As the University of South Florida continues remote classes through the end of the semester due to the coronavirus outbreak, administrators have allowed students to opt for pass/fail grading on a course-by-course basis. The decision will not affect student GPAs and cannot be undone.
Courtesy of U.S. Department of State
By Emily Wunderlich
The USF system has extended the deadline to apply for pass/fail grading for the spring semester.
The election time frame will begin at 7 a.m. on March 30, as originally scheduled, and will now close at 11:59 p.m. on April 24. The application will be available online via the USF Student Toolkit, or through Arhivum here.
The extension will not apply to students enrolled in the athletic training and physician assistant programs, who must complete their applications by April 10 due to the scheduled final exams on an alternate calendar.
The announcement came around 5 p.m. on Saturday, three days after the university originally announced the option would be available.
“We hope that this news provides you with some additional relief to the stressors of the past few weeks, as well as more time to address any concerns or questions you may have about choosing this option,” wrote Paul Dosal, vice president for student success, in an email March 28.
On March 25, Dosal announced that pass/fail grading would be available on a course-by-course basis for the spring semester after nearly 7,000 USF students signed a petition calling for the change.
“The leadership at the University of South Florida understands how stressful the disruptions to this semester have been for you, and we have heard your concerns about your grades,” Dosal said in the March 25 email.
Once elected, the pass/fail grading option cannot be reversed, and it will not affect student GPAs.
All student academic records and transcripts for the spring 2020 semester will denote “Extraordinary circumstances encountered – (COVID-19).”
Additionally, students are being given extra time to consider their options, with the class withdrawal deadline being extended to April 3 (see details below).
Meanwhile, the first day for summer and fall class registration has been moved from March 30 to April 6.
Dosal warned in the March 25 email that the pass/fail grading option or class withdrawal “may not be the best choice for you academically and/or financially due to the current and future academic program requirements, financial benefits, scholarship requirements, etc.”
Students will have the opportunity to discuss these restrictions with their academic advisers or graduate program directors, according to the university’s full statement in the Student Toolkit.
Students who have withdrawn from a course, completed a course, audited a course, or are enrolled in a course that cannot be graded on a pass/fail basis will not be able to request this option.
Students in the Doctor of Pharmacy degree program are excluded from the temporary change.
“Students in the Morsani College of Medicine’s Undergraduate Medical Education, Physician Assistant, and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs should consult with their respective Program Directors for information on the specifics they adopted for awarding ‘S/U’ grades for Spring 2020,” the statement said.
Withdraw carefully
While the deadline to withdraw from spring courses has been extended, USF strongly advises students against it.
If a student has dropped all of their classes before March 24, they may be required to repay some of their federal financial aid.
Florida Bright Futures Scholarship recipients will be billed for dropped hours per state statutes. For most other financial aid programs, recipients who remain registered for at least one credit hour and do not request a refund for dropped classes will not be impacted.
All withdrawals made after March 24 will automatically be coded as “Withdrawal in Exceptional Circumstances” in the student’s record. This designation does not automatically result in refund approval for tuition and fees.
For more information, see USF’s full statement in the Student Toolkit.
This story was updated on Saturday, March 28, to reflect the extended deadline for pass/fail grading applications.
