One Fall 2020 class eligible for Credit / Fail
By Nikayla Goddard, December 2 2020—
In light of the complications and online courses implemented this year as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, on Dec. 2 the University of Calgary announced that students will have an option that will influence their final semester grades.
On Dec. 1, the Academic Planning and Priorities Committee (APPC) of the General Faculties Council approved a recommendation to offer flexible grading for one course completed in the Fall 2020 term for both undergraduate and graduate students, according to the email released by the U of C.
“This past year has been one of enormous change and transition,” said provost and vice-president academic Dru Marshall in the announcement. “It has taken a toll on all of us, particularly those of you working towards completing your degree.”
The following options apply to any scheduled Fall 2020 course, including regular, block week and non-standard courses. Any courses scheduled over both fall and winter terms do not apply to this option.
Undergraduate students have the opportunity to receive a Credit mark instead of a letter grade for one of their courses this semester. If the course would have achieved a grade of C- or higher, the student can choose between the CR option or have their grade shown for that single course. Or, if the course they choose has a grade of D or D+, students can request that this grade be unweighted, meaning it will not get used in their GPA calculations. Both CR grades and unweighted D/D+ grades do not get included in GPA calculations, but F grades will.
For graduate students, in order to take the CR grade the course grade has to be B- or above.
“This was not an easy decision to make,” Marshall said. “We wanted to advise you there could be longer-term impacts of continuing to select the CR grade.”
Marshall says these long-term impacts could include affecting a student’s ability to meet admission requirements for future, including graduate schools and professional programs, as well as affecting eligibility for scholarship consideration and transfer credit eligibility at other institutions.
The deadline for requesting a CR or unweighted grade is Jan. 15, 2021, and details will be released to the UCalgary website soon.