This is a petition to urge George Brown College to follow the example of Ryerson, our affiliate university, and the University of Toronto, and extend their modifications of our semester by offering their students the option to either: 

> Maintain their assigned letter grade, which will contribute to their GPA.

> Replace their final undergraduate course passing letter grade with a credit (CRD), which will not contribute to their GPA.  

The first of which is our current offering; the second of which would allow students the option to submit a credit/no credit grade in place of our letter grade, and it would not count toward our GPA.

However, we suggest we allow students the option to cease the online semester altogether and count their current grades for their final grade for any courses concurrent with the winter 2020 semester. To be clear, students should still have the option of continuing their semester as it is currently offered online – what we want is an additional option for students who would rather cease online classes and receive their grade at its current standing.  

As a student of George Brown College myself, I’ve found the adjustment to online courses unreasonably distressful. It is difficult to keep track of and navigate the slew of mediums each of our professors have chosen to deliver their classes. To make matters worse, consistent George Brown email and blackboard system crashes from the overwhelming number of students attempting access are huge hurdles for online learning. Moving this semester online threatens the integrity of our semester, the quality of our work, and our studies. Ultimately, a forced move to an online semester is a threat to our final grades.

While this alone is an unacceptable situation, we must contend with these frustrations while our province is in a state of emergency, and while we are struggling together through a global pandemic. This shared experience is already an immense source of stress and strain in our daily lives. The long term effects of this situation on our mental health can not be taken for granted. The expectation for us to continue unimpeded with our semester via online participation discounts the extreme duress we are all under. It discounts the compounded stress of our students who now must care for children at home full-time, or students with irregular work hours to juggle. Consider the financial stress of students who find themselves freshly unemployed. Consider the disservice to students whose accessibility needs are not being met because of last minute online alterations. Consider the number of equally valid but unheard concerns which, at the moment, must come before contending with this online learning system.

Please sign this petition, and join us in urging George Brown College to offer their students the additional option of maintaining their assigned letter grade  without continuing the online semester, or accepting a credit grade for any courses of the winter 2020 semester upon completing the online semester.