In an email sent to students and faculty Thursday morning, Provost Susan M. Collins announced a new undergraduate grading policy at the University of Michigan for the 2020-2021 academic year. All undergraduate classes will maintain the traditional grading system for students who earn grades A-C, but students with D or E grades will receive a “No Record COVID” on their transcript with the option to request an NRC be converted into a letter grade.
Additionally, Collins wrote the University will implement a more flexible withdrawal policy for the upcoming school year. Undergraduate students will be able withdraw from a class at any time throughout the semester up until the end of classes without the course appearing on their transcript.
The new grading policy comes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic creating “inequitable circumstances” for students to learn, Collins wrote.
“We know that many students are managing very challenging personal situations as they work toward earning their degree,” Collins wrote. “Our hope is that these changes will help to support the well-being and success of learners and faculty members alike while meeting the university’s mission, maintaining the academic integrity of our programs, and staying true to our values.”
Last March, following the transition to remote learning due to COVID-19 for the second half of the 2020 winter term, Collins announced all undergraduate courses would use a “Pass/No Record COVID” grading system. Under this policy, students earning a passing grade received a “P,” or “Pass,” on their transcript and earned full credit for the course, and students earning a failing grade received a “NRC,” or “No Record COVID,” on their transcript and did not earn course credit. Students who wished to uncover their grades had the option to do so.
Collins wrote that more information on grading policies for graduate and professional grading policies will be released by next week.
Daily News Editor Barbara Collins can be reached at bcolli@umich.edu.