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Pass/No Pass Guidelines for Faculty and Advisors

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Monday, March 30, 2020

Table of Contents

 

In the wake of the University Senate Committee’s vote yesterday to approve the Pass/No Pass amendment at a 98% approval rate to the Faculty Rule on same, we provide some guidelines for the EHE College of Education and Human Ecology Faculty and Advisors. To provide some context, here is the Faculty Rule Amendment that was approved.

Faculty Rule Amendment

SYNOPSIS: In the interest of the physical and academic well-being of our students the Council of Enrollment and Student Progress at the request of the Office of Undergraduate Education seeks temporary modification to Faculty Rule 3335-8-21 (K) for the Spring 2020 Academic Term. Faculty Rule 3335-8-21 (K) regulates the deadlines and conditions under which students may exercise the PA/NP grading option for a course. Existing policy allows only elective courses to be taken PA/NP. The current deadline has elapsed (January 31, 2020). In addition, existing policy imposes a cap of 20 credits total per student/undergraduate degree. Existing policy allows instructors to set the “Pass” threshold. Existing policy restricts this option to students at or above a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Given the overwhelming changes to our programs and courses, this proposal seeks to alleviate barriers and ensure consistency.

WHEREAS, a transition to virtual instruction, has significantly altered the structure and method of delivery across all courses

WHEREAS, many courses in non-negligible ways, may necessarily no longer reflect the original course syllabus, stated intent and outcomes

WHEREAS, it is appropriate in these times to allow greater flexibility in the interest of fairness and equity to our students

WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of our student’s mental health and well-being to alleviate points of concern and anxiety where possible

WHEREAS, students should be empowered to make the best decision towards their well-being, health, and academic success

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that rule 3335-8-21 (K) is amended for the Spring 2020 academic term to extend a student’s ability to take courses with Pass/No Pass grading such that (a) the number of courses taken PA/NP in Spring 2020 be exempted from the stated cap of 20 credits, (b) the students be allowed to take elective and General Education courses PA/NP, (c) the deadline for declaring the intention to take a course PA/NP be extended to April 17, 2020, (d) all students earning a D or better under the course grading scheme should be marked as Passing, (e) the option of requesting PA/NP is available to all students, regardless of GPA, (f) each college or school be allowed to extend this policy, as deemed appropriate, to include courses taken to fulfill requirements of the major or minor, and/or as graduate students subject to the further constraints of graduate school policy.

Guidelines for Faculty and Advisors

In response to the Provost’s request for college plans, our administration provides this statement, along with more details that follow.

To help accommodate student needs during a time of unforeseen impact as a result of COVID-19, and as the university expands the Pass/Non-pass (P/NP) grading option, the College of Education and Human Ecology forwards these guidelines for Faculty and Advisors:

  • Extend the deadline for students to declare P/NP for UGs and S/U for Graduate Students for Spring Semester 2020 courses to April 17, 2020,
  • EHE students may choose one or more Spring 2020 courses as P/NP,
  • EHE students can elect P/NP to apply to general education (GE), elective, and minor courses or S/U to apply to graduate courses,
  • If faculty and university advisors agree to a request for major or graduate courses, then we recommend that a PASS would be a C- for UG students and a B- for graduate students.

Students should consult with their academic advisor or their department contact before electing the PA/NP option because there may be unintended consequences. PA/NP grades do not factor into GPA calculations so such a grade cannot lower or raise a student’s GPA.

In addition, we provide some important details:

Our senior College Advisors, under the leadership of Casey Henceroth, have worked to consider pre-req coursework and sequencing, minimum grade requirements for specific courses or majors, courses required by the state or specific accreditation boards (that are known), impact on competitive admissions, and impact on applying to graduate or professional schools.

The P/NP policy changes will also have a remarkable impact on grade forgiveness, petitions, and academic action, but those elements are something for which we have oversight. The program specific issues are the purview of the faculty, so our college advisors will seek guidance about how those issues should be handled. Our advisors have outlined considerations for each major at the bottom of this document.

It is important to note that students will be able to submit P/NP requests on their own, but we are planning to establish a mechanism at the college level to audit all requests before they are processed. So, if there are some "faculty strongly recommend..." guidelines, we would be able to intervene and advise students accordingly when reviewing P/NP requests. However, if the faculty in a certain program determine that they won't allow COURSE 1234 graded as P/NP to count toward a degree requirement, that should be communicated to the college advisors.

