USG senate discusses option for students to 'un-P/D/F' courses

The Undergraduate Student Government senate discussed possible changes to the pass/D/fail policy at its weeklymeeting onSunday.

USG academics committee chair Ramie Fathy ’16 said his committee met with the Committee on Examinations and Standing to discuss the P/D/F policy revision proposal. He said the proposal contained offering students the option of “un-P/D/F-ing” a course — to enable students to use lettered grades and credits for the course they had previously opted to be graded on a P/D/F scale — in case they decide to use the course to fulfill departmental or certificate program requirements later on.

However, the proposal got pushback because some on the committee were concerned that students would be using the policy for grade management, he explained.

USG president Ella Cheng '16 noted that the such disagreement between students and facultymight be the result of different perception of the P/D/F policy between the faculty and the students. Cheng explained that faculty members see the P/D/F option as ideally being used to explore a subject that one never studied before.

“The problem is that it’s not functionally how it works with students,” she said. “Students often also use it for grade management, which is — you’re a pre-med, you are in a really hard class, and you may not do well.”

Cheng is a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

The senate also approved the appointments of Class of 2018 senator Rachel Park ’18 and U-Councilor Pooja Patel ’18.

USG vice president Aleksandra Czulak '17 said that Park was selected for her strong leadership skills and understanding of issues that affect student-athletes.

U-Council chair and Mental Health Initiative Board chair Naimah Hakim ’16 explained Patel was selected for her experience and her project ideas on issues of sexual assault.

“As you all know, the WeSpeak survey [results] just came out, and had a lot of alarming numbers," Hakim said. "It’s really great to have leadership around this topic in particular.”

Patel is a former staff writer for the ‘Prince.’

The senate approved revisions in Honor Constitutions proposed by U-Councilor and Honor Committee chair Dallas Nan ’16. Nan explained that the objectives of the revisions are to eliminate repetitive clauses, clarify committee practices in specific circumstances, rearrange the sections of the old draft for increased logical flow and readability, and create subsections within each article for easier access to specific knowledge.

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Hakim said that the Mental Health Initiative Boardwill be collaborating with mental health boards at other Ivy League schools, includingthe University of Pennsylvania’s mental health group, which is working onan Inter-Ivy mental health conference, and the Dartmouth mental health chapter.

Undergraduate Student Life Committee chair Kathy Chow ’17 presented the results of Thursday’s coat giveaway, noting that over 100 students came to the event for around 50 to 60 coats.

The senate also approved a funding proposal from U-Councilors Jacob Cannon ’17 and Brandon McGhee ’18 for five round-trip buses to Washington D.C. and Boston for Thanksgiving break, instead of starting with three buses and requesting additional funding if they need to add a bus as usual.

Social Committee chair Simon Wu ’17 said that his committee will work on a Lawnparties infographic and develop a Frequently Asked Questions list concerning Lawnparties.