Central Connecticut’s Faculty Senate voted last week to extend the pass/fail option to Nov. 30 as well as the class withdrawal deadline to Dec. 7.

The pass/fail option was initially enacted in April, as many CCSU faculty levied concerns about academic performance during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Office of Registrar, 2,730 registrations were updated to pass/fail, with 1,447 students electing to have at least one course graded on a pass/fail basis.

To be eligible for the pass/fail option, a student must have completed at least 34 total earned hours and must be a matriculated undergraduate in good standing. Two pass/fail courses may be selected in any one semester, no more than four can be selected throughout a student’s entire undergraduate career.

If a student chooses to opt-in to the pass/fail option, a grade in any of their classes at or above a C- would be recorded using a P^ notation.  This would apply to any major, minor or general education courses except when a minimum grade higher than a C- is required.

The same applies to grades of D-, D or D+, which would be denoted using a P* notation, representing a low-pass grade.

It is important to note that while receiving a P^ or P* will not hurt a student’s GPA, it won’t help it either.

On Nov. 17, the CCSU Office of Registrar sent a list of important things for students to consider before opting-in to the pass/fail option.

“In order to receive financial aid, students must meet the satisfactory academic progress (SAP) standards, which require undergraduate students to maintain a 2.0 overall GPA and complete 67 percent of the credits they attempt, regardless of whether they elected pass/fail options,” a letter from the Office of Registrar stated.

The list also warns that “pass grades may not automatically satisfy prerequisites for future semester courses, particularly where a specific letter grade higher than a C- is required.”

While more than 2,000 undergraduate students had opted-in to the pass/fail option, only 17 graduate students have done the same.

According to a “Faculty Feedback” letter sent to Registrar’s office, the department had a minimal number of students utilize the P/F option due to the accreditation standards. Many prerequisites and major/minor courses require a C or better in all in order to stay in the program or apply for advanced standing graduate program.

Some graduate programs have stated the pass/fail option for their courses, limiting the option to some students.