Satisfactory/D/Fail Policy Takes Effect

Since being resubmitted to the Academic Council and back again to the faculty since the Fall semester, the proposal formerly known as the "pass-fail" proposal was officially accepted by the faculty on January 26 as the Satisfactory/D/Fail policy. This renaming is directly reflective of the changes that have been applied to the policy since the first time this proposal came up for a vote before the faculty last fall.

Some of the original language of the policy remains. The policy still applies only to "full-time juniors and seniors in good standing with the College" who are taking at least 12 hours of regular graded coursework. These students may apply to take up to four hours per semester and no more than 12 hours cumulatively of courses S/D/F. A student may not take a course S/D/F that meets requirements in their major, minor, concentration, pre- and co-requisites, or Integrative Study Requirements. Also, faculty will not be informed if a student is taking a class S/D/F and will report regular letter grades for the course.

The primary differences between the original proposal and new policy occur in the area of grading. Any grade above a C- will be considered "Satisfactory," while any Ds or Fs received will be counted at its respective value and applied toward a student's overall GPA. This is a distinct change from the original proposal, and according to Professor Peter Meilaender, political science, who was instrumental in the formation of the proposal on the Integrative Studies Committee, seems to be a direct response to concern expressed by faculty over the inequality of awarding a student doing D grade work the same "fail" as a student doing F grade work, as would have been the case under the original proposal. With the policy as it now stands under S/D/F, this inequity will not be a concern.

Senior Garrett Fitzsimmons, SGA Student Body President, sits on Academic Council and also noted a concern among faculty that students would be encouraged to "slack off" under the structure of the original "pass-fail" proposal. The S/D/F policy may help alleviate this concern through making Ds and Fs count toward a student's overall GPA. The policy also prescribes that students must apply to take a course S/D/F using a form from the Academic Records Office. According to the policy, students "have until the end of the drop/add period to register for a course as S/D/F." After this, students may not register for a course S/D/F or change from "S/D/F grading to regular letter grading." Such measures further discourage using the S/D/F policy to "slack off."

The overall hope  is that this policy will "encourage students to sample challenging and unfamiliar coursework they might otherwise avoid." Meilaender, who himself feels benefited by a course taken "pass-fail" during his college career, hopes that motivated students will find the opportunity to take classes outside of their fields of expertise as S/D/F as beneficial to their own growths as people, as well as to their educational experiences. The goal of the S/D/F policy is to offer Houghton students an opportunity to broaden their liberal arts education during their time here at Houghton.

The policy will take effect Fall 2012 and be published in the 2012-2013 catalog.