Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law adjusted its grading system to include an option for students to choose a pass or fail grade after all in-person classes were moved online for the rest of the semester.
“I’m definitely grateful that I have the option to take a pass/fail but I’m also having to deal with the stress of whether or not taking a pass/fail will affect me negatively compared to students who took grades or had a mandatory pass/fail,” said Juan Zazueta, a second-year law student.
President Michael Crow told the State Press that he would not be issuing a university-wide pass/fail option. He said he will leave it up to faculty to decide to implement the grading system. This caused the Student Bar Association to write a letter to ASU officials expressing students’ concerns for the grading system and urging them to make it mandatory instead of giving students the option to be graded as usual.
Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren, a fourth-year law student, said making the new grading system mandatory would have been a better alternative for students.
“I know some students who would rather keep their grading option because they’d rather not opt for pass/fail when it’s only optional. Making it mandatory would have kept the ground level for all students,” Blackwater-Nygren said.
She said another option could have been to make final exams optional, which is something she knows other schools have done, such as Syracuse University College of Law.
The College of Law gave students two options: the first requires students to immediately request the pass or fail system, which requires students to maintain a ‘C’ or higher to pass and their GPA to remain stagnant. The second requires a post-grading request, which allows students to request pass/fail once the grading is complete. Students have until April 26 to opt out of the program.
Students who opted out of either option will be graded as usual. Any student who opted out and feels there was a decrease in their GPA due to the current circumstances will be able to apply for an appeal.
One portion of the letter expressed the concerns students have brought up to the Student Bar Association regarding potential career limitations caused by the optional system.
“In regards to employment, students who opt for Pass/Fail fear that they will have to explain to employers why they chose Pass/Fail over grades, putting them in a very awkward and uncomfortable situation,” the association wrote. “This grading system may lead to students retaining their letter grades over seeking accommodations, so they are seen as ‘competitive’ or to avoid the insinuation of ‘laziness.’”
Paul Bender, a professor of law and dean emeritus for the College of Law, said the option might not be as significant as it initially appears.
“Students may think this decision is going to be more important to lawyers and law firms than it really will be. We can’t yet tell what’s going to change next, but I think students are very sensitive to that, which I understand,” Bender said.
The Association also created a petition for the school to change to a mandatory pass/fail system. The petition received a total of 922 signatures from students, faculty, alumni and law groups.
In the letter, the association also mentioned the concerns of students at schools like the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University and the University of Arizona, where they have adopted an opt-in system, then switched to a mandatory pass or fail.
Many people around the U.S. went to Twitter to discuss if law firms would hire students who had pass or fail on their Spring 2020 transcript. The majority of the tweets said they don’t look at new hires’ grades.
Lawyers and Law firms who might (hopefully) be hiring in 2020/2021: will you still hire students with pass/fail transcripts for Spring 2020? Some law schools are sticking to the curve because they think you won't.
— ☆ K.G.M. ☆ 🦄 (@CanPanicNow) March 26, 2020
Contact the reporter at Abschief@asu.edu.
