November 16, 2020 - IAP 2021 Grading Policies

Dear Students and Colleagues,

I am writing on behalf of the Academic Policy and Regulations Team (“APART”) to inform you of the grading policies that will be in effect for IAP.  To summarize, we will employ a "letter grading system with extra flexibility" as was used for the fall semester, with some modifications.  Note that the grading system for the Spring Semester has not yet been determined and what is outlined below applies to IAP only.

For both undergraduate and graduate subjects during IAP the grades that will be awarded include A, B, C, D/NE, and F/NE, where NE indicates that no record will appear on the external transcript.  Students assigned a grade of D/NE will have the option of electing to accept a grade of D since that may be desired in order to fulfill a requirement for graduation.

First-year undergraduate students will be graded on the normal P/NR basis for all subjects during IAP.  A difference from the fall semester is that students may NOT elect to have a subject graded PE/NE as was the case in the fall semester.  This option, introduced to address stress during the fall semester when students are registering for a full complement of classes, is not necessary in IAP when students are limited to 12 units of subjects for credit.  Note, however, that Juniors, Seniors and graduate students will be able to choose Junior/Senior P/D/F and Graduate P/D/F options that are available in normal terms (these options were not available in Fall 2020 when the PE/NE option was available). 

With best wishes to all during these challenging times,

Rick

Note: This was sent to all students; all instructors; dept/section heads; undergraduate/graduate officers and administrators; assistant deans; Administrative Officers

Rick L. Danheiser
A. C. Cope. Professor and
Chair of the MIT Faculty