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The UC San Diego Academic Senate issued a campus-wide notice on March 23, 2020 stating that the Senate Council is allowing departments, programs, and colleges to let students take major, minor or general education requirement courses with the pass/no pass grading option in the Spring 2020 quarter. This exception is one among many changes implemented for the quarter in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to “too much variation across disciplines, degrees, and student needs,” the Council is not mandating a uniform policy for the entire university. Instead, departments and colleges have been left to decide whether or not they will excuse students from taking requirement courses for a letter grade.

Based on information published on UCSD websites and emails received by the UCSD Guardian staff, the following departments and programs have announced that they are allowing major and minor courses to be taken with the pass/no pass grading option:

• Biological Sciences (email sent)
• Chemistry and Biochemistry (email sent)
• Cognitive Science (found here)
• Communication (found here)
• Computer Science and Engineering (found here)
• Data Science (found here)
• Economics (email sent)
  • Maximum of 4 courses
• Education Studies (email sent)
• Electrical and Computer Engineering (found here)
• Global Health (email sent)
  • Only major and minor elective courses
• International Studies Program (email sent)
• Linguistics (email sent)
• Literature (email sent)
• Math (found here)
• Making of the Modern World (email sent)
• Muir College Writing Program (email sent)
• Philosophy (email sent)
• Physics (found here)
  • Allowed for majors only
  • Courses taken with the pass/no pass grading option must be petitioned to count toward the major
• Political Science (email sent)
• Psychology (found here)
  • A maximum of 2 upper-division courses and PSYC 60
• Public Health (found here)
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography (email sent)
  • All majors
  • Required lower division, required upper division, and upper division elective courses
• Sociology (email sent)
• Urban Studies and Planning (email sent and found here)
• Visual Arts (found here)
• Warren College Writing Program (found here)

This list will be updated as the Guardian receives more information. Despite the exception given for Spring Quarter, many departments and programs are advising students to consider taking major courses for a letter grade because the pass/no pass grading option may have an effect on financial aid, future courses that will need prerequisites, pre-med requirements, graduate school admissions, etc. Students with questions related to grading options are encouraged to contact their college and department or program advisors at vac.ucsd.edu.

Photo by James Song for the UCSD Guardian.