The University of Central Florida has recently announced on March 11, 2020 that all in-person classes are to be moved online beginning on March 16 until at least March 30. Students both on and off campus have been expected to move back to their permanent residences and do all their work from home. That means having to teach themselves from home, and no longer having beneficial programs like SARC and SI tutoring, which for many students is essential. Students who are also dependent on working to pay for school are already worrying due to the fact that many businesses are closing. The 14% (8,000+) of students that live out of state or international will now have to deal with time change and for some, classes might be inconveniently held in the middle of the night which will also affect their academic performance. Most importantly, students should be prioritizing their health rather than worrying about getting A's in their classes. Some schools such as Carnegie Mellon and MIT have already implemented this and many others like the University of Florida and Columbia are petitioning to transition to this grading system, as well.

We ask that UCF offer the option of pass/fail grading. Students at the end of the semester can choose to keep their letter grades on their transcript, or they can choose a grade of pass or fail that would still count towards their degree completion. We, as students, thank UCF for prioritizing our health over all else and hope that you will take into consideration this petition.