Dear SUNY Chancellor Malatras,

The pass/fail option should be available for the 2020 Fall semester. 

Last semester, Spring 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis began, many colleges within the SUNY system allowed the option to either keep a letter grade, or make the class pass/fail. This greatly helped students whose education was harmed by the online format and difficulties caused by this crisis. 

Simply put, it is impossible to properly learn online. There's hundreds of little reasons why online learning is awful, but the main three pertain to impersonal relationships, technical difficulties, and susceptibility to distraction. 

One of the best aspects of in person education is getting to know professors and fellow students. When you have a good relationship with those people, it makes learning much more enjoyable and personal. These relationships are extremely difficult to form in an online format. Communicating through email or through Zoom does not allow for bonds to form. There's a large difference between speaking to someone face to face, versus hearing their voice over Zoom. Without personal relationships, classes simply just feed students information without context and enjoyment. 

Classes online are also subject to technical difficulties. Some professors are inexperienced with computers and technology, which dampens students' education. Additionally, Zoom lectures are notoriously unreliable. Many times, Zoom will be having technical issues, and will stop working for several minutes or hours at a time. This can significantly take away from our time learning. On top of large issues such as Zoom going down, oftentimes videos freeze and voices cut out, making it difficult to understand what is going on. 

Schools like Yale are already offering pass/fail as an option to their students, this isn't a matter of damaging a schools academic standing towards their offered programs. RIT recently has offered their students the option to choose pass/fail for at maximum 2 classes and yet, those of us within the education system run by the state are offered a "goodluck, you knew what you were getting into"?

The last major topic to note regarding the difficulties of online learning is the larger risk of distraction. Many students have voiced their concerns about not being able to pay attention to a screen. It's difficult to stare at the same spot for long periods of time, and the temptation to multitask is strong. It is so easy to get distracted when you have to focus for so long on a screen.

Aside from online learning, students are still struggling immensely this semester. Anxiety and depression rates are at an extreme high due to issues caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Additionally, students are being forced to do things entirely on their own. Due to social distancing guidelines, students aren't getting the social support they need. Students' mental health is at an extreme risk right now. 

One might argue that because classes were online last semester, students should be used to that format. However, it's impossible to adjust to an online learning environment; it's impossible to adjust to being alone and isolated.

Not only will giving the option for pass/fail it ease the stress of online courses, but it will also allow students more time to focus on their mental health. It is imperative that students are given the pass/fail option this semester.

 

Citations for these claims:

This sources were found by user " yourmomdotbiz " on our schools subreddit so full credit to him compiling this list of sources. 

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Here's a study out of texas a and m's engineering department that would be helpful:

https://www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21279/

This JAMA paper found that depression increased 3x as a result of the pandemic in US adults: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2770146/

This paper has the most key info in it, especially in the drop out rates and achievement section: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673843.2019.1596823

Hope that helps!!!

the last paper is in the secondary context, but still applicable, also one more paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178120307009?casa_token=xpvT7RnXeRoAAAAA:k-c_Etzx-byT4LZHVhrMQJqZhdL_-iDTIcUARTaS1eoNxpqIpNmLURLhukJRSwYV7KFTBxRtCA

Here's a paper on depression and lower educational attainment that just came out: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890856720320499?casa_token=mFcwMalN0JwAAAAA:xOzEE9aA6s7y6BPgOLabQYPcSgupZXQyzH9c9fCI7RfO79vUxJEoPIabIXh0JLKFQxsaYciQWg