Due to a change in grading policy if they do not pass their classes, Oberlin first-years will suffer the consequences on their permanent transcripts.

The new policy that the College has enacted is intended to increase student accountability and make Oberlin’s policy more consistent with its peer institutions. The primary feature of this change is the elimination of the Credit/No Entry system and the addition of a “D” grade.

According to Grover Zinn, an associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, one of the issues that influenced the change in the policy was the large number of no-entries used by students as a way to drop courses informally. This causes available spaces in many courses to go unused.

“It is a good move to make in the grading system,” said Zinn. “It allows students to take courses in an un-graded manner with the P/NP rule. The informal drop is eliminated and transcripts show reality. I hope this system proves to be productive for the College.”

In addition administrators were concerned that Oberlin transcripts accurately reflect a student’s academic experience. Zinn said that the EPPC also reviewed grading policies at comparable institutions such as Brown University before decisions were ultimately made.

In the old system, No Entry would appear on a student’s internal transcript if they were not able to pass a class but would not appear on their external transcript. In the new system a No Pass will appear on both internal and external transcripts and they are calculated in the GPA.

Dean of Studies Kathryn Stuart said that the purpose of the withdraw policy is to allow a student time to determine if they need to withdraw from a course. Under the old system it was impossible to know if the student did not pass the course or chose to drop it informally at the end of add/drop. She goes on to add that faculty wanted a system that allowed students flexibility in scheduling, but also required thoughtfulness about course choices and progress towards graduation.

The final change in the new grading policy is the reinstatement of the “D” grade, which Oberlin College has not recognized in a number of years. Kay Knight from Student Academic Services said, “If it’s true that most other schools use a D, then it’s misleading if we don’t.”

In her opinion, since some departments, like the math department, do not recognize a D in a major, if a student who is considering majoring in a certain department fails a class, he or she will have to take that class again, which will slow down the progress.

Many faculty and teachers agree that this new system is going to provide an accurate record of a student’s academic work.

“The new system works by encouraging students to explore the curriculum beyond the frame of their own majors or chosen disciplines,” Dean of the Conservatory David Stull said.

He also notes that students will need to selecting courses during the add/drop period.

Regardless, incoming students should be aware of all rules applying to this new policy. Knight said that with the letter grade D included, should students choose the P/NP option, it will count as an NP grade and is factored into their GPA.

“It will be several years before we can really see the changes...we expect that it will be some number of years before we are all on one system,” said Registrar Liz Clerkin when asked if she believed the policy will last. “Once we move to just one system, we expect there will be a review of how the new system affected grades, registration and progress to graduation. Once we have data from that review, we may see refinements or changes.”

The new changes will not apply to returning Oberlin students.