Western’s Pass/Fail Credit: What does it mean for students?

With a sudden stop to classes and a swift move to online learning due to COVID-19, Western is offering the option to switch from numerical grades to pass or fail.

Western is introducing the option for undergraduate students to change their numerical grade to Pass/Fail. We are also extending the deadline to drop a Winter 2020 half course or a 2019-20 full year course without academic penalty. https://t.co/GIucEqt5o3

— Western University (@WesternU) March 27, 2020

A conversation with current USC President Bardia Jalayer to shed more light on this decision:

Bardia Jalayer – USC President 2019-2020

Q: What was your main approach going into this decision?

A: All the decisions that are made on academics, they’re coming from the university. The USC is here to represent the student voice at that table. So, we have been advocating nonstop to make sure that our students have the appropriate accommodation for this very unforeseen circumstance. This is something that none of us have really lived through, the last time we faced a similar situation was 1918 with the Spanish flu. So it’s obviously something we don’t have much experience with. We’ve been making sure that the university has been hearing the student’s concerns. We’ve seen a lot of petitions going up online, we’ve seen a lot of comments and a lot of people have reached out to us individually. So we’ve been sharing those with the university and we’re really happy with how the universities responded and giving students the options that they have.

Q: Why pass/fail compared to another alternative?

A: The USC was pushing the university for something like this for a while. The reasons that we saw, were that a lot of students are facing based on unforeseen difficulties, whether that be financial difficulties with losing potential job opportunities in the summer, to having to move away from their home in London or into different situations to having a socially isolated not being able to have that workspace at home or for some people, not being able to have that learning experience online. We wanted to make sure that our students were getting the best fair shake when a lot of students they had to uproot and change how their lives were and had to change their routines. But again, this decision was at the university, the USC is simply bringing these concerns forward and trying to make our best case.

Q: What kind of challenges could this pose for students? 

A: I can imagine that there’s probably going to be some difficulties in evaluating scholarships, cumulative averages, admissions into graduate programs, but the university’s priority is obviously their students. And so I think the accommodation should be treated as such. With everything that’s going on, I think if someone ever asks you what happened the second semester of 2019-2020, I think everyone will understand what it means.

Students unaware of what the pass/fail option means

Following Western’s announcements about the pass/fail option, a discussion on “Must Knows” for course at UWO (a Facebook group used by many students to discuss or clarify doubts among peers) unveiled the confusion and uncertainty.

Most students believed that the pass/fail option for them however, the discussion revealed that the decision was dependant on the department or Professor and not by the students.

This had students confused and many shared that their grades would be negatively affected as well.

Opinion from a graduating student on the pass/fail decision

Kieran Maingot, 4th year Sociology student at Western

Q: How do you feel about Western’s decision to implement pass/fail option?

A: As a fourth-year student, I think it took a lot of anxiety and feeling a little bit stressed especially when it comes to your final marks. For me personally,  I’m applying to grad school and for that final grades have to be sent in as well as, a lot of jobs require your final transcripts. I’m going to look at the final grades because it is like the most recent of exams. I respect the fact that this option has been made available for students because many aren’t able to necessarily perform their best ability when it comes to their academic work in the state that we’re in. I know I struggled with motivating myself with online learning and it’s nice to know that if in the end, things don’t necessarily follow the right way or the way that I want them to, I can have that pass-fail option.

Q: A lot of students are under the impression that they have the option to choose pass/fail, but it is actually dependent on the department or your professor. Does that in any way change how you feel about this pass/fail option?

A: I didn’t know that it was based on the department. So that’s good to know I guess because most of my professors have said yes. I’ve actually had all-around positive experiences with my Profs over this entire period, especially when it comes to academic leniency and flexibility, they’ve been very open about it because it’s been a tough time for all of us.

But finding out that the pass/fail option that is dictated by a department; I’m not necessarily 100% fond of that, because I know, I would like for students to have a say, especially
recognizing that it’s going to help in maintaining their own health and wellness.

Q: What do you think Western as a school can do to be more accommodating of their students?

A: I think making sure that profs are very front-facing for students and they are the ones that dictate how assignments are delegated and the timeline for completion. And making sure that profs are well supported to get student feedback and making sure they’re reaching out to their students and making sure that they are properly equipped with either like the technological resources or just like an understanding of how to use different software to make their classes interactive but also flexible to the student needs

In the initial stages of online classes, my profs took time to understand how to use Zoom and took us through what is to be expected, which I really appreciate.

Mental Health support services that were on campus are closed so I would like to see those services be accessible to students that are home and trying to cope with doing work and assignments in an environment, that they are not really familiar with, which can cause a lot of anxiety and fear.