Quinnipiac University has been forced to take extraordinary measures in response to the COVID19 virus. Starting this week for the rest of the Spring semester, all classes on campus have been suspended.  Classes will be moved to an online forum from this point on.  This is a hindrance to both students and faculty for many reasons. First, not all teachers are trained for online learning, in neither the technology nor technique, and have written their syllabi for in person lecture and lab. Second, students living in other time zones, such as the west coast and, even worse, internationally, have to attend online classes at unreasonable times of both the morning and night. Third, the technology provided for these online classes is not perfect and a shadow of the experience provided by a physical classroom. For these reasons, and others, the administration should give the option for classes this semester to have a pass fail grading structure, for the appropriate courses. This way, student’s GPA will not suffer when under normal circumstances they would have been higher taking the same class and relieve some of the stress that has come with dealing with the COVID19 outbreak, including housing, finances, supplies, and staying healthy. Additionally, many of the services that are provided at the university, such as tutors and the learning commons are not as readily available. For the sake of both the students academic careers and mental health, we are calling on the Quinnipiac University administration and Judy Olian to add the options to make appropriate classes pass/fail.

Thank you

(This petition and points within were inspired by similar petitions, like those posted by students of Fordham University)