Carleton Senate approved the extension of the compassionate grading policy for the fall 2021 term, university president Benoit-Antoine Bacon announced Sept. 22.
The compassionate grading policy gives students the opportunity to designate 0.5 credit as satisfactory (SAT) this semester and failed courses will automatically be marked unsatisfactory (UNS).
Once designated SAT or UNS, the courses do not count to students’ Cumulative Grade Point Averages (CGPA).
On Oct. 30, 2020, the Senate passed a motion to implement compassionate grading amidst the shift to remote learning. The motion was part of the Carleton Academic Student Government’s (CASG) ongoing efforts to support students adjusting and coping with the pandemic through advocating for grading reform.
Bacon also said that a Senate sub-committee is considering permanent changes to the grading policy “in light of the important lessons learned in the pandemic.”
CASG president Jennifer Ramnarine has been working with Carleton’s associate vice president (teaching and learning) David Hornsby and associate dean for the Sprott School of Business Howard Nemiroff on a motion to add compassionate grading to Carleton’s operations permanently.
Ramnarine told the Charlatan she expects the motion to be brought to the Senate later this fall. The motion will exceed compassionate grading and introduce options such as exploratory courses, pushing back the course withdrawal deadline and expanding compassionate measures for first-year students.
“It’s taking all the compassionate measures that we have had such a positive reaction to over COVID and helping transition into something more permanent that will still support students while balancing the academic standards of university,” Ramnarine said.
More information about the temporary extension of the SAT/UNS grading will be provided before the end of September, Bacon said in his message to students.
“Now is [a] more pivotal time than ever to get these things incorporated,” Ramnarine said.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
