March 26, 2020

McGovern College students:

A relatively short update for March 26, 2020:

I and my colleagues continue to think about the toll of the continuing crisis on your lives as students and artists. Please know that we are here for you, especially as our new world of remote instruction continues to evolve. We are almost at the end of the first week in this new environment; I know that questions will continue to arise and that you will continue to need support as we move toward the end of the semester. I will continue to keep you informed of the most critical updates and will continue to be in touch with you, and our directors and all our faculty will continue to do the same.

Grade policy:

I pointed you yesterday to the new, interim undergraduate grade policy (here). Please have a look at this page again, if you have not seen it since yesterday, and see the very helpful graphic that the Provost has added showing the pathway to choosing one or another of the grading schemes. 

Please know that discussions regarding an interim graduate grade policy are ongoing. I will update you as I know more.

Note also that under the interim undergraduate grade policy, you will have until May 18 to decide on whether to opt into the Satisfactory/No Credit Reported COVID-19 (S/NCR). Decisions on whether to opt into the S/NCR scheme will be made after you view your traditional letter grades for the semester. This means that your professors will still compute and assign letter grades in your courses, as usual. You may then, after seeing the letter grade, opt to adopt the S/NCR scheme in lieu of that letter grade. This is intended to allow you maximum flexibility and to allow you to seek guidance from your professors and from your academic advisors before making a decision.

As always, you should consult your academic advisor for guidance on the implications of choosing one grading scheme or another.

Please continue to let me know what questions you have.

Andrew Davis
Dean