To Whom It May Concern: 

Please trust that this letter is not intended to show laziness, instead, look at it as a way of hearing the student body’s opinions during a highly stressful and uncharted situation. While some of the signatures to this letter are from students with exceptional grade point averages who will continue to do well in this new environment, there are others who rely heavily on a professor’s office hours, as well as Student Success or other forms of tutoring to do their best in school - this letter is intended for those students, although it’s impossible to say how well a “good student” will perform under this new method. While it is fully understood that remote learning is the best way to keep our university safe and help slow the spread of Covid-19, we also hope the administration understands that we did not plan on taking online classes when we chose Andrews University and we have serious concerns moving forward. 

Perhaps the two most important things a student takes advantage of to succeed in his or her classes is being able to work with a professor one-on-one and being able to work with their classmates. Other options, as mentioned above, are Student Success and tutoring. Having to instead participate in online classes removes all of these advantages from a student - while we are not cut off from interaction, study sessions are much more successful in-person rather than online. It is also a strong belief that a student’s environment can contribute to their academic success. Making the switch to studying at home, whatever a student’s home environment is like, can have drastic consequences on their success at Andrews University. To put it simply, there are students who are unable to reach their full potential away from campus. 

Andrews University has done an extraordinary job ensuring a student has everything they need to excel in their classes. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, the several libraries and computer labs that are readily available to those who need them. Once home, things are different, especially during times such as these where the home life situation for every family has drastically changed. We have students from all over the country, and the world, who live in small apartments or are currently quarantining with extended family in a full house that lacks the necessary study space to get things done. Aside from the lack of space, there are students who rely on these libraries and computer labs because they cannot afford their own technology or even stable internet access - this represents another unique challenge this situation has imposed upon many students. Furthermore, with all schools and many states now on lockdown, many college students have now gained the responsibility of taking care of their younger siblings - who would normally be at school - and others of caring for their older grandparents. We hope the university understands this can sometimes take priority over coursework. 

On top of these concerns, there is always the possibility that family members, or the students themselves, could contract Covid-19, which would push back their academic success greatly compared to students who remain healthy.  According to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 50,000 people across the United States have been infected with Covid-19, and that number is only expected to continue to rise as more people get access to Covid-19 tests. Having students and faculty contract the virus is unfortunately a strong possibility considering the events of the Sandi Patty concert on March 8, 2020. It can be expected that, as a result, some students will be more concerned about their well-being - wondering if they may have been exposed - than about their coursework.

 Due to these various circumstances, some students might receive a non-passing grade for classes in which they would likely have received higher marks. Since they were not able to learn in an environment they’re used to, on top of everything else that has been thrown at them in such a short time, they weren’t able to do as well as normal in their classes. This especially becomes an issue for students on track to, or accepted into, medical schools and other graduate programs. Due to circumstances out of their control, they were not able to perform their best. As such, their chances of getting into, or remaining in, these competitive programs could now be compromised. Although Andrews University is already doing its best to accommodate the students and faculty alike, we feel as though we could be greatly benefited by a change to the way grades are to be handled for the rest of the semester.

We are not asking for coursework to be discontinued completely, but rather for a change in the grading system for this semester. One possibility is that all assignments are still given, but instead, these assignments are made optional rather than required. We suspect that each student will discover their best method of learning in this new environment and, of course, this may not be the same for everyone. The highest priority is making sure the students can put in the required amount of time for each assignment. Assignments are not for the professor - they are for the student’s learning. We believe these changes will allow us to continue doing so, but instead at our own pace.  Another suggestion is that all assignments be posted to LearningHub with their answer keys. This would allow students the opportunity to learn the material and check their own success without having to wait for a grade from the professor. If any questions arise during this time - perhaps the time leading up to a test - the student is able to reach out to the professor to ask for help. 

If changing assignments to optional rather than mandatory is too much, another possibility we think has potential is converting the grading system from letter grades to pass/fail. We could also make this optional to the students who may want to keep their letter grades - students could ‘opt-in’ to a letter grading or a pass/fail system. A student could have the option to keep the letter grade they currently have at this point in the semester, which they have worked so hard for. Midterm grades are often a good reflection as to what a student’s final semester grade will look like.

Aside from the huge potential benefit to the student, this could also benefit faculty. As even high schools and elementary schools are now closed, faculty members with children will find themselves with very little time to manage both their household and their classes. On top of this, many have lost the student workers they employed while school was in session. It should also be mentioned that these workers may now have to find other jobs that don’t necessarily fit their schedules. 

We know that many of our priorities have changed to keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe during this time of global crisis. The situation seems to be getting worse by the day and we don’t know how long it will last. To decrease some of this additional stress and angst, many schools around the United States, such as Yale, Duke, MIT, & Columbia, have switched their grading styles from letter grades to pass/fail. 

These schools are making the switch, as we hope Andrews University does, to relieve pressure on their students who are moving into uncharted territory. We hope our message is clear and is not misunderstood as an unwillingness to move forward. Rather, we hope the administration sees a plea for a solution that could prove helpful to many of the students of Andrews University. We encourage you to offer it to God in prayer, as we have. We are patiently awaiting your response.