Written By: Ryan Schwach & Sydney Rodriguez
At Brooklyn College’s monthly Faculty Council Meeting on Feb. 16, members went over BC issues including the extension of the Credit/No Credit Policy, as well as student enrollment numbers.
The Credit/No Credit Policy, which helped students cope with the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic during the spring and fall 2020 semesters, allowing them to take a “Credit” designation for a course instead of a letter grade, will not continue into the spring after a ruling from the CUNY Board of Trustees.
“The faculty council itself, this faculty council, may wish to review our own local pass/fail policy,” President Michelle Anderson said at the meeting, also stating she wanted to discuss the matter with the Faculty Council before bringing it before student government leadership. “If this body chooses to revise that policy with the eye toward applying a revised policy to grade this semester then it has to get proposed changes to the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs by Mar. 29,” she said.
Students have faced a myriad of issues since the coronavirus pandemic began, and these challenges have extended to the CUNY system as a whole. The university has seen intense budget cuts, as well as a decrease in student enrollment in both the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.
CUNY’s senior colleges have seen a .9 percent dropoff in enrollment this spring, and BC has seen total enrollment fall 3.8 percent, with 2.8 percent among undergraduate enrollment, which may be related to a decline in new transfer students. BC also saw a 10 percent drop among graduate students, and administration believes this may be attributed to a decline in international students and the discontinuation of certain cohort programs.
Faculty Council Meetings are held once a month during the school year.