By Grace Potts
Bellarmine University has altered the pass-fail policy to allow students to now change their classes to the pass-fail grading system, due to COVID-19 and the decision for all classes to be held online.
Dr. Mike Marshall, vice president for enrollment, marketing and communication, sent an email to all Bellarmine employees and students Wednesday.
According to the email from Marshall, “This change applies only to the current Spring 2020 semester and creates opportunities for students at all levels to consider converting one or more courses in which they are currently enrolled to be graded as pass/fail.”
The amended pass-fail policy differs from the usual pass-fail policy.
According to the university course catalog, the original pass-fail policy allows for only juniors and seniors to register classes as pass-fail, a student can only take one pass-fail course per semester, and students cannot exceed four pass-fail courses total.
The policy for this semester has been amended so that any student can convert as many classes as they need to pass-fail.
However, according to the email sent to students by Marshall, “Because of accreditation obligations and other regulatory policies, not all courses or programs of study allow for pass/fail grading.”
The full list of those courses can be found at bellarmine.edu/registrar/registration/.
Dr. Paul Gore, vice president for academic affairs and provost, said the university was learning about other schools’ altering their pass-fail policies before those schools went public.
Faculty council members along with Bellarmine officials came together to form a committee about the pass-fail decision.
Dr. David Porta, professor and faculty president, said he was happy faculty were consulted on the decision.
“I’m very happy to report that faculty governance was consulted and an active participant in formulating the pass-fail option for students this semester,” Porta said.
Porta said the committee had a lot of communication to make the decision.
“There were numerous emails, texts, calls, Teams conferences and even a few face-to-face meetings six feet apart,” he said.
Porta said Gore was the driving force behind passing the amended pass-fail policy, along with Registrar Ann Olsen and others. Together those Bellarmine officials drafted a proposal and brought it to faculty leadership.
The proposal was then sent to the Undergraduate Educational Affairs committee and the Graduate Educational Affairs committee and was quickly approved, Porta said.
“By March 24, all four amendments were passed and the policy was sent to the provost for final approval and dissemination to the students,” Porta said.
Dr. Greg Hillis is on the faculty council and is the president of the Bellarmine chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Hillis said the idea of implementing pass-fail policy changes came from the provost’s office, which then consulted faculty council.
The provost’s office initially proposed allowing students to have up to two classes graded on a pass-fail basis. When more cases of COVID-19 appeared and other universities made the pass-fail option available for all classes, university officials decided to offer Bellarmine students the option to have all of their classes graded on a pass-fail basis.
Hillis said while contemplating altering the pass-fail system, university officials were made aware of a student petition calling for the policy change.
The petition, “Pass/Fail at Bellarmine for Spring 2020,” was started by third-year student Elizabeth Lonneman.
Lonneman said: “I saw other universities implementing pass-fail policies. I wanted to get an idea of what Bellarmine students thought about this issue and why.”
Lonneman is a junior class representative for Student Government Association. “Even though we are not physically together at school, I still represent my peers and their interests,” she said.
Gore said it was originally, “just a good idea,” among faculty members until they saw how strongly students felt about it.
“Students have some agency. Student voices are important,” he said.
Lonneman said: “I am glad the policy was made available to students, for the majority of classes. I think it gives students more agency and control in a time where a lot is out of our control.”
The petition reached over 1,000 signatures before the decision to amend the policy was announced.
“I was slightly surprised but happy and encouraged that students were staying engaged and using their voices,” Lonneman said.
Hillis said he hoped the change would be somewhat of a reassurance for students, “There’s enough anxiety around studies let alone when you throw in a pandemic,” he said.
The decision was made through the kind of formal channels any academic change would be made. All votes were in by Tuesday. Members of the committee voted, “digitally and rapidly,” Gore said.
Gore said the way in which everyone worked together to reach a decision was a “remarkable manifestation.”
He said he could see around 200 students using the revised policy and also said students who have not felt a great impact by the change to online courses do not have much reason to change their courses from grades to pass-fail. However, students who may be really struggling can now opt for pass-fail.
Hillis said he also did not foresee many students using the new policy and many students who do will only change one or two classes to pass-fail.
Porta said the life-changes Bellarmine community members are facing was alone warrant to make the change.
Porta said: “This is all about options. No student expected to have half their instruction handled online this semester and no faculty member wanted to deliver half their instruction online this semester. We’re all just doing the best we can to get through this extraordinary semester knowing it won’t be as excellent as usual.”
Many students were affected in multiple aspects.
Porta said: ” I reminded faculty that 1/3 of our students are the 1st generation in their family to attend college. There’s a pretty fair chance that their families will be hit even harder than the rest as those folks may be the laid off workers from restaurants, factories, retails stores, etc. The stresses external to college are real for a large percentage of our students.”
According to the email from Marshall, “Converting one or more courses to pass/fail might be a good choice if you are struggling to maintain successful performance considering the disruption in family or learning environments.”
Gore said the university is prepping faculty on how to advise during this time and are hoping students will reach out to their adviser for guidance. For more information on this policy change, refer to the email sent by Marshall, available here: https://www.bellarmine.edu/docs/default-source/academic-affairs/fail-and-withdrawal-policy-updates-to-support-students.pdf?sfvrsn=5f5c7c80_0 or contact the registrar’s office or your adviser.