App State students now have the option to choose a pass/no credit grading system instead of the normal grading scale.

App State announced Friday that it has adopted an “Enhanced Pass-No Credit Alternate Grading system as an opt-in choice for all undergraduates for the Spring 2020 semester only.”

Students are able to make the switch on Banner Self Service beginning April 20 and have until May 17 by 11:59 p.m. to finalize their decision. Faculty will continue to grade as normal so students can opt in if desired. Instructions on how to do this will be posted to Banner Self Service by April 20.

A grade of pass will fulfill degree requirements and prerequisites for future courses at App State.

Grades between D and A will be considered a “P” and an F will be considered no credit, or NC.

Other changes include:

• Neither dean’s nor chancellor’s list will be awarded for this semester.
• No students will be placed on academic probation this semester, nor will any student move from academic probation to continued probation, nor from continued probation to academic suspension.
• The normal restrictions on the requirements that can be fulfilled by Pass-No Credit classes are waived for this semester.
• A note will be added to all academic transcripts indicating the major disruption this pandemic has caused to the academic experience.

The letter grade will still determine major, minor, certificate and prerequisite grade requirement.

Some licensure programs have legislative-mandated GPA requirements for admission to teacher education and eligibility to student teach. All licensure programs require a minimum grade of C or higher for required courses.

The full undergraduate policy can be found here.

In a email to students App State encouraged  “all students to seek advice from their college or departmental advisors before deciding whether or not to utilize this system.”

The Deans Council and the Undergraduate Academic Policies and Procedures Committee approved this policy, and a similar policy was developed for graduate classes.

For graduate classes:

• The Pass-No Credit grade will not carry grade points and will not impact a student’s GPA.
• A grade of Pass will be assigned when the student’s work is judged to be of “C-” quality or better. A grade of Pass will fulfill degree requirements and prerequisites for future courses at Appalachian State University.
• An earned letter grade below C- will be changed to “NC.” A grade of NC does not earn course credit and is not used in GPA calculations, but will count as attempted credit hours.
• The Pass-No Credit grading option may not be selected by students who are repeating a course for a higher grade. Per Graduate School policy, the second grade will stand for a repeated course, unless the student chooses to withdraw from the course.
• Some graduate programs may not be able to provide this Pass-No Credit accommodation for all courses due to accreditation and/or licensure requirements. Ineligible courses will be determined by the program’s academic dean/associate dean, who will communicate these to the dean/associate dean of the School of Graduate Studies

The full graduate policy can be found here.

Students can also drop a course through May 12 at 11:59 p.m.

The move to the pass/no credit system comes after App State and the UNC System moved classes online for the remainder of the semester and into both summer sessions due to COVID-19.

The UNC System also altered its admissions requirements because of the pandemic.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.