COVID-19 has created an unprecedented situation for students and faculty all around the world. The University of Tampa has been actively working to transition to online teaching as smoothly as conditionally possible. This, however, has brought added costs and stress to our entire community. Those who have signed this petition, and I, believe that having the option to have courses graded on a Pass/Fail scale will:

• provide the necessary atmosphere for students to complete their required coursework
• better reflect our efforts during this difficult time without affecting GPAs
• compensate for inconveniences 
• alleviate the pressure to achieve a specific letter grade and allow students to focus on finishing the semester
• reduce faculty stress in grading based on a different lesson plan
• allow for easier communication between students and faculty about why they've earned their respective grade
• cater to art, design, theater, film, and other hands-on-based classes that ultimately can't function online
• overall follow our pledge to the Spartan Code; which honors citizenship, inclusion, responsibility, respect, honesty, and life-long learning.

There has been too much change to continue working, in the same manner, we did when on campus. Instead of trying to replicate our in-person schooling methods, our approach needs to be altered in order to make this transition smoother and accurately represent UT students.

**Update: 
Students have voiced concerns over graduate and professional programs (medical, dental, and veterinary school) that require letter grades. I don't mean for this request to disadvantage anyone and definitely hope a middle ground can be found!