December 8, 2020 - Changes to Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 Grading Policies (Corrected)

The grading-policy announcement sent to the campus community yesterday contained an error regarding “D” grades. The announcement should have read (modifications underlined):

• Students receiving “D” grades will be allowed to change them to “no credit” after grades are submitted. The deadline for students to submit an email request to registrar@csuchico.edu is January 15, 2021 for fall 2020 and June 11, 2021 for spring 2021. In rare exceptions, the University Registrar may allow extensions to this deadline. Please contact the Office of the Registrar for more information.
  
  For students choosing this option, “D” grades received this semester will not be calculated in their overall GPAs; however, they will receive no academic credit for the course(s). Please know that a “D” is not a passing grade for general education courses in Oral Communication, Written Communication, Critical Thinking, and Mathematics/ Quantitative Reasoning, though it is passing for other GE courses, elective courses, as well as for some (though not all) majors and minors courses. Before you decide to convert any “D” grades to “no credit,” consider whether it might affect your progress toward graduation. The University strongly encourages you to reach out to your academic advisor to discuss the implications.

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The full, corrected message is as follows:

To: Campus Community
From: President Gayle Hutchinson

Upon the strong recommendation of Chico State’s Academic Senate and with guidance from the California State University Chancellor’s Office, I am making a one-time change to University grading policies for the spring 2021 semester. The below changes also expand the earlier approved update to fall 2020 academic grading policies.

The intent of this change is to provide relief to students impacted academically by the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The following grading policies will be applied to the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters only:

• All “F” grades will automatically be replaced with a “no credit” grade that will NOT be calculated in students’ overall GPAs.
  
  
• Students receiving “D” grades will be allowed to change them to “no credit” after grades are submitted. The deadline for students to submit an email request to registrar@csuchico.edu is January 15, 2021 for fall 2020 and June 11, 2021 for spring 2021. In rare exceptions, the University Registrar may allow extensions to this deadline. Please contact the Office of the Registrar for more information.
  
  For students choosing this option, “D” grades received this semester will not be calculated in their overall GPAs; however, they will receive no academic credit for the course(s). Please know that a “D” is not a passing grade for general education courses in Oral Communication, Written Communication, Critical Thinking, and Mathematics/ Quantitative Reasoning, though it is passing for other GE courses, elective courses, as well as for some (though not all) majors and minors courses. Before you decide to convert any “D” grades to “no credit,” consider whether it might affect your progress toward graduation. The University strongly encourages you to reach out to your academic advisor to discuss the implications.
  
  
• Students may retake spring 2020 courses for which they receive “no credit” for a letter grade in future semesters. Such repeated courses will not be counted toward the 16-unit maximum for grade forgiveness. In other words, they will not count toward a student’s GPA.
  
  
• Students may drop courses for any reason until December 11, 2020 for fall 2020 and May 14, 2021 for spring 2021—and they will be allowed to repeat a course taken this semester again, even if they have taken the course twice before. Any courses/units dropped in spring 2020 will not count toward the 18-unit maximum for drops or withdrawals during a student’s matriculation.
  
  Dropped spring 2020 courses will not be included in GPA calculations. However, dropping courses may come with academic and/or financial impacts, including a possible reduction in financial aid. The University strongly encourages students to contact the Office of the Registrar, their major or academic advisors, and, if necessary, the Financial Aid & Scholarship Office for more information.

The above changes in grading policies apply to undergraduate courses only. Given the distinct nature and requirements, graduate and credential courses are not affected and will be evaluated as usual.

Faculty colleagues, please know that there is nothing you need to do.  You should continue to grade your students normally, and you do not need to assign NC or W grades to your students.  All of that work will be done by the Registrar’s Office. 

Thanks to the Academic Senate and faculty for their tireless efforts in making students’ Chico State experience as deep and fulfilling as possible under the extraordinary circumstances. As I did during the spring semester, I encourage faculty to show compassion in the way they approach the end of the semester, by understanding student challenges and ensuring that students have every opportunity to earn the grade they deserve. Also, as a reminder, I’m asking faculty to submit fall grades no later than December 23.

The ongoing pandemic continues to test every member of our campus community. I couldn’t be more proud of our collective creativity and commitment to academic excellence and achievement over the last, very challenging, 10 months. Time and time again, we’ve met the moment gracefully and powerfully, and I am tremendously grateful for what we’ve been able to accomplish together.