Providing an Option to Undergraduate Students for Fall 2020 Grades

November 25, 2020

Dear Undergraduate Students,

As you continue to make advances in the pursuit of your education at Rutgers, we remain mindful of how the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a mental, physical, and socioeconomic toll on everyone. And yet, while therapies and promising vaccine candidates will help us to transition to some semblance of normalcy next year, the current challenges will likely persist into the spring semester. During the past few weeks, we have heard firsthand testimonials from many of you about how pervasive the disruption has been on you, your families, and your support systems. We want to support you during these trying times and provide you with some options to ameliorate the impact of COVID.  

Having closely consulted with your provosts and chancellors in the past few days, we would like to offer you options for alternative grading for Fall 2020. This applies to undergraduates at Rutgers–New Brunswick, Rutgers–Newark, and Rutgers–Camden.

If you believe your academic performance has been adversely affected due to disruptions caused by COVID-19, we will offer you the option to review your performance and apply to change any course from letter grading to Pass/No Credit grading. As we emphasized in our conversations with student leaders, we urge you to exercise this option only after seeking clear advisement regarding possible negative impacts of the P/NC grade on your financial aid, the timely completion of your course of study, your immigration status, and career options such as pursuing graduate studies, and especially for admissions to professional schools. 

We understand that these are unprecedented and challenging times. The final details of implementing the Pass/No Credit program are being developed, but we assure you that you will have the opportunity to choose this option after the semester is completed and within one week after your final course grades have been posted. The extended timeline will allow you adequate opportunity to reflect and seek advice to determine if exercising the Pass/No Credit option is the right decision given your academic goals. Further details for the opt-in process will be forthcoming from your campus provosts and chancellors next week.

We admire your resilience and appreciate your feedback and engagement as we strive to be responsive to your needs. We remain committed to your academic progress as well as your safety and well-being.  

Best wishes for a restful and healthy Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Holloway
President and University Professor

Prabhas V. Moghe
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Distinguished Professor