Rationale for Maintaining a Choice-Based Grading System
A. The rationale underlying the proposal for a universal S/U policy is that it will protect students from disadvantaged backgrounds or those who are most hard hit by Covid-19 better than a choice-based policy. However, a universal S/U policy could also be more damaging to the very students we are trying to support – as well as for all students – for the following reasons:
- The implicit assumption that it is only students from privileged backgrounds who are fighting to preserve choice is fundamentally flawed (e.g., students who struggled during their first two years at Cornell because due to personal circumstances or because they were less academically prepared are counting on being able to raise their GPA to be competitive for graduate school).
- Cornell does not offer a P/F grading basis. A mandatory S/U grading basis would mean that some students who would otherwise pass a course and receive credit towards graduation (with grades of D+, D, and D-) would, under this system, not receive credit at all. Therefore, a mandatory S/U system could end up disadvantaging students who are hardest hit by Covid-19.
- A mandatory S/U system would reduce the quality of feedback students receive about their mastery of course material, thereby making it more difficult to make informed decisions about future course selections, major affiliation, readiness for post-graduate pursuits, etc.
- Lower academic expectations across the board would reduce motivation for students and in some cases instructors, jeopardizing students’ readiness for (and performance in) more advanced courses.
- Preserving students’ agency/choice at a time when so much in the world feels out of one’s control can provide an important sense of purpose that is important for well-being.
B. Students can choose to take some classes on an S/U basis while taking others for a grade.
C. Our outreach suggests that graduate/professional programs are anticipating many anomalies in students’ transcripts from the S2020 semester. Many of the nation’s most selective graduate and professional program admissions office have confirmed in public statements that they will not penalize S/U grades.
D. The most critical safety nets for supporting students facing financial, academic, and health-related challenges already exist, remain in place virtually, and are being expanded in various ways this semester (e.g., INC and W grading options, advising/counseling, leaves of absence, LSC scholarships that enable students to take a makeup class during the winter/summer sessions so that they can drop courses when they are struggling, etc.). The most significant challenges that are unique to this semester have to do with students’ differential access to online instruction. The university is actively providing solutions to these needs, including purchasing computers, contacting individual students to help them troubleshoot concerns about internet connectivity, providing ample asynchronous modes for students to engage with course material, and modifying exam and assignment guidelines to accommodate students in a wide range of time zones and learning environments.
E. The decision to move to a universal S/U system at the graduate/professional level is fundamentally different than at the undergraduate level. While undergraduates need to earn grades to qualify for admission into graduate/professional programs, students who have already begun their graduate/professional studies no longer face the same need.
For all of the reasons above, with the exception of the handful of universities that have adopted some variant of a universal pass/fail system, the vast majority of universities continue to preserve a choice-based system because that best serves the wide variety of needs and circumstances faced by undergraduates. The university is aggressively exploring the feasibility of extending the drop/grade change deadline to provide students with the maximum level of flexibility support in these uncertain times.
Note: It’s worth noting that a shift to a mandatory S/U system would also be very difficult to implement from a systems perspective and has the potential to introduce compliance risks that could be damaging for the university’s continued receipt of Title IV and NYS financial aid funds. Although this should not be a driving factor, it is far from insignificant.
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Also changing the policy again is only going to cause turmoil and uproar from the majority that is against universal S/U.
The extent of the impacts of COVID-19 extend further than those disadvantaged by the lack of online resources to continue coursework. With much of the Cornell community living in New York and other places affected by COVID, it is difficult to gauge the influence of the pandemic on emotions and mental capacity. In addition to this, what of the students who themselves contract COVID-19 or have immediate family members who are suffering from the disease? With only 3 weeks behind us in this pandemic, the effects on OUR student population are only yet to be felt. Universal Pass will account for all of this, being more equitable in addition to those who are affected by being technologically disadvantaged.
Also changing the policy again is only going to cause turmoil and uproar from the majority that is against universal S/U
Please do not do this. I have worked so, so very hard this semester to get good grades. Keep S/U as an option but do not make it mandatory.
How is W considered a safety net when most graduate/med/law schools don’t like seeing them? Also, taking a leave of absence can cause great turmoils in students’ life and academic plans in general; this disincentivizes students from considering that option. Why is it fair that the most vulnerable students have to shoulder these harms even more?
I am a first-gen/ working class transfer student. Universal S/U will seriously damage my cumulative GPA, because my academic performance at Cornell has greatly increased this semester (2nd semester here) this semester is my comeback and I have spent so much extra time rigorously engaging in coursework this semester.
