Pass/Fail Interim Policy

The Provost and Faculty Senate  have approved an interim Pass/Fail policy for summer 2020, fall 2020 and spring 2021 to support students during the period of remote instruction taking place due to the continuing issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This interim policy does not mandate the Pass/Fail grade for any course; instead, it expands the number of courses that students may request the Pass/Fail grading option.

This interim policy supersedes the permanent policy for these three terms only, as well as the temporary exception policy put in place for the spring 2020 semester.

1. Students will be allowed to switch from a letter grade to a Pass/Fail grade for up to two courses in each term (summer 2020, fall 2020 and spring 2021).
2. Students will be limited to no more than four courses from the three terms combined.
3. Program areas may restrict specific letter-graded courses in a student’s program from being approved for the Pass/Fail grade, see the list of program restrictions. This is true for both undergraduate and graduate programs. It is likely that the Pass/Fail grade will be available on a more limited basis for graduate courses.
4. Course instructors will not be informed of a student’s request for the Pass/Fail grade.
5. For undergraduate courses (00000-40000 levels), letter grades A through D will be converted to the Pass grade, and the letter grade F will be converted to the Fail grade.
6. For graduate courses (50000-80000 levels), letter grades A through C will be converted to the Pass grade, and letter grades C- through F will be converted to the Fail grade.
7. The Pass/Fail grade will not be factored into the computing of any Kent State GPA, including major GPA, overall GPA and Latin Honors GPA.
8. Student transcripts will list only the Pass/Fail grade for the course.
9. The letter grade reported by course instructors will display in students’ degree audit and will be used in prerequisite checking for course registration and in students meeting requirements for admission, progression and graduation in programs.
10. Students who earned a Pass grade but not the letter grade required for a course prerequisite or program requirement will not be able to move forward without repeating the course for a higher grade.
11. Students may not request that the Pass/Fail grade be converted back to a letter grade after the deadline indicated below.

Criteria for Students to Request the Pass/Fail Grade

• The student is enrolled in the requested Kent State course in summer 2020, fall 2020 or spring 2021.
• The student has not withdrawn from the requested course.
• The student has not earned a SF (Stopped Attending-Fail) or NF (Never Attended-Fail) grade or has not requested the AU (Audit) mark for the requested course.
• The requested course is not graded S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory).
• The student is not requesting more than two courses for the term.
• The student has not exceeded four courses for the three terms combined.