On July 29, 2020, the University of San Diego announced that all Fall 2020 courses would be online. Despite the semester being moved completely remote, USD kept their plan for an expedited semester that has no fall break and ends in early November. The university expects students to achieve academic success when the reality of worsening conditions associated with COVID-19 has greatly impacted students on physical, emotional, and academic levels. Due to USD granting students the opportunity to opt in to pass/fail last spring, they must honor the same for this fall. 

As a result of USD having an expedited semester, online instruction, and complications associated with COVID-19 USD should immediately extend pass/fail options to include all fall courses.

USD must provide students with a Pass/Fail option for every course offered. P/F would allow for courses to count towards a student’s credit requirements, general education requirements, and major/minor. The Pass/Fail option would maintain that Pass/Fail courses cannot count towards a student’s GPA. USD would then allow every student to opt into the pass/fail option even AFTER final grades are posted, allowing for students to try their best in every course and depending on their success, determine what is best for them. It is up to the student’s discretion to opt into pass/fail and would not be mandatory. 

REASONS FOR PASS/FAIL AS AN OPTION:

It is classist to assume that all students have reliable wifi, quiet study spaces, and access to the necessary technology when they are not on campus. Many students chose to live at home during this pandemic, and it is unrealistic to expect students to have the same assurances at home as they do at school. When studying at USD, students have access to reliable wifi, the ability to study in a variety of campus spaces, and can rent computers for free in different locations. It is unfair to assume students can replicate the accessible environment of USD’s campus in their homes. Students who do not have access to the tools they need to succeed should not be punished by receiving strictly letter grades but should instead be met with the compassionate option to opt into pass/fail. 

 

Time crunch: The expedited semester has greatly enhanced student stress. Most Fall semesters offer a Labor Day holiday and Thanksgiving break. Fall semester honored Labor Day but had make-up class the next Saturday and has no Thanksgiving break. From the first day of classes on August 17th to the last day of classes on November 13th, students have enduring weeks of class. Without the ability to decompress, the expectation to learn the same amount as a normal semester’s worth and the stress of heightened academic demands in a shorter amount of time, students are experiencing emotional turmoil. Breaks are also normally great times for students to catch up on work and learn concepts more in-depth when they’re not under a time constraint. 

The Vista on October 13th published a student Op-Ed discussing the mental health effects this semester has on students. They discuss the difficulty students have in separating their “school” brains from their “relaxation brains,” as school has become synonymous with home. Students are meant to work on the computer for 12 hours a day and have virtually no way to escape technology. In the Op-Ed, the Vista wrote about the “eye fatigue, headaches, and pain from sitting at [the] desk all day” now being normal parts of a student's lives. Being expected to work from home and manage time well within this new environment has proven to be extremely stressful, while also making it nearly impossible to concentrate. This Op-Ed is one of the most popular pieces published by the vista and has garnered great support from students feeling similarly on social media

International students have a variety of complicated time zones that can alter their sleep patterns in order to attend online lectures. For international students, classes could be held in the middle of the night. Other students in the United States have to grapple with time zone changes. There are those on the East Coast who have a 7pm class will be taking exams late at night, especially those courses which end at 9 pm. Other students based out of Hawaii will take 8 am courses at 5 am. It is unfair to assume that students facing these time differences to perform as well as their peers. 

Many students are experiencing unexpected barriers at home during this time. This pandemic, like all health crises, is inherently a socioeconomic issue. Those in lower economic brackets will experience more financial and mental stresses throughout this time. Many parents and students have lost their source of income at this time. Losing paychecks cause incredible stress and can be harmful to mental and physical health. 

Although the University is legally responsible to honor academic disability accommodations, its actions to do so have been unimpressive. Disability accommodations look different for each student yet USD expects students to replicate these accommodations at home. Students who normally take tests in individual rooms in the disability center are told to, “find a space at home”. Students who have time and a half or double time for exams are expected to sit completely still for Respondus exams when in the past the disability center has monitored them allowing for bathroom usage, stretch and snack breaks, and scratch paper usage. To assume that students with academic differences to simply “accommodate themselves” and adjust to Respondus is impossible. 

As stressful and new as this time has been for students, it has also been quite the learning experience for professors, especially with the shortened semester. Because of this, many professors have felt the need to assign extra readings, assignments, and discussion boards to make up for the lack of class time and their difficulty in conveying the information they need to at the same caliber that they did in person. With many professors increasing workload, students that work and those with a lot of outside involvement or distractions can’t keep up in the way that they would normally be able to. This isn't just a matter of having more difficult classes, but rather professors are having a more difficult time conveying the same information and are assigning more work to make up for it which puts an extra burden on their students. 

Other universities, including Penn, Duke, USC, UNC, Bowdin, UMASS, Northeastern, DePauw and Miami University have allowed students to opt into pass/fail for Fall 2020 because they understand the needs of students during these challenging times. We hope that USD will follow their lead.

We are calling for justice concerning the academic, physical, and mental health of USD students. USD, please join us in making real change and showing your commitment to the health and well-being of your students.

Students, join in petitioning the University of San Diego to make these changes to adapt to the new circumstances to ensure the mental, physical, and academic health of all their students. We are all having to adapt as a community and a globalized society, and it is time to adapt our academic system. We love USD and we hope USD will love us back in this critical moment of adjustment.

If you're a student, please spread the word and continue this conversation to help us get these accommodations instated. Comment below your personal experiences with online instruction this fall and specifically name difficulties you’ve encountered in academic success.