March 29, 2020

Dear faculty colleagues,

I write today with important information for you regarding our necessary experiment with completing the Spring 2020 semester virtually. My goal is to make this undertaking as successful as possible, for both Pratt faculty and students, under stressful circumstances. To that end I wish to announce two temporary changes to our practices for the spring semester.

Pass/Fail Grading

Numerous colleges and universities around the country have moved to a Pass/Fail grading system for spring semester final grades, and many faculty and students have requested that Pratt do so as well. Following discussions with Academic Senate leadership, Student Government representation, members of Provost’s Council, the registrar, and Pratt’s deans, all faculty will record final semester grades on a Pass/Fail basis. This applies to all undergraduate and graduate courses.

We take this step to free faculty and students to focus on innovative teaching and learning for the remainder of the semester, given our challenged circumstances, rather than sweating the finer details of letter grading. Our main educational goal at this time needs to be achieving the learning outcomes of courses, and making sure that our students earn their credits for the semester. A temporarily simplified grading system will enable us to focus on these overriding goals.

Generally speaking, a final grade of Pass (P) will award a student credit for a course, without affecting the student’s cumulative GPA as of Fall 2019. A final grade of Fail (F) will affect a student’s cumulative GPA just as a letter grade of F would.

We are well aware that certain special circumstances will necessitate a student receiving a letter grade. For example, some externally funded scholarships require recording of letter grades; for another example, students on academic probation due to their Fall 2019 cumulative GPA will need letter grades if they might return to good standing. The Registrar’s Office will work with faculty and students to accommodate these and other limited exceptions, as needed. We will not provide letter grades to students merely because they want them without an extenuating circumstance.

More details regarding P/F final semester grading will be forthcoming from the Registrar’s Office.

Student Course Evaluations

In addition to freeing faculty from the fine-grained work of letter grading under these conditions, we wish to ease any concerns regarding student course evaluations this spring. We will implement student course evaluations as usual this semester, but all spring semester evaluations will be “bracketed” as not bearing on future faculty applications for reappointment, promotion, and tenure.

We do want students to have the opportunity to reflect in their course evaluations on their experience this spring. And we want faculty who receive stellar evaluations for their navigation of this situation to have evaluations at their disposal to reference in future faculty action applications. But course evaluations this spring will not be a mark against any instructor, given the extremity of our circumstances.

Finally, our existing course evaluation form is not designed to assess online teaching and learning (this being another reason to “bracket” them). Now is not the time to undertake the major project of revising the evaluation form. We intend instead merely to add two questions that will invite students to reflect on their learning experience in these unusual circumstances, for the sake of informing faculty development in teaching and learning practices.

Looking Ahead

To return to the experiment Pratt faculty are now undertaking, I and all of the academic leadership are mindful of the many challenges you face with unexpectedly moving to virtual instruction as of tomorrow. We are extremely grateful to you for your efforts to support the overriding goal of students having the opportunity to complete their credits for this unusual semester.

I hope that all of you will see in these next weeks an opportunity for creative innovation and experimentation. Freed from the burden of letter grading at a time when you and your students face many personal and family challenges, freed from any concern about course evaluations, please take this opportunity to try new things, vary your accustomed methods in the classroom, and have fun with what you can accomplish with students in a different way. 

Please also maintain steady contact and interaction with your students throughout the coming weeks. Everyone at Pratt is very proud that among art and design schools we maintain some of the highest student retention and graduation rates in the country, largely thanks to our extraordinary faculty. We need your help to keep students engaged in their Pratt education and on the path to earning their degrees.

[I will be sending a note similar to this one to all students tomorrow (Monday) morning; you will also receive my message to them, for your awareness. I ask that you confirm with your students that they have seen and read my message. Thank you.]

Great thanks again to all Pratt faculty for sustaining Pratt's educational excellence during a trying time.

With best wishes,

Kirk E. Pillow

Provost