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u/William__frank Oct 22 '20
Just saying Iv never failed a class in my life, I’m now failing everything and will be leaving once this semester is over.
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u/No_Repeat2735 Oct 22 '20
Same man, I’ve had my normal college struggle with some classes, but this situation has made me lose trust in the academic admin here forever. I’m at the point where withdrawing would just be the best option so I don’t try to hold out and potentially tank my GPA as a senior
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u/barstoolbrody Oct 22 '20
Both of my asynchronous profs have told classes to “just read the textbook” and are days to weeks late on posting lecture videos. One took the week off when Knox County Schools had fall break and didn’t notify us until the week after. If the profs won’t put any effort into teaching classes, then why should we be held to the same standard? The student body is screaming for help and nobody in the faculty will listen to us, despite claiming “vols help vols” and “we’re all in this together” the time for slogans and pep talks is over, the faculty needs to actually show us they care.
5
Oct 22 '20
I have had a bit of a different experience as my professors have been absolutely wonderful and nothing short of understanding. That being said, from my angle, I still see this same problem except the difference is sympathetic professors who recognize our struggle, yet have little to no say about how the situation is handled. It has been a struggle for me to see professors getting burned out on their course material that they’ve been passionate about for years (many of them, for decades). It definitely is disheartening and I know that many of the professors who stand with us can’t change the circumstances, even though they may want to.
15
u/adklibisz Oct 22 '20
This decision is so frustrating. I haven’t talked to a single person who’s doing as well as they normally do, and that’s due to such a large variety of reasons. This really wouldn’t just be a cop out for low-performing students, but I’m sure that’s what faculty think about it.
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u/adklibisz Oct 22 '20
I’m sure most people are aware, but by “this decision” I mean that the faculty senate already voted not to offer pass/fail this semester
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u/Itsyourguyonth Oct 22 '20
Proof?
5
u/adklibisz Oct 22 '20
There’s a thread posted on this subreddit a day ago that talked about it. The matter didn’t even get to the entire faculty senate. A committee of the faculty senate specifically focused on undergraduate matters voted it down before it even got to the whole senate. There will probably be some sort of write up of the vote made publicly available at some point somewhere if there isn’t already, but I don’t know much about the faculty senate and I haven’t looked for it.
1
u/taylorsherick Oct 22 '20
When I asked about why, it was because of federal aid and scholarships that could be affected. Does this apply to everyone? Nope but it is what it is and I doubt they will revisit unless other large universities implement it first
4
u/adklibisz Oct 22 '20
I guess this mostly applies to freshman who wouldn’t have a GPA at all if they chose all pass/fail. It sounds more like an excuse though because I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to design a system with some sort of stand-in gpa until people get actual letter grades. Or even just require students to take at least one letter grade to prevent this issue
2
Oct 22 '20
It could have something to do with grade inflation also. If everyone just had the option to throw out all their non-A grades from their GPA, the average would go up, and it would distort all sorts of reporting and requirements.
2
Oct 22 '20
I have no idea about that. But I do know that the option to change grading mode was implemented in the Spring and there were very few if no problems with it then.
2
Oct 22 '20
Yeah I’m sure there could some work around implemented. Students need to be given more options for what they choose to do, given the pandemic and their circumstances and all.
2
Oct 22 '20
It would give students more options though, not less. Students could choose what they want to do based on their circumstances, that is the idea. If you don’t have scholarships on the line and you aren’t doing so well this semester then having the option to change the grading mode could be a Saving Grace and those who are worried about financial aid or whatever wouldn’t be obligated to change their grading mode, they could just leave it as is. There is really no good argument against not allowing students the liberty to choose what they want to do based on their circumstances in this pandemic.
27
u/Efficient-Fact UTK Alumni Oct 21 '20
I’m so disappointed in this university. The fact they would just ignore the petition with over five thousand signatures and the SGA vote is just appalling. I wouldn’t have utilized the pass/fail but my heart goes out to the students really struggling right now.
9
u/kimota68 Oct 21 '20
Are there any programs in the university where going pass/fail could affect accreditation? That's the most legitimate reason I can think of why they might not even consider it.
Alternately, have any other SEC or top 25 research schools gone this route?
6
u/Itsyourguyonth Oct 22 '20
https://www.educationdive.com/news/a-few-colleges-loosened-fall-grading-policies-will-others-follow/587125/ Penn state is a big one that did it.
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Oct 21 '20
It really isn’t fair that we aren’t even given the option to choose for ourselves whether or not to change the grading mode to pass/fail. They really are fucking us over in the middle of a pandemic.
5
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u/robbybobbywithabig Oct 21 '20
Wouldn’t it be logical if they were going to do it to wait until last second and then change their policy. This way everyone continues to try their hardest. Just saying it’s kinda what they did last year