I have taken out so much student debt to finance this semester. Please do not devalue my effort and investment by Universally implementing S/U. I’m on track for a big jump From 3.3 to 3.7 this semester, I’m starting applications for Grad school scholarships now.
Also, if universal is passed, students will inundate professors with letters of rec based off of Spring Semester’s assignment scores. Cornell students are very smart and will figure out meritocratic performance metric either way. Therefore delegitimizing universal S/U
The false premise that universal S/Us rely on is that S/Us will be stigmatized. Most medical schools accept S/Us now, even the ones talked about in the faculty senate conversation. It’s really bad universal S/U people are making professors feel about voting for opt-in S/U – If you can go to med school with straight S/Us even if you have a choice for a grade for all the elite medical schools. Even if not all med schools have changed their policy, I got a med school to change their policy after just one email exchange. Instead accepting the current reality, try to change the reality, by contacting grad schools, and let there be a net-good after this semester by giving the student choice!
The majority of medical schools, INCLUDING the ones mentioned in the faculty senate conversation, have statements that suggest that they will accept S/U grades BUT prefer students to keep letter grades if the policy is opt-in. In thinking about my own undergrad applications, I didn’t get into a single school (many with much higher acceptance rates than Cornell) that had optional tasks that I chose to not to do or could not do. How can we say with certainty that people will not be negatively impacted by their choices?
I have personally read both sides of this argument and genuinely feel that while choosing an optional S/U system is efficient for many students, it is definitely not equitable. While we must usually find a trade off between equitable and efficient decisions in life, these unpredictable and unprecedented times call for a leniency to a more equitable decision. Thus I personally believe that with everything going on, and the worst yet to come, our best choice as a community would be to choose a Universal S/U system.
As a person who suffered from immense illness during their first two years at Cornell, please do not allow for Universal Pass to happen. I have been working ridiculously hard to come back from my GPA freshman and sophomore year, and as I anticipate applying to medical school, I simply cannot afford having this semester’a GPA not be factored into my cumulative GPA. The universal pass will hurt many students who are keeping quiet in fear of being labeled as insensitive for standing up for themselves. The opt-in policy is sufficient to protect students who are affected by COVID-19 – the universal pass system would be negligence. I support the stance that the senate has taken – please do not let the student assembly’s proposal to change this.
While there is incredibly vocal support for opt-in mainly revolving around some students’ need to boost their GPA this semester, I offer a few counter arguments:
1. If we acknowledge the inequities that exist for marginalized students when coming to Cornell, why is this crisis any different? What about marginalized students who worked incredibly hard to overcome barriers at the beginning of their time as students and are now academically impacted by the crisis? Arguably, the Cornell campus is more equitable than everyone’s different home lives. In the future, will there be an opportunity for students affected by the crisis to “boost their GPA”? Likely no.
2. The purpose of this grading policy is to address the inequities of this crisis and this semester. The argument for opt-in for a GPA boost is beyond the scope of this crisis and this semester. A universal S/U policy does not serve to undermine prior inequities, but serves to address this current pandemic that no one has ever experienced before and is not experiencing equally.
3. Are letter grades even accurate during a pandemic? What does a GPA boost mean during a crisis? Arguably, a letter grade no longer accurately differentiates between students’ competence and abilities due to drastic differences in academic integrity, privilege, and unexpected struggles.
4. How can an opt-in policy argue that keeping letter grades should be allowed to help a person become competitive for grad school while simultaneously saying that S/U grades will not affect a person’s competitiveness?
5. A universal S/U policy does not remove many students’ agency. In fact, it grants agency to students in several ways:
– agency to care for their community, family, and loved ones without immense academic burden
– agency to represent themselves with prior semesters that serve as more accurate representations of their capabilities in a real school environment
– agency to pursue other endeavors that improve their mental health and well-being
6. A mandatory S/U system does not have to lessen the feedback provided to a student. The final S/U grade what shows up on the transcript. How does a universal S/U system preclude a student from receiving numerical grades on other assignments and feedback as usual? It doesn’t have to.
7. While access to online instruction is stated to be the most important differentiating factor between students, what about the fact that an immense number of people will or already have become severely ill? This situation is changing rapidly and many more people will be personally impacted by illness. What about students who are not accepted by their families? What about students who are struggling to access food? Or who have to work to support loss of income?
