Daniella Tebib
News Editor
dtebib@murraystate.edu
Following the University administration’s decision to allow students to convert their courses to pass/fail grading, a list of eligible courses was released on Friday, April 3.
Tim Todd, provost and vice president of academic affairs, sent an email to students, faculty and staff with the list of eligible courses. The list can be found here.
While many courses are included in the list, not all courses qualify for the change. Some courses require minimum letter grades in order to enroll in advanced courses or continue in certain programs, and a “passing” grade may not meet those requirements.
For undergraduate students, a passing grade is equivalent to letter grades A, B, C or D. Graduate students must earn a letter grade or A, B or C to achieve a passing grade. Failing grades will appear as an “E” on academic records. A passing grade will not affect students’ GPAs. However, while a failing grade will not count in credits earned, it will count in GPA hours attempted and will negatively impact students’ GPAs.
Qualifying for the dean’s list may also be impacted by converting courses to pass/fail grading. Undergraduate students are only eligible for the dean’s list if the student earns at least 12 hours of letter-graded courses and a term GPA of 3.5 or higher. Pass/fail courses will not count toward the minimum 12 hours to qualify.
Academic standing is also based on GPA and GPA hours attempted. Passing grades will not be included in this calculation.
Graduating students must still receive a minimum of a 2.00 GPA in cumulative GPA, institution GPA, area/major GPA and minor GPA. If students are currently below the required GPA in one or more areas, changing courses to pass/fail grading could affect their graduation eligibility. Some programs may have higher minimums than the University’s requirement.
Students should contact the Student Financial Services Office to verify how the change could impact their scholarships, aid or loans. The office can be reached at msu.sfa@murraystate.edu.
Student teachers may be affected by the change and can consult Teacher Education Services in addition to their academic adviser at msu.teachereducationservices@murraystate.edu before making a decision.
Students interested in converting their courses to pass/fail grading should first review the list to see if their courses qualify for pass/fail grading and discuss their options with their academic adviser. After receiving approval from their academic adviser, students must complete and submit a request to change their grading. The request form can be found here. All requests must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. CST on April 24.
After students submit their request, it will be sent to their academic adviser for review to approve or deny the request. If the request is approved, students should receive an email from the Office of Registrar confirming the change to pass/fail grading. If the request is denied, students will also be notified by email.
If a student changes their mind about converting their course to pass/fail grading, they have until 4:30 p.m. CST on April 24 to submit changes. To revoke a request after it has been approved, students should send an email to msu.records@murraystate.edu from their Murray State email including their name, M number and list of courses they would like changed back to traditional letter grading.
For more information on pass/fail grading, click here.