Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wake Technical Community College system of schools has decided to eliminate in-class held lectures and instruction, replacing this with online courses. Although this is a grand measure that will encourage social distancing and the safety of the students and staff, it can also hinder the genuine learning that students have come to college to obtain. This will be present within the letter grades received for their Spring 2020 semester.

It has come to our attention that multiple universities including UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, and NC State have implemented a pass/fail policy as an alternative to receiving a letter grade in response to this pandemic. Many students may struggle with online lectures which can alter their grades within their classes. The pass/fail option is helpful for students that do not thrive as well in these online classes versus the in-class lectures that they have signed up for. When there is the option to pass or fail a class, it allows the students to focus on learning and growth, while they have more opportunities to try, mess up and improve without feeling that everything is lost or their GPA is ruined. This is especially important for those that are planning on attending a university in which they have to keep their GPA and studies up for their next move regarding their education.

This pass/fail opportunity will be beneficial to students who are experiencing anxiety due to the circumstances, or who have mental health issues which may be increased in concentration due to the social isolation that is being present.

As community college students who possess such diverse lives and circumstances all around North Carolina, we do not believe that it is fair for universities to get a choice in this matter while we do not.

With this being said, we demand that the students of Wake Technical Community College get the option to pass or fail a class in which they receive credit while not hindering their GPA, as well as be able to choose to receive a letter grade for a course.

We demand that the withdrawal deadline for spring 2020 courses be extended, as students do not yet know how this new way of learning will affect their education.

We demand that teachers who are conducting online courses post their lectures online for students that may not be able to attend.

We expect that the Wake County System will take our demands seriously, as they put the priority of their students and their wellbeing first.