Courses that are graded P/NP (with a PASS grade) will count toward degree requirements (course completion & credit hours toward 120), but admission to a program or cumulative GPA for a specific program will be based on letter grades in other courses or a cumulative GPA in the remaining courses that *are* graded. Faculty and college advisors will need to maintain vigilance on these requests.

Key Concerns and Implications for Certain EHE Majors/Courses

  1. Certain program requirements require specific grades for degree completion. For example, Early Childhood Education and Special Education both require students to complete MATH 1125 with a B- grade or higher. Waiving this requirement for students could possibly allow students to progress into their program without the appropriate level of preparation.
  2. Competitive programs in EHE often specify minimum grades in order to join a program or apply as a competitive applicant. For example, Exercise Science requires that students earn a C- grade or higher in several pre-requisite courses (BIOLOGY 1113, CHEM 1210, etc.). Again, there could theoretically be an impact on preparedness to begin major coursework. (Although, this is a broad concern across campus for competitive majors, not specific to EHE).
  3. Pre-requisites for professional licensure and/or graduate school. Programs geared toward professional licensure have their own licensure-specific requirements that can include grades in specific courses. Graduate and professional programs may also have specific requirements for grades in courses. These are independent of Ohio State degree requirements.

Depending on what faculty decide for each program, our advisors can tailor the intervention and advising with students accordingly. Advisors will be able to audit P/NP requests to assist with implementing faculty recommendations before P/NP is processed (this is important, as P/NP is essentially irreversible once the semester ends). They also plan to create online "info sessions" that are major specific to address any nuances or issues students need to consider.

Since the turnaround time for students will be quick, having live and recorded info sessions that can be placed on our website will allow us to do more outreach, especially because appointments in the next few weeks will be in high demand.

Leadership Team

Our aim is to implement these guidelines as quickly and as equitably for our students as possible. Please feel free to contact anyone on our leadership team.

  • Patti Brosnan, Chair of the College Curriculum Committee,
  • Tami Augustine, Director of Accreditation, Placement, and Licensure

Department Contacts

  • Educational Studies: Antoinette Miranda
  • Human Sciences: Gene Folden
  • Teaching and Learning: Tiffany Wild
  • Casey Henceroth, Supervisor of the College University Advisors

We are live on the college website: https://ehe.osu.edu/pass-no-pass-information-ehe/

There is also a bar on the college homepage, https://ehe.osu.edu, directing students to the pass/no pass information.

The university Office of Academic Affairs, https://oaa.osu.edu/grading-policy-changes-spring-2020, also links to us.

Pass/Non-Pass Considerations for EHE Majors

HUMAN SCIENCES

Exercise Science

C- required for: ENGL 1110.01, MATH 1148, CHEM 1210, CHEM 1220, BIOL 1113

HPNES

C- required for: ENGL 1110.01, MATH 1148, CHEM 1210, CHEM 1220, BIOL 1113, HUMNNTR 2310 (prerequisite for HUMNNTR 4609)

Nutrition Dietetics

C- required for: ENGL 1110.01, MATH 1148, CHEM 1210, CHEM 1220, BIOL 1113, HUMNNTR 2310 (prerequisite for HUMNNTR 4609), DPD requirements likely to be impacted by P/NP option

Nutrition Sciences

C- required in HUMNNTR 2310, CHEM 2210 (optional course) requires C- in MATH 1148 & 1149

Nutrition in Industry

Students pursuing Business minor within major need C- or higher in business courses and accounting

HDFS

N/A

Sport Industry

N/A (only impact would those choosing minor instead of specialization)

Fashion and Retail Studies

CSFRST courses all require C- or higher

Hospitality Management

N/A

CFFS

CSCFFS 5260 requires B- or higher in CSCFFS 3260 and 4260, CFP track courses may be impacted by P/NP option

EDUCATION

All Licensure Majors (T&L and Special Ed)
2.75 CUM GPA for license
B- or higher required in Student Teaching

Special Ed
B- or higher in all pre-major and major courses
3.0 CUM GPA for graduation

ECE/ECEVI
MATH 1125/1126 B- or higher

MCE
2.75 content GPA in each Area of Concentration

ILA
2.75 content GPA

WLE
2.75 content GPA

TESOL
2.75 content GPA

STEM-Science
2.75 content GPA

STEM-Math
2.75 content GPA

Tech Ed
2.75 CUM GPA

SCRAPE
2.75 content GPA

CYS
N/A

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