A Global Pandemic is an unprecedented event that requires adjustments and solutions that have never been seen before. Last week it was announced that University of Idaho will be moved online for the remainder of the semester. We are asking for the University of Idaho decision makers to strongly consider letting students opt into receiving pass/fail grades for all their courses for Spring Semester 2020.

Other universities, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have announced that they would be changing their grading policy to pass/fail as a result of COVID-19 being a significant disruption. Other universities have followed suit, such as UC Berkley and Penn State. University of Idaho is not the only academic institution calling for this transition; Washington State University students are also petitioning for pass/fail as a result of the transition to online classes. 

Please consider the following points. 

1. This can help alleviate the stress and anxiety that many students are already experiencing from having to live during a dangerous global pandemic. Many students have experienced stress from having to suddenly move out of their houses, having to pack everything and move home on short notice, being an immunocompromised student or having family members who are in greater risk, etc. Students who have left Idaho but have returned to states with a high number of COVID-19 cases, such as California or Washington, are likely experiencing stress, knowing that their community is at risk.

- Personal difficulties: time zones, internet access and/or connection, possibly unstable homes, having to take care of family members. There are many unexpected barriers that low-income students may experience at home. These points are expanded below:

-Time zone difference will affect a student's ability to operate and/or even attend class. For international students, classes could be held in the middle of the night. Inconvenient timing of classes will undoubtedly affect their academic performance.

-If a family member becomes sick, it will a severely affect the ability of students to focus on their studies. Prioritizing the health and status of our community over grades is more important at this moment.

3.  Many students are facing financial stress. There are many who have been left without a job or whose family's source of income has been reduced to zero due to the closures of different businesses. 

4. For those out-of-state students that have stayed in Moscow, many are staying because it is too expensive to fly back and/or they are concerned about the health and safety of their family. A lot of these students stuck on campus may also be experiencing loneliness and anxiety.

5. Online instruction is incomparable to the experience and learning of in-person lectures; although many students may transition seamlessly to learning online, there will be an indisputable part of our student body that will face difficulties in focusing and/or truly understanding class material. Professors have also been asked to move all their courses online with little time to plan out a whole second half of a semester. 

For the reasons listed above, we ask that University of Idaho gives us the option to transition from letter grading to a pass/fail fail system. We recognize that letter grades are used to determine scholarship eligibility, in response to that it is proposed that transcripts with letter grades also have an asterisk (*) or some footnote that denotes this grade was received during a major interruption to in-person instruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even a generous curve from professors would alleviate stress from students. 

We would hope that the University of Idaho has the best interest of their students in mind.