“As a group, we want to create a community of care at this university and uplift our members' voices, and that goal includes helping create the best environment for everyone to prioritize their needs first.”

Despite the University not changing policy last semester, it is likely that circumstances for many students won’t drastically improve in the coming semester, making the need for more flexible grading options even more dire. In response, PHA states that they will continue to speak with the administration and collect stories and ideas from students to make tangible improvements. The e-board of PHA strongly encourages everyone to fill out their anonymous story collection form to share with the administration in their discussions at the beginning of this semester.

Whether it is wifi connectivity issues, to recovery relapse, to any other physical or mental disruption due to current circumstances, if you are able, please share anonymously so that PHA may present this in their pursuit for unconditional pass/fail or other tangible improvements.

If you would like to share your story for PHA to share with the administration, please fill out their anonymous story collection form.