Oklahoma State University announced it would move to online distance learning for the remainder of the semester. As impacted students, we demand that our university represent our best interests by giving the students an option to switch to a pass/fail grading system for the semester. There are students who need the grading system for their GPA, which is why I believe it is important that we do not force students to switch to pass/ fail, but to let them decide whether or not they want to. The transition itself to online classes represents a deterioration in the quality of our education, since professors did not have a meaningful amount of planning time for this change. Many students do not have access to the resources that were provided to us at OSU, such as the library, study groups/ sessions, one on one meetings with professors, the LASSO center, etc. Countless working class students have unreliable computer or wifi access, challenging their ability to meaningfully engage in distance learning. Additionally, the unprecedented crisis of the coronavirus pandemic presents financial and emotional challenges for students that can negatively impact our grades. Many of us are losing our jobs and are concerned about paying rent; others continue to go to work without paid sick leave, worried they may contract the coronavirus and fall ill or transmit it to someone else. Many of us are immunocompromised or otherwise vulnerable, or have loved ones who are uniquely vulnerable to the virus. There are also students that live in different time zones across the world that we have to consider as well. We are primarily concerned with our health and economic stability. We hope the university will consider all these factors and more and give students the option to pass/fail grading system for the well-being of the student body.

Here is a link to other schools that have decided to go through with this option:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tjzby_ZQNH1ZKV5i4h5fldE_wH-YBKvb9z4zkkJ3JIo