Laurentian University offering ‘compassionate grading’ for students

Laurentian University Sign (File)

Sudbury — Students enrolled at Laurentian University now have the option to see their final marks as a ‘pass/fail’ if they don’t want to know the numeric mark.

Staff at Laurentian said this comes as many students continue to struggle academically during the pandemic.

“This decision will offer flexibility at a time where they need it most," said Laurentian president Robert Haché in a news release. "It is an unusual step, and one that we feel will have a positive impact on student success."

The motion was brought forward to the Senate by student association representatives. Eric Chapell, president of the Students' General Association, told CTV News compassionate grading can benefit students in many ways.

“Usually, you have to a certain date to drop a class without it affecting you -- we have extended that date as part of the pass/fail motion,” Chapell said.

“So, if there (are) some students where this really hasn’t worked for them, they’ve fallen off the rails, this gives them the opportunity for it to not follow them for years to come.”

Not an easy year

Third-year health promotions student Anna Baker said this year hasn’t been easy, and she hasn’t decided what option she will take.

“This year has been kind of hard because I’m getting a lot more assignments than I did before," Baker said. "My grade in each class is going to determine if I’m doing pass or fail. If I don’t need the class for my degree, then I want to do the pass option so I get a higher GPA for future reasons.”

First-year sports psychology student Emma Bradford said she is happy with her marks this year, and is going to take the numerical mark.

“Although this year was kind of hard for our first year, I am still happy with my grades and I think I would rather just show them represented on my transcript,” Bradford said.

Currently, the University of Toronto is the only other school in Ontario offering the pass/fail system for students.

Isabelle Bourgeault-Tassé, executive director of communications at Laurentian University, said compassionate grading could affect students who are looking to transfer or attend grad school.

“Most graduate schools want to see a number grade so that might complicate things a little bit,” said Bourgeault-Tassé.

“But, we suspect that the sector-wide response will be to sort of give students a pass and a break on this issue in 2020.”

Bourgeault-Tassé said the Senate will discuss whether compassionate grading will carry over to the winter semester.