By Nell Trainor
As Stonehill makes the transition to online courses for the remainder of the spring semester, students and faculty are quickly adapting to the new online learning lifestyle. Due to the abrupt transition, interim policy changes have been made regarding the Course Withdrawal Policy and the policy on taking courses as Pass/Fail.
Just a few days after the College announced the transition to online courses, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Molly Smith emailed students and faculty regarding these interim changes.
Smith sent out an email that read, “as we all cope with the shift towards online teaching and learning and confront the challenges that this shift brings, the Associate Provosts, Deans, Registrar, and I have been working to revise specific policies in order to help our students cope with these circumstances during the spring 2020 semester.”
These “interim” policies apply to undergraduate students taking courses in the spring semester of 2020. The “Pass/Fail Policy” changes offer flexibility to students in making decisions about how their courses will be graded for the remainder of the semester.
Stonehill senior Noah Powell is one of the many students making changes to their courses after the new policy was released. “Being able to take classes pass/fail is a huge relief. With everything going on currently there’s a lot of stress, and a lot of that comes from some classes not being meant to be taken online,” Powell said. “So having the option to pass/fail made me feel much better to know that a class that was meant to be taken in person won’t be hurting my GPA now that it’s online.”
The limit on the number of courses that can be taken Pass/Fail in Spring 2020 is three for students currently enrolled in 15 or more credits, and two for students currently enrolled in fewer than 15 credits. Students are advised to check their emails for the full document of changes regarding the new pass/fail policies.
Students are strongly encouraged to consult their advisors before they make changes regarding both of these policies. The deadline to take pass/fail courses has been extended until the last day of classes on April 29.
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