President Mary Papazian took the pressure off San Jose State students when she approved Credit/No Credit classes for the 2020 Spring Semester, but students should tread lightly.
Students now have the option to change their grade format in a particular class from a letter grade to Credit/No Credit because of the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The process essentially works by changing a letter grade “A” into the equivalent of a “C-” which drops the value of the grade overall.
The Credit/No Credit classes jeopardize the integrity of college classes as a whole.
If students pounce on this opportunity to convert their grades, they will also be diminishing their semester-long work efforts.
Approaching the new grade policy with anything but caution would be a mistake.
Hunter College, a university in New York City, approved the Credit/No Credit option for their students during the COVID-19 pandemic with a warning sign at the end of its C/NC form to caution students.
The form reads, “Other colleges, graduate schools, professional schools, services and employers may look with disfavor upon the use of the Credit/No Credit grading option and may even convert Credit to ‘C’ grade and No Credit to an ‘F’ grade for their purposes.”
Students who convert most of their grades to the Credit/No Credit option will quickly differentiate themselves from students who minimally use the option in the eyes of universities and employers.
Hunter College is warning its students that their credited classes may be automatically treated as a ‘C’ letter grade, no matter what the letter grade will actually be.
The Credit/No Credit option is less accurate than the letter grade option and it might be detrimental in the end.
Students who stick with the letter grade system will produce a more accurate record of their work ethic and academic performance.
SJSU’s Credit/No Credit FAQ form said Credit/No Credit classes have no factor in grade point average. If a student took six units out of 15 as Credit/No Credit, then only nine units would be earned toward their GPA.
Grade Point Average is a number that indicates how well you scored in your courses on average, so Credit/No Credit classes count toward credits earned.
Therefore, students on academic probation who might need to raise their GPA, should be wary of the option because a satisfied class credit will not boost their GPA and a no credit class would not pull it down, leaving those students where they started in the first place.
Despite SJSU’s acceptance of the Credit/No Credit option because of the instability of the semester, this option is not as honest as letter grades and employers are going to recognize that.
Students who put in considerable effort to improve or maintain their strong academic standing shouldn’t have the inherent value of their work diminished by others who choose the Credit/No Credit option, marring the value of the entire system.
Students had no choice in following national and local shelter-in-place orders and as a result have shouldered the economic and social consequences.
However, students can control their efforts in online learning now that there is nothing else to do with their free time.
Before choosing what appears to be an easy and carefree solution to the stress of online classes, students should assess their progress and apply themselves to coursework with a resilient attitude.
