The COVID-19 Response team for South Dakota State University clarified details regarding the satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading system implemented during the Spring 2020 semester in an email April 20.

According to the email, students will be able to choose either the new S/U or the traditional letter grade starting the week of May 5-8. During this time, students will be able to individually assign a grading decision to each of their courses and do not necessarily have to have the same decision for every course.

Additionally, this choice can be switched to the alternative option within the same week.

“For example, if a student elects to change a ‘C’ to an ‘S,’ but then changes his/her mind, the student can resubmit and request that the grade be changed back to a ‘C,’” the email read.

Students have until May 18 to make these decisions before the selections are finalized and can no longer be changed.

Along with details about choosing S/U grades, the email also contained information about the temporary policy of accepting pass/fail grades for transfer. SDSU will be accepting any transfer credits with pass/fail, S/U or other similar grading options from previous institutions from the spring 2020 semester.

Undergraduates taking courses numbered 001-499 during the spring 2020 semester will not have the attempt at completion counted against their maximum number of three attempts before graduation. Additionally, graduates taking courses numbered 500 and above during the same semester will not have the class counted against their maximum two attempts, either.

Additional information can be found on the Grading Option FAQs page.