Regrettably, COVID-19 was identified within our University of Texas Community on March 13. Since this unfortunate news, there has been a confirmed case of this illness within our student body. President Fenves recently declared that all spring semester courses would be moved online as well as on-campus residents must be moved off campus (with specific exceptions). UT students are asked not to return to campus if possible, and since this announcement has been made in the middle of spring break, students did not prepare for strictly online classes. Many students have left relevant school materials in their UT residence. UT has the benefit of having many international students, who have had to face travel restrictions that have a side-effect of an obstacle in their educational pursuits. COVID-19 has also brought up a variety of financial difficulties for students which increase the difficulties of being able to calmly continue one’s education. Due to recency of these new circumstances for UT students, many may not be able to migrate to an environment conducive to learning whether due to a lack of reliable wireless connection, or any other potential barriers to learning. This is also a time where taking actions to secure the mental health of UT students is of the utmost importance, and currently, many students are facing unprecedented anxious and stressful times. Furthermore, there are many things to be concerned about during this global pandemic. 

UT’s administration and faculty face a very difficult time, and they have acted as well as any UT student could as for. The university has made our health and safety their primary concern. They have taken countless steps to aiding their student body during this ordeal. Despite this, we believe that there should be one additional action that UT should pursue; we request that students should have the option of changing any class to pass/fail, and still count for major and minor requirements. This would also require that on every student’s transcript there should be proper disclosure of which courses were affected by the global pandemic brought by COVID-19. 

Moreover, we are aware of how unprecedented this temporary change to our grading system would be, but we are going through a crisis that has brought unprecedented actions in both our healthcare system and economy. Other respected universities have already made this transition. Northwestern University recently amended their grading policy to optionally shift their grades to a Pass/Fail, and promised to include the appropriate disclosure on every student transcript to point to the fact that “a global pandemic in winter and spring quarters 2020 required significant changes to coursework and led to unusual enrollment patterns and grades.” Other universities that have taken similar action include, but are not limited to, are Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon. 

This transition would definitely help to reduce stress as well as counteract the additional anxieties caused by COVID-19. These extenuating circumstances bring a myriad of barriers to online education. How can we expect students in a variety of time zones around the world to be able to participate effectively in online classes? Unfortunately, it is impossible for every student to have access to every appropriate learning resource that a normal semester at UT provides. These circumstances are unavoidably going to hurt some students more than others, and it would not be just to assign grades on the same scale for every student during these trying times. UT’s mental health systems have already become unable to provide the support that it usually can, and we support every step to provide any relief to our student body as we can. 

Again, we would like to reiterate that we support a motion to create an option of maintaining a letter grade or a pass/fail grade that still counts toward all degree requirements. We believe that this particular option is the best solution for students, and the ability to choose is vital for students who believe that they must maintain a letter grade in order to be eligible for pursuits of even higher education after their time here at UT. We also advocate that the university makes note on our transcripts which courses were affected by COVID-19. 

We are Longhorns, and we are strong. Together as a community, we are sure that we will get through these difficult times. We ask the university to continue with their actions that have always kept their students of the utmost importance, and adopt this motion. 

Nothing will bring these Horns down

Hook’em