On March 11, 2020, in the face of growing concerns around COVID-19, New York University decided to make the transition to remote instruction, forgoing all in-person classes, assessments, and activities; on March 16, 2020, this policy was extended through the rest of the Spring 2020 semester. As a whole, the student body at NYU understands the severity of the situation and the necessity for this prompt action; we further appreciate all the effort that went into making the decisions made in order to transition smoothly to our new platform of learning.

However, with all the effort put into making such a move as flawless as possible, there are still a multitude of concerns to be alleviated within our community, some of which can be addressed by the administration here at NYU. So, we are reaching out to request a shift in the university grading policy to ease some of these concerns.

To point to previous examples of ways in which this can be dealt with, on March 13, 2020, Massachusetts Institute of Technology decided to move to a structure of pass/fail grading, as is recommended in their rules and regulations manual to address times like these. Carnegie Mellon University plans to allow students to choose which classes to move to pass/fail grading within 7 days after their final grades are posted. 

As NYU prides itself on both its rigor and its diversity across all spheres of life, it is important to not only take examples from schools of similar rigor, but to also take note of how NYU's diversity plays out as students attempt to return home. Many students' communities have been impacted by the virus, preventing them from being able to return home and find safe study spaces. Most students will have a hard time reconciling live online learning with their time zone. A 3:30 PM class in New York is a 3:30 AM class in Shanghai. Furthermore, students may have to deal with financial difficulties, internet access problems, and familial responsibilities. It is unreasonable to hold students to the same standard as before while balancing these new issues, especially whilst having limited access to the stress reducing mechanisms in place at NYU's campus. Transitioning to an optional pass/fail grading structure would help students balance the multitude of unexpected issues caused by COVID-19.

We believe that NYU is an institution that is not only accepting and understanding of students' needs, but also willing to accomodate them if need be. With that being said, we do not recommend a mandatory transition to pass/fail as many students would prefer to have letter grades. Students may need these grades for GPA reasons (continued education, graduation requirements, or for personal academic goals). Rather, an optional transition for each student would allow those affected to reconcile these trying times with reasonable solutions that accommodate their needs and allow them to continue to learn effectively. 

To further explain our recommendation, we believe NYU, like Carnegie Mellon, should allow each student to decide which classes they believe should be graded using a pass/fail method at any point throughout the semester, even after final grades are posted; issues can arise at any point throughout the semester, now or while studying for finals and students should be protected in any case. Classes that are designated by the student as pass/fail will still contribute to any majors or minors that the student is pursuing. In essence, this would simply be a replacement for the letter grade while still allowing students to continue on their current academic path. It is important to take this action in order to make sure no student is unfairly impacted.

Through this period, as the NYU community comes together from all over the world, the NYU student body hopes that we can agree to this change for this semester in the interest of looking out for every member in our global community.