The Daily Bulletin Archive

At its May 9, 2014, meeting, the College Senate voted to recommend to the interim president revisions to the current college Pass-Fail Policy as indicated in the resolution below: 

Current Policy: Pass?Fail Option
The pass?fail option permits any matriculated student who has accrued at least 15 credit hours and a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 to take a course for credit without receiving a letter grade of A, B, C, D, E, or EV. Students may enroll in one course each semester or summer on a pass?fail basis. All sessions combined make up the summer semester. A pass (P) grade provides credit but no quality points and is not counted in total hours used to determine cumulative average. A fail (F) grade is treated as a failure although the hours are not used in computing the cumulative average. A pass?fail credit may be applied toward a degree. Courses required for the student’s major and minor cannot be taken on a pass?fail basis. Courses taken as part of early childhood and childhood education program concentrations and distributions may not be taken pass?fail. Any course, except English composition 100?level courses and those required for completion of a major or a minor, may be taken on a pass?fail basis. Students must declare their intention to do so by the end of the 10th week of classes in any semester or after two?thirds of a Summer Session or January Term. After receiving the approval signature of the student’s adviser, a declaration of intent must be filed with the Registrar’s Office, Moot Hall, by the published deadline. An instructor may choose to substitute a letter grade for the pass if written consent from the student is received and the form is submitted prior to the end of the semester. Once an application for pass?fail has been submitted, the pass?fail option for that semester has been exhausted. Subsequent filing of a substitution form to receive a letter grade does not allow submission of another pass?fail application for that semester. Students may not use pass?fail to repeat a course for which a grade of C– or below was earned.

Resolution: Revisions to the Undergraduate Pass-Fail Policy
Introduced at the April 2014 Senate meeting by the Standards for Students Committee.

WHEREAS, student development literature highlights the complexity and difficulty of transitioning to college life; and

WHEREAS, first?semester freshmen are registered for their courses by college staff with minimal input on course selection and with minimal opportunities for schedule adjustment given course availability at the point where students can adjust their schedules prior to the start of their first term; and

WHEREAS, students without accumulated Buffalo State credits experience the most significant change in their grade point averages, which have the potential to negatively affect academic dismissal, academic warning, and financial aid eligibility; and

WHEREAS, first?semester transfer students with at least 15 credits are permitted to declare a non?major/non?minor course pass-fail; and

WHEREAS, not all first?semester transfers are admitted to Buffalo State with a 2.0 grade point average (based on the special consideration admissions process); and

WHEREAS, declaring a course pass-fail may prevent students with grade point averages below 2.0 from facing academic dismissal or financial aid ineligibility,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Buffalo State allow the Pass-Fail Policy to apply to
(1) All matriculated undergraduates regardless of number of earned credit hours.
(2) All matriculated undergraduates regardless of grade point average.

This policy revision is suggested to take effect in fall 2014.

I hereby accept the recommendation of the College Senate and authorize the provost to oversee the implementation of the recommended changes to the college Pass-Fail Policy effective with the fall 2014 semester. I further charge the provost with the responsibility of ensuring that these changes in the policy are updated in all applicable college documents prior to the effective date and that the policy changes are communicated broadly and widely to all faculty, students, and staff.