Anthony Eramya
Staff Writer
To lessen the stress of students’ sudden transition to all online school and social distancing mandates, Provost Jonathan Reed announced last week that University of La Verne students may elect to take all of their classes pass/fail.
On March 13, hours before the start of spring break, University officials announced that the campus would close and all classes would continue online for the remainder of the academic year.
This response in the wake of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic was similar to colleges and universities across the nation, most of which also closed campuses and migrated online.
On March 23, faculty throughout the University relaunched their classes using a combination of online platforms.
“It is important that we continue to make sure that a personal touch, the hallmark of a University of La Verne education, happens online (and) I ask that you be patient with students, just as some of them may need to be patient with some of you,” Reed’s message read.
Reed said in his memo that students had until the end of the semester to elect the pass/fail option.
Stressful though these times may be, not all students said they would take advantage of pass/fail
“I would not want pass/fail because I want to go to law school and my GPA is important,” junior business major Ray Khoury said.
Freshman biology major Christian Basch, however, said that he may take advantage of this offer during this extraordinary semester.
“I want it because I believe that students are not (all) able to put 100% effort into their schoolwork because of the unexpected circumstances that arose,” Basch said. “I believe that (the fast move) from school to online is a toll by itself… Students should put their health and family over (grade) worries.”
Students are not the only ones worrying about their academic careers in these unprecedented times.
The provost’s March 22 letter also included an optional year extension for faculty applying for promotion and tenure, as many of their research and professional activities have had to be canceled in the wake of the pandemic.
The flexible policies, designed to reduce anxiety during this difficult time, were approved by the Faculty Senate.
– Anthony Eramya
