Dear students,
Over the past week, faculty, students, and members of the College administration have spent a great deal of time discussing how the College might best handle course grades during Spring Term 2020, given the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and our shift to remote instruction during at least the first part of the Term.
The ECC discussed several potential modifications of grading policy for Spring Term 2020, with student and faculty input gathered through Moodle discussion platforms. Two alternatives were forwarded to the faculty, who discussed and voted on those alternatives. Given the number of variables in the teaching and learning environment beyond our direct control, the faculty concluded that making all courses mandatory S/CR/NC was the fairest way to approach grading this term. The issues raised in the faculty discussion and vote, as well as the results of the vote itself, were shared and discussed with the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees.
Through this thorough and careful process of discussion and consultation, and consistent with the majority vote of the Carleton faculty, the decision has been made that all courses offered in Spring Term 2020 will be graded mandatory SCrNC. No letter grades will be awarded for any course, and only SCrNC grades will be recorded on student transcripts. Courses taken for a mandatory SCrNC grade in Spring Term 2020 will count toward requirements for a student’s major.
The Registrar’s Office will make the requisite changes to course information to reflect this change in grading structure. Those changes should be visible on the HUB by late next week.
Beverly Nagel
Dean of the College