PROPOSAL FOR RESTRICTING USE OF PASS/FAIL OPTION IN CORE

COURSES

Underlining in the recommendation is amended version from the forum meeting of November 21, 2002

Current situation:

Students who have obtained sophomore status are permitted to take up to six courses on

the Pass/Fail basis with the following restrictions:

1) The student may not register for more than one such P/F course per semester

and may not use the P/F option for any course in a major sequence, optional minor, or concentration. Business majors may not use the Pass/Fail option for any of the business core courses.

2) No more than one course used to fulfill the University Core per division may be taken on the Pass/Fail basis.

3) PL 101 and RL 101 may not be taken Pass/Fail.

(Taken from John Carroll University. Undergraduate Bulletin, 2001-2003, p. 98.)

Statement of the Problem:

The Pass/Fail option should not be available to John Carroll University students for courses taken in fulfillment of the University Core Curriculum. The liberal arts education at John Carroll is comprised of two parts, a core curriculum and study in depth in a major field. Students are already prohibited from using the pass/fail option in courses counting toward a major, minor, concentration or the business core. Since students tend not to perform optimally in Pass/Fail courses, it is logical to extend this to the University core.

Recommendation:

Change bulletin copy to read: Students who have obtained sophomore status are permitted to take up to six courses on the Pass/Fail basis with the following restrictions. The student may not register for more than one such P/F course per semester and may not use the P/F option for any course counted toward university core requirements or in a major sequence, optional minor, or concentration. Business majors may not use the P/F option for any of the Business core courses. Students wishing to take courses on a P/F basis must have an academic petition approved by the appropriate dean.

Alternatives considered:

1) Not changing pass/fail at all.

2) Doing away with all pass/fail

Expected outcome:

Better performance by students in core courses.