Covid-19 Disruption Grading Option of Spring 2020 and Spring 2021

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Policy Number:
UW-1051
Responsible Office:
Academic Planning and Institutional Research

University Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

In March 2020, midway through the spring 2020 semester, the university launched a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Considerable disruption to student life was caused by the transition to remote/alternative instruction, the discontinuation of most in-person events, and the closing of university buildings. In recognition of this disruption, on March 26, 2020, Provost Scholz announced that UW–Madison was establishing a special grading option for students in response to the COVID-19 events. This option, entitled the Disruption Grading Option (DGO), was established to mitigate the adverse impacts of the Covid 19 disruption.

For the spring 2020 DGO, the policy was developed by the Academic Affairs Continuity team (AACt), a sub-group of the Instructional Continuity Team (AACt: Scott Owczarek, co-chair; Wren Singer, co-chair; Jocelyn Milner; Beth Warner; Will Lipske; Diana Maki; Christopher Lee; Christina Klawitter; Regina Lowery; Sherri Charleston). The Instructional Continuity academic associate deans, the Academic Advising policy leaders, and Professor Kirsten Wolf representing the University Committee reviewed and provided feedback on all recommendations. Provost Scholz announced the DGO after conferring with a range of stakeholders including the University Committee, Academic Staff Executive Committee, the deans of all of the schools/colleges, and the campus leadership team.

The DGO was approved again for use in spring 2021, as announced by Provost Karl Scholz on April 5, 2021. The recommendation for spring 2021 implementation came from the Pandemic Academic Policy Task Force (Members:  John Zumbrunnen, chair; Wren Singer; Scott Owczarek; Kaitlin Kons; Eliza Donnelly; Jijijiie Zhang; John Parrish; Christina Marie Olstad; Eric Sandgren; Emily Hall; Nicholas Hill; Debra Shapiro; Ryan Bouchard; Susan Babcock).  Provost Scholz announced the DGO for spring 2021 after reviewing the recommendation in consultation with the University Committee, Academic Staff Executive Committee, the deans of all of the schools/colleges, and the campus leadership team. The implementation of DGO in spring 2021 recognized the cumulative impact on students of the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scope:

This policy applied to all UW–Madison students enrolled in credit instruction in spring 2020 and spring 2021, with the exception that it did not apply to students in the Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), or Law School students enrolled in Law courses.

Policy:

Policy

  1. At the end of the spring 2020 and spring 2021 terms, students had a period in which students could elect to apply the Disruption Grading Option (DGO) to any or all of their A through F graded credit courses. The student may elect to replace the A through F grade with either SD (Satisfactory-Disruption) or UD (University-Disruption-No Credit).

    Courses that were graded on a credit/no credit, pass/fail, or numeric grade basis were not eligible for the DGO.

    All spring 2020 and spring 2021 courses, regardless of session start and end dates, were eligible for the DGO option.

    1. For students in the Graduate School (GRAD career), grades of B or higher were committed to be converted to SD, and grades of BC or lower were permitted to be converted to UD.
    2. For all other students eligible for DGO (Undergraduate, Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine, Master of Genetic Counselor Studies (MGCS), Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS), Master of Public Health (MPH), and University Special Students) grades of C or higher were permitted to be converted to SD and grades of D and F were permitted to be converted to UD.
  2. Course grades that a student elected to convert to SD were counted in the same ways that they would have counted had they been taken and passed on their regular letter-graded basis. SD counts toward requirements and prerequisites that require completion of a course and completion with a certain grade. This includes University General Education requirements, degree/major requirements, certificate requirements, UW–Madison credit earned in residence, Honors courses, retroactive credits, and admission to majors that have an application process.
  3. Courses for which a student elected UD were not to count towards meeting any requirements including any credit totals needed to complete a degree. Courses with UD grades did count towards semester credit load, full-time/part-time standing, tuition, and similar calculations.
  4. Neither SD nor UD was calculated into a student’s grade-point average.
  5. Undergraduates were not to receive a new negative academic standing action (e.g., probation or dismissal) at the end of a semester in which the DGO was in effect. The standard Academic Standing process, which determines probation status in each school/college, was modified to allow a student to stay in or clear probation status but did not place any student on probation who had not been previously.
  6. For undergraduates who elected the DGO, these courses and credits will not count towards the course and credit limits established for the traditional pass/fail grading option.

Policy-Related Implementation Considerations

  1. For spring 2020, the window to elect the DGO opened on May 9 and closed on May 22 at 11:59 p.m. For spring 2021, the window to elect the DGO opened on May 8 and closed on May 21 at 11:59 p.m. 
  2. Students, except for graduate students (GRAD career) who had elected to take a course under the traditional pass/fail option at the 4-week deadline, had their grading basis converted back to a regular letter-graded basis to allow them to elect the DGO at the end of the semester. Graduate students who elected the traditional pass/fail option for courses were left on that grading basis and did not have the DGO option for courses for which they had previously elected traditional pass/fail.
  3. For undergraduates, the Dean’s List was run with the regular criteria. Courses that receive an SD or UD grade would not count toward the minimum number of graded credits required for the Dean’s List.
  4. The transcript legend was modified to add text to explain SD/UD grades.
  5. Multi-semester courses were subject to the grading options effective during the semester in which they were completed. Students beginning a first-in-sequence grade course (e.g., senior thesis) in spring 2020 or spring 2021 received a progress grade in May 2020 or May 2021 respectively that would be replaced by a letter grade when the thesis was complete. Students who completed a last-in-sequence grade course in May 2020 or May 2021 and received a letter grade were eligible to elect the DGO. If they did, the SD/UD grade would apply to both semesters.
  6. Students receiving grade changes after the DGO window closed at the end of the semester had eight days from the completed grade change being posted to their record to request conversion of a letter grade to SD/UD. This included incomplete grades converting to letter grades. For spring 2020 incomplete grades, the window to use the DGO for incompletes that were changed to a letter grade closed on December 31, 2020. For spring 2021 incomplete grades, the window to use the DGO for incompletes that were changed a letter grade closed on December 31, 2021.  
  7. The DGO was designed and implemented in such a way that elements of this approach and SD/UD may be applied should the university face disruption events in the future.
Related UW–Madison Documents, Web Pages, or Other Resources:

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Policy Manager:
Interim Director and Associate Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Institutional Research
Contact:
University Registrar -- Scott Owczarek, scott.owczarek@wisc.edu, (608) 262-3811
Effective Date:
03-26-2020
Date Issued:
05-27-2020
Revised Dates:

04-05-2021

Retrieved:
08-14-2022 02:12:04