Students petition for the return of pass/fail grading accommodations
Symiah Dorsey/The Lion’s Roar
University students have expressed a need for the return of pass/fail grading accomodations for the Fall 2020 semester. The change.org petition has accumulated over 1,900 signatures and has been shared multiple times via Twitter.
1,900 and counting, students are petitioning for the university to provide the option of a pass/fail grading accommodation.
After the university permitted these accommodations for the Spring 2020 semester, students are asking the university to reimplement the pass/fail system for Fall 2020. They shared their experiences with balancing an unfamiliar workload with COVID-19, natural disasters and personal strains.
“This past semester has been a tolerable but very inconsistent one,” said Faith Laurent, a sophomore business management major.
With various bumps in the road, Laurent shared that she has struggled to maintain her grades.
“I have been unorganized since the pandemic started, and it has been hard to find that neutral ground, especially while balancing online courses with work, commuter transportation and a rough patch that involved a sick family member, which later affected income,” shared Laurent. “I am trying my hardest to keep my grades shining during 2020, but the road to success has been very bumpy lately.”
Blaire Estes, a junior early childhood education major, described her semester as challenging and confusing.
“This past semester has been very difficult for me,” shared Estes. “Not only did we have no say in COVID regulations for each class, but the schedules were so unorganized due to hurricanes. Keeping up with due dates, tests and mandatory class days became confusing, to say the least.”
For Estes, having access to pass/fail accommodations is a fair trade for full tuition.
“I decided to sign the pass/fail petition because our tuition wasn’t decreased at all, so I feel like it will be a fair trade, considering we did not get the same educational experience compared to previous semesters,” explained Estes. “I honestly don’t feel like it makes sense for me or any other students’ GPA to suffer from a semester like this.”
Laurent signed the petition in acknowledgment of students under different circumstances.
“I signed the petition solely because I understand what other students may be going through regarding grades,” empathized Laurent. “There should definitely be some leeway this semester because not everyones’ situation is the same at home or in school. Everyone has a completely different course of study, and I feel like students are still dealing with financial, schooling and housing issues due to the pandemic because, unfortunately, I am too.”
Craig Canepa, a junior information technology student, also believed that a pass/fail accommodation is a compromise the university should make.
“They need to permit pass or fail,” expressed Canepa. “You have students breaking down and crying because nobody knows what’s going on anymore. We’re not getting any sort of compromise from the university to account for everything that’s gone wrong.”
Estes added that in-person classes should not be mandatory this semester.
“I think the university should allow any course to be completely online, meaning the professors can’t assign random in-person class days in order to get a good grade,” said Estes. “To me, this defeats the whole purpose of slowing the spread. Some students learn better at home, where they do not have to wear a mask to avoid exposure.”
The journey back to normalcy was rushed, according to Laurent. She expressed hope that a pass/fail accommodation would leave a positive impact on students.
“Personally, I believe the pass/fail system should apply to Fall 2020 because I felt that everything was rushed back to normal,” said Laurent. “I strongly believe that the pass/fail system will give hope to many students that are still dealing with those hardships and struggles due to the pandemic, regardless of the conditions. Many people state how school comes first before anything, and I agree. If the university wants to make that positive impact on students, right now is the time to set new change into stone.”
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Symiah Dorsey is a communication major from Laplace and serves as Editor-in-Chief. Raised in Europe, Symiah is an avid lover of languages, traveling and...
Cade • Nov 19, 2020 at 1:19 pm
I think a pass/fail option should be In place this semester. This semester was truly much more difficult then anyone could have expected. With deaths in family, teaching ourselves or just trying to completing assignments in time with the amount of work given, hurricanes, a shortened semester, and as a working college student. This year was ridiculous and I don’t expect a bailout but I would expect some leeway coming from a school that “cares” about each student. I would have went to LSU knowing that I wouldn’t have the caring faculty that Selu used to have.
Heinz Dinkleberg • Nov 17, 2020 at 5:20 pm
If we are going to pay full tuition for last minute online class changes, I think it would be reasonable to ask for pass / fail.
J-P • Nov 17, 2020 at 11:29 am
A pass-fail system is not fair to the students who worked hard through the adversive semester and gave it their all to earn that A and 4.0. Yes there was covid, hurricanes, and non-traditional attendance. However, some students took these circumstances and worked extra hard to maintain their grades and get it done. To give everyone else a pass just isn’t fair to those who went the extra mile. It was the same for everyone, everyone had it hard, not just you. The playing field was even and so the grading scale should be also.
A • Nov 17, 2020 at 10:53 am
I do feel the accommodation should be in place this semester. Due to Covid, hurricanes, and now the rising number of cases. Yes, it’s our responsibility to handle our classwork, but some teachers have been going overboard and show no sympathy. I’m a SENIOR and my elective has given more work than 2 of my major classes combined(no excuses, no late submissions, nothing).We’ve given soo much and haven’t gotten anything in return, but an extended withdrawal date. Since, we didn’t get reduced tuition I do believe we should have that accommodation. If the university feels it’s being abused or whatever reason, then limit students. Part-time one grade and full-time 2, or one each. Something is better than nothing.
nmf • Nov 17, 2020 at 10:41 am
This semester has been so draining, emotionally and physically. I did not have these problems last semester when we went virtual. The decision to rush the semester had to be the worst one ever.
C. S. • Nov 17, 2020 at 10:25 am
I have assignments due every other day this semester, and I’ve had rushed, incomplete instruction in the knowledge needed to complete them. My grades are worse than they’ve ever been, and while I’ve heard that some professors are being lenient on students and cutting back their classes’ workloads, mine have not. This semester was unfair to students, especially those directly affected by COVID-19 and put in quarantine, and for me, this was worse than Spring. If Southeastern cares about their students, they’ll have accommodations this semester.
Will-Neely • Nov 17, 2020 at 9:38 am
I have been doing just fine this semester. I doubt we will get the pass/fail accomodation
Katelynn Decker • Nov 17, 2020 at 9:36 am
Due to this pandemic, and personal matters at home, I have not been able to the great student I am. I have never done badly in school until this year. While I can take blame, I put the majority on Covid-19. Since we are online majority of the time, I have had to teach myself a math I am unfamiliar with. This is not fair, nor is it my job. Like many other students say, we are paying full tuition to teach ourselves material.