Stanford Undergraduate Chemistry Grading Policy

The Issue

We are asking the entirety of Stanford's Undergraduate Chemistry Department to change its grading policy to Satisfactory/No Credit due to the unforeseen circumstances COVID-19 has caused. The inequitable circumstances of the Chemistry Department's undergraduate courses are placing burdens and undue stress on their students with a grading policy inconsiderate of personal, remote obstacles such as poor WiFi connection, lack of technological support, medical needs, and mental health during these unprecedented times. Other STEM Undergraduate departments such as Physics have acknowledged the difficult times and the inequities without campus resources, housing, and in-person lectures that would benefit certain undergraduates more than others. Taken directly from an explanatory decision from the Physics department, "There are many students who have completed this class with stellar grades, in an in-person Stanford situation. However, under the unusual conditions, they may be dealing with housing insecurity, food insecurity, financial insecurity, sharing technology with their siblings, being caregivers, etc. Studying for letter grades produces unfair stress on them in an unfair situation. They could, of course take the class CR/NC if we went the Letter/CR/NC option. However, they would have a CR while others with better conditions would have a strong letter grade. We decided to be fair to all our students by offering all series as S/NC." The majority of chemistry undergraduate students taking Chem31A, Chem31B, Chem31M, Chem33, Chem121, and Chem181 are pre-professional undergraduates who will be inevitably affected by the inconsiderate and inequitable grading policy heavily dependent on the option of choosing the letter grade policy for graduate schools, career plans, and future courses.  We implore you, the entirety of the Stanford's Undergraduate Chemistry Department, to recognize and alter your grading policy.

This petition had 371 supporters

The Issue

We are asking the entirety of Stanford's Undergraduate Chemistry Department to change its grading policy to Satisfactory/No Credit due to the unforeseen circumstances COVID-19 has caused. The inequitable circumstances of the Chemistry Department's undergraduate courses are placing burdens and undue stress on their students with a grading policy inconsiderate of personal, remote obstacles such as poor WiFi connection, lack of technological support, medical needs, and mental health during these unprecedented times. Other STEM Undergraduate departments such as Physics have acknowledged the difficult times and the inequities without campus resources, housing, and in-person lectures that would benefit certain undergraduates more than others. Taken directly from an explanatory decision from the Physics department, "There are many students who have completed this class with stellar grades, in an in-person Stanford situation. However, under the unusual conditions, they may be dealing with housing insecurity, food insecurity, financial insecurity, sharing technology with their siblings, being caregivers, etc. Studying for letter grades produces unfair stress on them in an unfair situation. They could, of course take the class CR/NC if we went the Letter/CR/NC option. However, they would have a CR while others with better conditions would have a strong letter grade. We decided to be fair to all our students by offering all series as S/NC." The majority of chemistry undergraduate students taking Chem31A, Chem31B, Chem31M, Chem33, Chem121, and Chem181 are pre-professional undergraduates who will be inevitably affected by the inconsiderate and inequitable grading policy heavily dependent on the option of choosing the letter grade policy for graduate schools, career plans, and future courses.  We implore you, the entirety of the Stanford's Undergraduate Chemistry Department, to recognize and alter your grading policy.

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This petition had 371 supporters

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The Decision Makers

Chair of Chemistry Department at Stanford Steven G. Boxer
Chair of Chemistry Department at Stanford Steven G. Boxer
President of Stanford University Marc Tessier-Lavigne
President of Stanford University Marc Tessier-Lavigne
Chem Professor Schwartz Poehlmann
Chem Professor Schwartz Poehlmann
Chem Professor Hemamala Karunadasa
Chem Professor Hemamala Karunadasa
Chem Professor Robert M Waymouth
Chem Professor Robert M Waymouth
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Petition created on September 17, 2020