Announcement: Credit / No-Credit Grading

Wednesday April 15, 2020 3:01 pm

Dear Colleagues,

We are all currently facing extraordinary challenges with COVID-19; if not from the virus itself then from its many and long-reaching effects. To help address these challenges and to encourage our students to persist and complete their academic course work this semester, Cal State Fullerton will institute a temporary modification in our academic grading processes.

Created transparently and in collaboration with our ASI leaders, Academic Senate Executive Committee, Academic Senate, deans, faculty, staff, students, and administration, this modification will empower students with the option of moving any and/or all of their Spring semester 2020 courses from a letter grade to Credit / No-Credit (CR/NC). Further, unlike most CR/NC selections, in this instance, students will be given this option after they learn their grade in the course, thereby allowing them to choose the grading option that best suits their situation€”either a letter grade or a CR/NC.

Specifically, the plan for this change, which is for Spring 2020 courses only, is as follows:

• All courses (undergraduate and graduate) will be available for the CR/NC grading option on the following basis:
  • Undergraduate CR/NC grading:  CR = A through C- grades; NC = D through F grades.
  • Graduate courses CR/NC grading: CR = A through B- grades; NC = C through F grades.
• The deadline for students to select CR/NC grading options will be extended to June 1, 2020.
• Faculty members will submit students’ letter grades by May 22 as they typically would.
• The students will then have a 10-day period to review their grades and determine either to retain the assigned letter grade or to opt into the equivalent CR/NC grade.
• Should students want to opt into CR/NC:
  • There will be a video tutorial presented to the students showing them the step by step process for opting into the CR/NC option.
  • Students will login to their Student Center in Titan Online and access a new page where they can opt in for CR/NC, course-by-course. They will answer questions pertaining to the implications of their decision and acknowledge their understanding before they can indicate their decision.
  • Students will decide course by course whether to retain their letter grade or select the equivalent CR/NC option.
  • After a student has chosen the CR/NC grading option for a course, they may change that decision up until the deadline of June 1, 2020.
• At the end of the review period, June 1 at 11:59 p.m., grades will be finalized on transcripts, per the Office of the Registrar.
• If a student does not opt into the CR/NC grade for any particular course, the letter grade will serve as the default official grade.
• We are also extending the deadline to withdraw from a class for non-medical reasons to May 8, 2020, the last day of classes. The Chancellor’s Office has waived sections of EO 1037 for this semester, so that Spring 2020 withdrawals will not count towards the normal 18-unit limit on withdrawals.

Since the benefits to these modifications will impact individuals differently,

• the University will provide advising early and often to ensure students are equipped to make the grading choices that best serves their unique goals and needs. 
• students with questions about Financial Aid impact should go to the Financial Aid website for a quick reference on CR/NC.

Frequently Asked Questions

• FAQ document for students
• FAQ for faculty/staff

We know that these actions alone cannot relieve all the difficulties related to COVID-19, but we hope they will alleviate at least some of the academic-related stress. We have made these temporary changes with our central focus on informed student choice and flexibility. We are grateful for all that our faculty and staff are doing each day to continue instruction and all that our students are doing to continue learning under these challenging circumstances. Together and as Titans, we will persevere, we will overcome, and we will succeed. 

In so many ways, we already are.

Thank you, Titan Family.

Sincerely,

Fram Virjee
President

Pamella H. Oliver
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs