UW Oshkosh will be switching to an optional pass/fail grading system for the Spring 2020 semester, according to John Koker, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

At a digital open forum Wednesday, he said students will still receive letter grades, but at the end of the semester they will have the option to receive either a pass credit, a pass other or a no count grade.

In a campuswide email, Koker said the new grading system will not affect student’s GPAs and that the deadline to apply is June 3, 2020.

For undergraduate students, a letter grade of a C or better will count for a pass credit; a grade of a C-, D+, D or D- will count as a pass other; and a grade of an F would count as a no count grade.

For graduate students, a letter grade of a B or higher will count for a pass credit; a grade of a C, C+, or B- will count as a pass other; and an F will be counted as a no count.

Requests by undergraduates with a declared major will be reviewed by an adviser and determined by the college office of their major.

Undeclared undergraduate requests will be reviewed by the Undergraduate Advising Resource Center and other student support offices determined by the registrar.

Requests from UWO-Fond du Lac and UWO-Fox Cities will be reviewed by the Student Affairs office.

Graduate student requests will be reviewed by program advisers or by program coordinators.

“All requests and changes made will be communicated to you no later than June 26, 2020,” Koker’s email said. “We expect requests to be approved unless there is a negative impact on a student’s academic progress or programmatic accreditation.”

At the open forum, Koker said the university will not be placing students on academic probation or suspension due to poor grades during the spring 2020 semester.

“We will put some support mechanisms in for those students who return in the fall and maybe would have been suspended or put on probation,” he said.

Koker added that students have until May 15 to drop classes without affecting their GPA.

“This has been a very anxious time for many of our students,” Koker said. “Some of our students are worried and this would relieve some of that anxiety, [and] allow them to concentrate on their learning outcomes in their coursework.”