Spring grading also under A, B, C, D/NE, and F/NE system
Unlike the fall, Junior-Senior and Graduate P/D/F options available in Spring
Sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students will receive A, B, C, D/NE, and F/NE grades in the spring, according to a Nov. 30 email from Rick Danheiser, faculty and Academic Policy and Regulations Team (APART) chair. NE grades appear on internal grade reports but not on external transcripts.
First year undergraduates will be graded under the usual A, B, C, D/NR, and F/NR system for the spring semester.
Similar to Fall 2020, all students may choose one subject to be graded PE/NE, and sophomores may designate one subject as Exploratory. Unlike the fall, Junior-Senior and Graduate P/D/F options will be available in the spring.
As in the fall, upper-level students who receive a D/NE grade may choose to accept a D grade “to fulfill a requirement for graduation” or “accept the default” for the class to not appear on their external transcript, Danheiser wrote. This option is not offered to first years who receive a D/NR or D/NE grade.
Danheiser announced in an email to the MIT community June 25 that a “Significant Disruption” would be in effect for Summer 2020 and the 2020–21 academic year.
Section 2.64 of the Rules and Regulations of the Faculty writes that PE indicates an A, B, or C level performance during a Significant Disruption; NE indicates a D or F level performance “for which no record will appear on the external transcript”; and IE indicates that a portion of the subject requirements are unfulfilled “due to a major disruption of the Institute’s academic activities.”
Danheiser wrote in the Nov. 30 email that the spring grading policy is “largely based” on MIT’s fall policy, which was developed after reviewing the Undergraduate Association (UA) report on Fall 2020 grading options and a report from the Academic Policy Solutions Group of the Graduate Student Council (GSC).
APART also met with students from the UA and GSC and deans of Student Support Services, and received survey feedback from 29 departments and academic programs for the fall grading policy.
Danheiser added that “a longer, detailed version” of the policy would be available online “within the next two weeks.”
Grading for Independent Activities Period, also using A, B, C, D/NE, and F/NE grades for upper-level students, was announced Nov. 16.