CUNY Special COVID-19 Flexible Grading Policy

As part of The City University of New York’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CUNY Board of Trustees approved the COVID-19 Flexible Grading Policy at their March 30, 2020 meeting. It is effective on April 1, 2020 and applies to all CUNY institutions except the School of Law and the School of Medicine, which will implement their own Pass/Fail policies to conform to norms in legal and medical education. The policy will remain in effect for the Spring 2020 and will be reviewed by the Chancellor and extended as necessary to meet public health emergency policies and practices.

• All students have the option to convert any or all of the (A-F) letter grades they earn in their Spring 2020 classes, to Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) grading.
• Students will be able to make this decision up to 20 business days after the final grade submission deadline. See academic calendar for key deadlines.
• If a student chooses to opt-in, the passing letter grade (A, B, C, or D) will convert to ‘CR’ with credit for the class being awarded, while a failing grade (F) will convert to ‘NC’, with no credit awarded. Credit/No Credit grades will not impact the student’s GPA. WU (withdrew unofficially after attending at least one class session) cannot be converted to NC.
• Courses not opted-in and kept as a letter grade will continue to be included in the semester and cumulative GPA, while courses opted in and changed for a Credit/Non-credit grade will be excluded.
• If a student chooses the option of Credit/No Credit, the Credit (CR) grade will not negatively impact the student’s satisfactory progress toward degree completion.
• Students with Credit/No Credit grades will be able to transfer those courses across colleges within CUNY, per current CUNY policy.
• Students on academic probation during the current Spring 2020 semester will not be dismissed from the college based upon their grades earned this semester.
• Before choosing this grading option for one or more of their classes, students should consult with their academic and financial aid advisors regarding potential impact to their financial aid and/or non-CUNY transfer admissions.
• This policy will override all program-level grading policies currently in effect at CUNY institutions, including those related to courses within the major, pre-requisite courses, honors courses and maximum number of credits that a student can earn with Credit/No Credit grades
• The grade glossary, attached to each transcript, will be updated to include a notation denoting that all Spring 2020 grades, including CR or NC, were earned during a major disruption to instruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.