Grading Policy for Spring 2020

Full Term or Express II Undergraduate and Graduate Courses

 College of Charleston | March 29, 2020

• A notation will appear on undergraduate and graduate official transcripts indicating a significant disruption during the Spring 2020 semester
• The deadline for students to withdraw from one or more full term or Express II courses will be extended. Students may withdraw from April 7, 2020 through April 22, 2020.
• Faculty will use standard letter grades to submit students’ final course grades by May 1, 2020, by 5 p.m. This change in deadline is necessary to implement the new pass-fail grade type. Submission of all grades by this deadline is critically important.
• A new pass-fall grade-type has been created for this semester. Students will be able to choose between the standard grade type (A-F) or the new pass-fall grade type (PS/NS) for each course completed in Express II or full-semester Spring 2020.
• Undergraduate (PS/NS): If the pass-fail grade type is selected, a PS will replace standard grades A through D-. A NS will replace standard grades F and WA.*
• Graduate (PS/NS): If the pass-fail grade type is selected, a PS will replace standard grades A-C. A NS will replace the standard grade F.

 Students will receive additional instructions about how to select the grade type for each course completed in Spring 2020. There will be a 48-hour period after final grades are visible to students in which students will make their selection for each course.  

• In making the decision to retain standard grades or choose the new pass-fail grade type, students should talk with their faculty, advisors, and family. There are several factors to consider:
• Students may choose the PS/NS option for one, some, or all their
• A PS grade will earn credit hours but will not count in GPA calculations.
• A NS grade will earn zero credit hours and will not count in GPA calculations.
• Courses graded PS will fulfill major, minor, certificate, general education, and degree requirements.
• The pass-fail grade type is only available for completed courses. An Incomplete (I) is not eligible for the PS/NS grade.
• The pass-fail grade type is not available for audit, repeat, and courses designated P/NP (pass/no pass). EDLS 100 is not eligible for the pass-fail grade type.
• Criteria for Dean’s List, President’s List, and Latin Honors remain unchanged; that is, only course credit earned at the College and graded with standard letter grades may be used to qualify.
• This grading policy is in place for the 2020 Spring Semester.

*For South Carolina state scholarships (Palmetto Fellows, LIFE or SC HOPE), credit hours for the ”PS” grade do count towards scholarship eligibility, but not the GPA criterion since the GPA is not impacted by the “PS” grade. 

Please visit https://registrar.cofc.edu/grades for more information. 

Spring Break Faculty Training Opportunities: Next week, during Spring Break, TLT will be offering a host of training opportunities to help prepare faculty for remote teaching and learning if we find ourselves having to sustain those practices for a period of time. These mix of face-to-face and online sessions are designed to introduce a short list of applications and best practices that can help get course materials online in a short period of time. The schedule and RSVP for these sessions can be found at http://tlthd.eventbrite.com

OneDrive and Teams Faculty/Staff Training Opportunities: In these one-hour Microsoft OneDrive (cloud-based storage) or Teams (collaboration) trainings, IT will share best practices and fundamentals. Faculty and staff can RSVP to hamtl@cofc.edu to attend.

Microsoft OneDrive – March 13 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., Online
Microsoft Teams – March 17, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Online
Microsoft OneDrive – March 18 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Online
Microsoft OneDrive – March 19 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., Bell 519
Microsoft Teams – March 19, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Alumni Center
Microsoft Teams – March 26, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Online
Microsoft OneDrive – March 27 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., RSS 131
Microsoft OneDrive – March 31 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., RSS 131

In consultation with our academic leadership, our emergency management team, other state higher education leaders, the S.C. Governor’s Office and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the College has made the decision to suspend in-person classes the week following spring break and to extend our international travel prohibition through June 30, 2020.

All academic instruction, without exception, will be held online Monday, March 23 through Friday, March 27. Campus will remain open and operational during this e-learning week. However, all campus events (i.e., performances, conferences, guest lectures, student gatherings) are canceled through March 29.

Students are strongly encouraged to return home or stay home during spring break and the e-learning week (March 23-27). For those for whom this is not a realistic option, students are welcome on campus as detailed more fully on emergency.cofc.edu.

For further details on e-learning, College operations and employee work arrangements, please go to https://emergency.cofc.edu/suspension-of-in-person-classes-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic-march-23-27/

On behalf of the College, we appreciate your patience and flexibility during this very tumultuous time. Together, we will get through this!

Excerpted from the message from President Hsu sent to campus on March 12, 2020.