To All Undergraduates:
I hope that you and your families are all staying healthy and that you have been able to remain engaged both in your courses and in your other CWRU relationships.
As we rapidly approach the end of the semester and the revised April 27 deadline for withdrawing from courses and for choosing the P/NP grading option, I want to report on revisions to our Academic Standing Regulations for this semester. (You can find the usual academic standing regulations in the General Bulletin.)
The Academic Standing Board needs to continue academic standing reviews to return students currently on academic probation to good standing and to identify students who seem to be struggling academically. At the same time, members of the Board recognize that this has been an unusual semester in which everyone has needed to adapt quickly to an unexpected learning environment. This second consideration informed the relaxation of restrictions associated with P/NP so that it can be used in as many courses as you wish and so that a P grade will satisfy major, minor, and general education requirements this semester. It has also led the Academic Standing Board to revise the academic standing regulations for this semester to recognize that students will opt for P/NP grading in and/or withdraw from more courses than usual.
For Spring 2020:
- Good Academic Standing will be defined by earning at least 9 credit hours with a semester GPA of at least 2.000 or with all P grades.
- Students will be considered for Academic Probation if they earn fewer than 9 credit hours OR a semester GPA less than 2.000 but at least 1.000, unless they earn all P grades.
- Students will be considered for Academic Separation if they earn fewer than 9 credit hours AND a semester GPA less than 1.000, unless they earn all P grades.
As always, the Academic Standing Board’s decisions about Academic Probation and Academic Separation will not be automatic. Students who fall into those categories will be given the opportunity to appeal and the Academic Standing Board will give careful consideration to each individual case, taking account of the unusual circumstances of this semester.
Those of you concerned about retaining your CWRU scholarships should note that the scholarship retention criteria are tied to academic standing and provide an opportunity to appeal the loss of a scholarship.
Finally, some students have asked questions about various honors and awards. I want to assure you that those distinctions that are conferred centrally (Dean’s Honors Lists, Latin Honors at Commencement, and awards for best academic records at various levels) place no restriction on the use of the P/NP grading option.
I hope that this information answers many of the questions you may have before finalizing your decision of whether to continue in a course for a letter grade, to continue in a course on a P/NP basis, or to withdraw from one or more courses and provides some reassurance about choosing the P/NP option if that will be helpful to you at this difficult time.
If you have any questions about academic standing, scholarship retention, or honors, your navigator will be happy to answer them.
I wish you all a successful completion of the semester and hope that we will be able to gather together on campus again soon.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Wolcowitz
Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Adjunct Professor of Economics