Statement of Principles on the Acceptance of Credit During an Emergency

1. Institutional policies and the evaluation of grades and credit recognize the extraordinary burden placed on students during times of emergency. Even in the best of cases, student dislocation and the need to change basic patterns of life impose challenges on students that may have an impact on their performance.
2. Institutional policies and practices recognize that traditional inequities are exacerbated in the current crisis and that “equal” treatment of students’ transcripts is unlikely to result in “equitable” outcomes.
3. Institutional policies and practices are as holistic as possible, considering the range of situational and behavioral circumstances in which students find themselves.
4. Institutional policies, wherever practicable, provide flexibility in the timely reporting of grades and other markers of achievement, understanding that the dislocations mentioned above are also present for faculty, staff, and others.
5. Institutional policies aim for complete transparency. The circumstances under which credits and or grades are accepted and not accepted will be clear and publicly stated in accessible, specific, and easy to understand terms. The rationale for these policies will be made equally clear and transparent.
6. This transparency will extend inside as well as outside the institution. Institutional policies that respond to unprecedented and unique situations will be broadly communicated and disseminated within institutions. At a time when teleworking has become common, it is in the collective best interest of higher education that each student-facing employee understands new and existing policies.
7. Institutional decision-making regarding individual students will be swift and definitive. Students and their families need clear, timely information on which to make decisions.