Revised letter grade calculation, 2020-2021
Updates for advisors from the Office of Campus Advising Coordination, 2/8/2021:
We’ve received several questions about how the maximum 25% P/NP graduation requirement will be calculated given recent changes in policies surrounding P/NP grading. Because this grading requirement is a graduation requirement that applies to all undergraduates, college advising offices hold primary responsibility for understanding and advising students on these matters. In general, student questions about this should be referred to the Colleges.
P grades earned in spring, summer and fall 2020, and winter, spring, and summer 2021, and/or those earned as a result of “Pass” grades replacing missing grades during fall 2019 or winter 2020 when a letter grade was requested will not be included at all in the calculation of the 25% max P grades allowed for graduation. This means that many students may request P/NP grading in several courses during this period and not become out of compliance with the graduation policy. Students who had already earned more than 25% of their credits P/NP before this policy was enacted and are close to graduation, however, will need to take at least some of their courses for grades to meet the requirement. Note that courses taken through EAP and the Intercampus Visitor Program are included along with UCSC courses in the normal calculation, and in the exclusion during remote instruction.
Since the AIS fix that will calculate this is not expected to be available for some time, and advisors are getting questions from students now, we have developed a few scenarios (see below) that may be useful to college advisors when responding to student inquiries. Until the AIS fix is applied, the Student Advising Summary will not reflect the removal of credits earned with P during this period. For the time being, to identify if a student was assigned a P for a course for which they requested a grade, you can view the “Academics” tab of New/Drop-In Advisees and then click the fall and winter quarter in the Term Summary section.
Please note, however, that students may still need letter grades for major qualification courses or for major requirements. Because each department may be approaching this in a different way, students should be referred to their department advisors if they are considering P/NP grading in major courses.
Students have until the deadline in the academic calendar to make changes to their grading option for this quarter.
Scenario 1:
Q: I have earned a total of 100 UCSC credits: 90 with letter grades, and 10 with P grades as of the end of W'20. Can I take all my classes P/NP in spring 2020?
A: Yes - as long as your department confirms it’s OK to take any major classes on a P/NP basis. After winter, you have earned 10% of your credits as P/NP (10/100). P/NP credits from spring will not be included in the calculation, so you will still be at 10% P/NP after spring (10/100).
Q: What if I take 5 credits for a letter grade and 10 P/NP in spring 2020?
A: That’s also OK as long as your department confirms it’s OK to take any major classes on a P/NP basis. After spring, you will be at 9.6% P/NP (10/105).
Note that the 5 credits taken for letter grades in spring are included in the calculation; the 10 credits taken P/NP are ignored in the calculation.
Scenario 2:
Q: I have earned a total of 100 UCSC credits: 74 with letter grades, and 26 with P grades as of the end of W'20. Can I take all my classes P/NP in spring 2020?
A: You are already above the 25% max P/NP requirement (26/100). If you are planning to graduate this quarter, you need to take enough credits for letter grades to meet the requirement at the end of spring. If you take 5 credits for a letter grade and 10 credits P/NP in spring, you will be at 24.8% (26/105) and will meet the graduation requirement assuming you pass the class. If you are not graduating and planning to enroll at UCSC for future quarters, you may choose to instead take more letter graded courses in the future to reach the requirement. Please be sure to confirm with your department that it’s OK to take any major classes on a P/NP basis.
Note that the 5 credits taken for letter grades in spring are included in the calculation; the 10 credits taken P/NP are basically ignored in the calculation.
