2019-2020 Bulletin Addendum

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading

For the spring 2020 term only, as an exception to the normal Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) Grading Policy, students could elect to be graded on a satisfactory and unsatisfactory basis for nearly all undergraduate courses. Students were able to submit their requests during the window of March 30 to April 12, 2020. There were a small number of courses that were deemed not eligible for S/U grading. All Satisfactory (S) grades are the equivalent of a letter grade of C- or higher. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading

All engineering undergraduate courses were eligible for Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading. Students could request the S/U grading basis change between March 30 and May 6, 2020 for engineering courses only.

Academic Standing and Retention Policy

For the spring 2020 term, an exception to the Academic Standing and Retention policy was implemented due to the change to remote learning for all courses and the changes to the grading policy. While the Academic Standing process ran after the term, standing changes only occurred for students who improved their standing during the spring term. Specifically, if a student who was on Warning, Probation, or Dismissed-Reinstated on Probation raised their cumulative FSU grade point average to a 2.0 or above, then their standing would change to Good Academic Standing. Conversely, if a student had their cumulative FSU grade point average drop below a 2.0, their standing after the Fall 2019 term remained in effect. This change to the Academic Standing policy applied to the Spring 2020 term only.

Undergraduate Final Examinations

Instructors were encouraged to be lenient in granting exceptions to the timing of Spring 2020 final examinations, particularly for those students who were in other countries or different time zones. Because of the remote nature of the examinations, it was unreasonable to expect some students in other countries to take the examination during their scheduled time. To mitigate academic honor policy violations, instructors were encouraged to offer multiple versions of the examination.

Defense of Honors Theses, Masters Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations

For the Spring 2020 term, the use of conferencing software was deemed a permissible alternative for students defending their theses or dissertations orally in front of their supervisory committee.

Drop/Add or Changes to Schedule

Academic deans were encouraged to authorize drops outside of the normal "late drop" policy between the eighth and twelfth week of the term. Specifically, students who chose to drop classes due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic or the subsequent institutional response were able to do so without utilizing one of their late drops. Students worked directly with their academic deans, and these drops were assigned a 'WD' grade. Additionally, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering extended their late drop deadline for all engineering students until April 24, 2020.