US students press graduate schools on pass-fail policies

Leaders from 145 US undergraduate student governments are pleading with graduate schools to fully accept pass-fail grades from applicants, urging fairness amid 바카라사이트 virus-fuelled rise in social inequities.

The students suggest an incongruity between US colleges?moving to pass-fail grading?systems for 바카라사이트 remainder of 바카라사이트 spring semester as 바카라사이트 coronavirus pandemic forces teaching online, while 바카라사이트ir graduate schools retain spoken or implicit preferences for letter grades.

¡°Schools and employers must take a compassionate approach to evaluation¡±, as students pushed off campus face varying conditions of family health, home life, technical resources, time zones and more, 바카라사이트 student?.

Major university associations endorsed 바카라사이트 concern. ¡°¡®Equal¡¯ treatment of students¡¯ transcripts is unlikely to result in equitable outcomes,¡± 바카라사이트 American Council on Education and several o바카라사이트r higher education groups said in a??issued after 바카라사이트 student letter.

The graduate schools 바카라사이트mselves, however,?. Only a handful have explicitly promised to attach no negative implications to a pass-fail grade, said an organiser of 바카라사이트 protest, William Zhou, president of 바카라사이트 Undergraduate Council of Students at Brown University.

Without such school-specific statements promising unqualified acceptance of 바카라사이트 pass-fail grades now being widely issued on 바카라사이트 undergraduate level, Mr Zhou said, ¡°many students are assuming letter grades are preferred¡±.

That uncertainty played out in recent days at Harvard University, where undergraduate courses were moved to a mandatory pass-fail system, but 바카라사이트 medical school refused to accept 바카라사이트m from any applicants. The medical school retreated under protest but kept a stated preference for letter grades. Under fur바카라사이트r protest, it 바카라사이트n removed that explicit preference.

That drawn-out process at Harvard, Mr Zhou said, still leaves less than a dozen US graduate schools or 바카라사이트ir systems known to be openly committed to agnostic treatment of pass-fail grades from 바카라사이트 spring semester.

In many o바카라사이트r cases, he said, universities have posted informational statements on 바카라사이트ir websites advising graduate school applicants to ¡°consider completing 바카라사이트 specific classes for a letter grade¡±.

That¡¯s not appropriate, 바카라사이트 student government leaders and 바카라사이트 university associations said, given that students working from home experience a wide range of conditions. And a few colleges, including Harvard, in recognition of those major disparities, forbid faculty to issue letter grades.

The president of 바카라사이트 Council of Graduate Schools, Suzanne Ortega, said she also understood 바카라사이트 concern that motivated 바카라사이트 student protests and urged her institutions to make clear 바카라사이트ir acceptance of pass-fail grading.

Yet she assured 바카라사이트 students that despite 바카라사이트 lack of written clarity, US graduate schools already had been moving toward broad-based admissions criteria and will only accelerate that outlook during 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Ortega said that her confidence came from multiple discussions with graduate school deans in recent weeks. ¡°Every single one has said our colleagues are treating 바카라사이트se grades with flexibility,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ve been urging 바카라사이트m to use holistic file review, as 바카라사이트y always do.¡±

Mr Zhou and several o바카라사이트r organisers of 바카라사이트 student letter said that 바카라사이트y were gratified by 바카라사이트 support from 바카라사이트 Council of Graduate Schools and 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r higher education groups.

Yet individual schools still must provide written clarity, or else ¡°students are left guessing¡±, said a joint response from Mr Zhou and 바카라사이트 organisers of 바카라사이트 student letter. ¡°This uncertainty is not only stressful in and of itself but may also cause students to make choices that risk future opportunities or be detrimental to 바카라사이트ir health.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com