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School Extends Deadline for Pass/Fail Option

Last updated on Apr 21, 2020

By Emma Robinson, Staff Writer

Post has extended the deadline to opt for a pass or fail grade to April 15 for students whose grades may have been affected by the school’s decision to move classes online due to COVID-19.

Students can take a maximum of two elective courses on the pass or fail basis per academic year. Core courses are not eligible for this option unless the department chair or program director gives the student written permission.

Students who opt to take any pass or fail courses are ineligible to be on the dean’s or honor’s list for that semester, according to the LIU Post Pass/Fail (P/F) Option policy.

In order to pass on the pass or fail grading scale, the student must earn a “D” or better in the course.

Students in the early childhood and childhood education degree programs are not allowed to take any courses in their academic concentration as a pass or fail course.

Randy Bird, senior vice president for academic affairs, sent out an email on April 3 that stated: “LIU Academic Affairs is not recommending students exercise Pass/Fail as it could affect future graduate program applications, and/or job positions/employers.”

Fourteen percent of students who participated in a poll on the Instagram account @liu_postpioneer said that they will opt to complete at least one eligible course with the pass or fail option.

Andrew Press, sophomore health science major, is planning to use this option for the first time this semester.

“By using the pass or fail option, I will be maximizing my GPA,” Press said. “I’m sure many other students across campus will benefit from this option due to the sudden changes in classes due to the coronavirus.”

Press is using the pass or fail option for his honors philosophy class.

“Since it is an elective, I am going to use the pass/fail option [rather] than to risk getting a lower grade,” he said. “I take pride in my GPA and I’m using this option to keep it up in this time of uncertainty.”

Press believes that online classes have dramatically changed the syllabi of many courses across campus.

“In many cases, professors have begun to expect more from their students to make up for the lack of real face-to-face lectures,” he said. “The pass/fail option has the ability to help students with varying circumstances. It is definitely a good look for LIU to offer this as many other schools across the northeast have followed suit in offering this to students.”

BrayLynn Willis, a freshman musical theatre major, agreed with Press.

“I think that the pass or fail option is a great option for students that might not have the same access to materials for courses during this time,” she said. “I can imagine it makes classes more manageable for students who struggle to work from home or are going through a hard time right now.”

Any questions about the pass or fail option should be sent to Beth Wilkow at registrar@liu.edu.

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