Written By: Dorette Dayan
Joint Resolution 008, which calls for the extension of the credit/no credit grading policy into the online Fall 2020 semester, was passed on Tuesday, October 27 by the BC USG in response to students’ concerns over the difficulty of remote learning.
The credit/no credit policy allows for the option of only receiving credits for a class rather than a letter grade, which gets factored into a student’s GPA, after final grades have been submitted. This gives students the ability to continue earning credits towards their degrees without
lowering their GPAs due to the extra stress applied by this pandemic and online learning.
“A lot of students have reached out this semester to express that online learning has a different level of difficulty as compared to in-person instruction,” USG Press Director, Iqura Naheed, told the Vanguard. “Distance learning presents issues of not having places to study, to having more difficult online exams, to issues of unreliable internet access to get work done as well as losing the in-person component of learning.”
USG members have expressed their concern for the rights and accommodations that the student body deserves. USG Treasurer, Nadav Raz, conveyed that the purpose of the resolution “is to make students’ lives more efficient.”
“The worry shouldn’t be on debt addled students within the midst of a crumbling infrastructure and an economic depression with no relief in sight,” Raz said. “The abuse here comes from a society that treats human beings like machine parts, and not living persons with the right to life and liberty.”
Naheed agreed by stating, “If the students feel this is the necessary support they need to progress in their academic career it should be available to them.”
Students outside USG have expressed hope in the implementation of this resolution.
“With Corona, so many unforeseen things are happening which can hinder a student’s performance,” BC junior Bella Feldman said. “This option takes away the stress of having a class ruin a student’s GPA.”
In a poll from USG on Facebook of 124 students, 95 percent responded saying the credit/no credit policy should be extended.
The USG felt that this resolution was necessary after seeing the administration’s lack of initiative in extending the credit/no credit policy.
“We were waiting for the school administration to see if they would independently extend this policy. They have yet to issue any statement,” Raz explained.
The resolution was sent to the City University Board of Trustees, the office of the Governor, the New York State Senate and Assembly, all relevant press and media outlets, the University Student Senate, and the CUNY Council of Presidents.
“There are no legal obstacles for a grading policy, it is merely a matter of if the administration has the will and empathy to extend relief to a student body that they profit off of,” he continued.
The USG hopes that the administration will extend the policy as late as possible for this semester.
“If accepted for this semester, some leniency in grading is hoped to be extended to next semester as it is also online,” Naheed added.