The university will not be implementing a pass/fail grading option for this semester, according to an email sent to all students Thursday afternoon.
University provost Walter Zakahi said the decision came after a “lengthy” internal review and was made despite the many universities that have opted for the option.
“Past experience has shown the students who are most likely to take the pass/fail option are the ones who are most negatively impacted by it, whether it be financially, academically or otherwise,” Zakahi’s email stated.
Bradley Student Senate has been advocating for the pass/fail option since the beginning of the semester. It has conducted student opinion surveys on the issue, met with deans at each of the colleges and presented student opinions at last month’s University Senate meeting.
“Let us be extremely clear: we are in strong opposition to the university’s decision and we will continue to advocate for either a reversal of the decision or a better alternative,” said student body president Emma Hoyhtya.
Hoyhtya was informed by the provost late last week that the university would not be offering pass/fail. She asked for a more detailed explanation as to why the decision was made and said she’s still awaiting that explanation.
There is currently a petition on change.org in favor of implementing the grading system at Bradley that has over 600 signatures, as of publication.
“Everyone is facing some degree of desperation right now,” stated the change.org petition written by freshman Jordan Carlin. “Whether it be for normalcy, for options, or for change; the implementation of this system would work to assist those who are experiencing the very worst of what this year has had to offer, and would even provide an opportunity for those who have been finding it difficult to adjust to the online system to succeed.”
Junior health science major Brier Barbeau said that while she didn’t opt for the pass/fail grading system in the spring, she would this semester if given the opportunity.
“This semester, when things are constantly changing and we are continually going on and off quarantine, Bradley is refusing to provide its students the support and help that we really need,” Barbeau said. “I don’t think they completely understand just how difficult and overwhelming of a semester it has really been.”