8. Arguably those that are most impacted are not even able to vocalize their opinion in this conversation.
9. Cornell is changing many aspects of the way that they operate, teach, and serve students. If Cornell does not have a P/F grading system, why does this have to stay constant? Especially at a time when everything seems to be changing.
10.
The rationale states that numerous professional schools have stated that they will accept pass fail grades. This is not completely true. Harvard Medical School states on there website that they will accept pass fail grades but letter grades are preferred if the student has a choice. Thus, students do not have the choice to pass fail even if they are in a bad situation. Universal S/U is the only way to guarantee that any individual student will not be faulted.
Reading these anonymous comments, I seriously call into question the ethical standard that so many of you so-called “future leaders”, and especially “future doctors” hold yourself to. To all of my fellow low-income, minority classmates that complain about Universal P/F hurting their GPAs that they have been working towards increasing, how can you offer support to a system that perpetuates the unfair playing fields that we are far too familiar with? You are all selfish to not think about your counterparts who are suffering because of this pandemic and do not have the proper means nor resources to achieve success. For faculty, how can you expect students to uphold a certain standard of academic performance when loved ones are falling ill, and their mental health is incapacitated by the emotional trauma. Furthermore, being confined to our homes, while we are expected to dedicate a similar if not higher level of attention to our studies, will disproportionately affect students who reside in abusive households, a factor that is often overlooked. For everyone who voted in favor of retaining the current grading scheme, you are a selfish, inhumane bunch of people.
Here’s a thought—–We all experience inequality one form or another. Even the richest student on campus experiences inequality, depending on how you define it. You can always have more, or be better. The line we don’t want to go below is the threshold for having enough to succeed in classes. The issue is that – we all think this threshold is different! One might think that to succeed means having the most expensive laptop, expensive tutors, and an expensive car. Others may think its just a simple laptop, simple WIFI, pen and piece of paper. Personally, I live with “just enough” in my life – good laptop and WIFI although with abnormal family situation. And I am thankful for this – because it has humbled me and made me a better and stronger person, to the point I do not feel emotionally disrupted by this pandemic. I am thankful I am home with my family. I am thankful I am alive. And I am happy I am a Cornell student. Being poor to me doesn’t feel like inequality to me. Expensive things don’t bring me happiness. Tutors make things easy at first, but harder at the end since I did not figure it out by myself. Being poor meant I had to figure things out on my own, and it made me more hard working and smarter. Imagine the kids that can’t even get an elite education like you. If you don’t have the sufficient needs – get help from Cornell access fund or other resources they have. I hope OPT-IN S/U stays. S/U will not be stigmatized and prevents students from not getting credit for their classes as mentioned in the rational. Good luck everyone. Stay humble.
There is immense privilege in telling students to “get help from Cornell access fund or other resources.” No amount of funding or resources can mitigate the impact of having sick family members, getting sick yourself, living in damaging homes, living with and supporting front line workers, etc. Not everyone can be helped with money or technology. Yes, we are incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to get a college education. We should all be grateful and humble. But, we should also think about putting others’ needs before our own. In the grand scheme of things, a GPA should not be of greatest importance right now. Perhaps, if we didn’t have to think so much about our academic performance, we could all learn about how to serve our communities in new ways.
I am ashamed to be a Cornelian in this moment. Why can we not take a stance that supports those whose voices are not heard? I am incredibly privileged to have the resources necessary for conducting my studies for the remainder of the semester, but many do not. I honestly feel guilty at the thought of even trying to boost my GPA this semester, especially knowing that there are other students who are or will have to deal with death in their families, mental health challenges, uncomfortable living situations, and scarcities. It simply is not right. When we get to Cornell, some of us come from backgrounds that may not have prepared us for rigorous coursework. But the resources on campus address those concerns – tutors, the food pantry, safe jobs, the library. Now, resources alone cannot address the challenges that many face. We should have sympathy for this reality.
As a marginalized and poor individual, Cornell has not made my life easier by expecting to me compete against my fellow peers in my engineering program during this pandemic whilst I’m home. What they’ve done is stripped me of the agency to tend to my family in America and abroad.
My great-uncle passed away a week ago, my parents lost two friends in the last two days alone and my mother lost her job today. I cannot take time to console the people around me because I am being asked to choose my education over my mental state. And not to mention that I will be observing the month of fast, Ramadan, in a conflicted and troubled state.
I say without any hesitance that Cornell truly shames me. I feel foolish to think that they ever had the backs of their disadvantaged students.