Updated 12:25 p.m. Friday, April 10
At the end of the spring semester, UTRGV students will have the option of accepting a letter grade or a pass/no pass for courses they complete, according to university officials.
“This means that they’ll have a lot of latitude in making decisions for their own academic records that will protect the integrity of their records and their success for this semester,” University Registrar Sofia Montes said in an interview with The Rider on Tuesday. “We recognize fully that students didn’t really have a choice but to go online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Montes said this gives students an opportunity to make sure they are not hurting their academic records after instructional modes were changed.
Patricia McHatton, executive vice president for Academic Affairs, Student Success and P-16 Integration, said the decision to offer the pass/no pass option was in discussion since classes were moved online.
“Faculty Senate was involved,” McHatton said. “There was a lot of conversation around what’s in the best interest of students and how can we make sure that they have the information they need to make wise decisions. So, we tried to really, you know, do due diligence before, you know, finalizing the decision to go forth.”
In an interview with The Rider on Thursday, Faculty Senate President Volker Quetschke said they asked faculty members for their opinions.
“We also were looking at what was happening nationwide and Texas-wide,” Quetschke said. “And, Texas A&M [College Station] was one of the early adopters, and they had a very early document, about a week earlier than we are coming out with the pass/no pass option, for the students. Couple other universities nationwide did the same. So, this kind of influenced the outcome pointing out that this is possibly a way to accommodate students that could have hardships.”
As reported on April 2 by The Rider, the Student Government Association met via Zoom on March 27, during which Maggie Hinojosa, vice president for Strategic Enrollment, answered questions regarding university issues amid the COVID-19 outbreak and spoke about the pass/no pass option.
“So, when Dr. Hinojosa came to SGA, yes, we had a lot of questions,” said SGA President Ingrid De la Torre. “What we discussed at the meeting was, kind of, like, the way this would work. We got told that the Faculty Senate would be discussing this as they did write a recommendation to administration. So … me and two senators attended the Faculty Senate meeting. And, so, at this meeting, we were able to, kind of, listen to the recommendation that [the] Faculty Senate put forth. I think we’re all very happy. Faculty Senate had students at the center of their discussion at all time.”
De La Torre said if students have something they want to share or have concerns, the SGA is there to advocate for them.
“So, I know that there’s concerns regarding the pass/no pass [option] but at the end of the day, I guess, just to keep in mind that UTRGV administrators, they’re doing what they can,” she said.
Montes said the pass/no pass option is available for all undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled in classes for the Spring 2020 semester, however, it does not apply for medical students.
Accelerated online program students in Spring Module II also have the pass/no pass option.
As soon as final grades are posted, students will have until May 13 to either accept the letter grade or choose a pass/no pass, according to an email sent to the campus community last Friday from the Office of the President.
Exercise science senior Cailey Granado said it is a great policy but will not be using the option.
“I will not be using that option because I do plan on applying for graduate school and those are the requirements that we do need a passing grade for that,” Granado said. “I wanna show my grades, like, I’m not ashamed of them. I want them to know, like, ‘Oh, she worked hard for her A or her B,’ or whatever it is.”
Asked what advice she has for students who are considering the pass/no pass option, Montes replied, “It is really, really important that students go to our website. We have a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions. They have things to do with how it might affect the GPA, what it might mean for degree requirements, what it means for prerequisites as well. So, lots of different topics are covered in those FAQs and it’s important that students read all of them, really carefully, so that they understand the impacts.”
She advises students to contact their advisers if they have any additional questions.
“So, basically, make really well-informed decisions,” Montes said. “Get all the information they can in advance so that they feel confident in the decisions that they’re making this May.”
There can be financial aid ramifications if a student decides on the pass/no pass option, she said.
“It’s going to depend on every individual student and how he or she is doing academically already,” Montes said. “So, financial aid adheres to some federal regulations, including satisfactory academic progress. So, a student must be meeting SAP in order to continue receiving financial aid.”
Students may leave their classes as is, change all of their classes to pass or no pass or can choose something in between, according to Montes.
“The only thing that I want to say is that, you know, we are all committed to student success and doing the right thing in order to support all of our students,” McHatton said. “Our faculty have done an amazing job in the work that’s been done, given the situation that we have. So, I just want to give a shoutout to both the students and the faculty because they’ve just been really, really good.”
For more information on the pass/no pass option, visit the UTRGV website.
