Due to the emerging hardships associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary transition to online course delivery, Marshall University is making changes to its grading system for the spring semester.
For this semester only, undergraduate students will be able to select to receive Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) grades as an alternative to the traditional A-F grading system.
Students must opt in to CR/NC grading by Friday, April 24, and may do so on a course-by-course basis.
According to Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Jaime R. Taylor, students who select the CR/NC option are required to participate in all course activities and assessments through the end of the semester.
He said that to earn CR for a course, students must receive a final letter grade of A, B or C; students who receive a final grade of D or F will earn NC.
Only CR grades count as credit toward graduation, and CR/NC grades will not affect students’ term or cumulative grade point average either positively or negatively.
Graduate students are not eligible for the CR/NC grading option.
Taylor said students are encouraged to talk to their academic advisors before making a decision to ensure the CR/NC option is appropriate for specific programs’ accrediting requirements. Students also may need letter grades in certain prerequisite courses to meet admission requirements for professional graduate programs.
He added, “We hope this change to our grading policy provides the flexibility students need to feel more comfortable proceeding with their education during this particularly challenging time.”
Earlier this week, the university also extended the deadline for withdrawing from a spring 2020 full-semester course or second-eight-weeks course from April 17 to April 24. Because of the special circumstances, an instructor’s signature will not be required to drop a class.
In addition, the university announced to students yesterday that the only courses that will be offered during the Intersession and Summer I sessions of summer school will be those that can be delivered all-online or through some synchronous activities delivered electronically with no personal contact (i.e., hybrid courses). Those summer school sessions will begin May 11 and May 18, respectively.
No decision has been made yet regarding the Summer II (June 8-July 9) and Summer III sessions (July 14-Aug. 13).