Credit/no credit proposal tabled by CoI

Jaxon White, News Co-Editor

On March 23, students received a survey asking their opinion on a credit or no credit proposal that was being offered by the Committee on Instruction (CoI). Since then, the committee has decided to table the proposal and reevaluate it for next year. 

Maeve Snover ’22, the BSG student representative for the CoI, took part in the development of the proposal. 

“The purpose of the proposal is to support student success,” Snover said in an emailed response. “A survey was sent out to the whole student and faculty population, and the opinions were all over the map. The committee decided that now is not the time to propose this type of plan if there is no clear majority opinion in the general Bucknell community.”

Sarah Hanlon ’24, academic chair for BSG, helped create the anonymous survey because of her past experience sitting in on CoI meetings.

Even though the proposal was tabled, Hanlon said that the survey answers are still being compiled and students should take the opportunity to express their opinions on the subject. 

“I think the most important thing for students to take away from this is that their input is valuable and seriously considered in the creation/proposal of ideas like Credit/No Credit. They should make their voices heard,” Hanlon said. 

The proposal still could be passed next semester. 

According to the survey from March, the proposal would give students the opportunity to change a total of 8 courses to either Credit/No Credit. Courses that are given a CR grade would “satisfy any graduation requirement.” NCR grades would not satisfy any requirements. 

Neither CR or NCR would count towards a student’s grade point average. Grades for CR cannot be retaken, but NCR grades can if the student wishes. The CR and NCR would be limited to the first 10 weeks of a semester—the same date as the Withdrawal deadline. 

The proposal would only allow the grading option to be implemented for four years. This time would allow the Registrar’s Office, as well as faculty, time to collect data on whether or not it could continue to function well at the University. 

For those interested in expressing their opinion on the proposal, the survey can be found in an email from Bernadette Maramis ’22 on March 23. 

The proposal could be adjusted, based on the feedback received during the survey, Snover said. 

“CoI will do more research about the different concerns to make sure that this is something that will be welcomed and helpful,” she said. “If something is proposed it will not be determined by CoI if it will be implemented, the proposal will be evaluated and will be voted on by the entire faculty at the University.” 

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