Law Faculty Accepts Spring Grade Option

The Law School Faculty voted Tuesday to permit pass-fail grading in small group first-year courses.

The motion adopted by the faculty provides that first-year students may petition to be graded on a pass-fail basis in specified small group and seminar courses, but will otherwise receive grades on an A-F scale.

The change-introduced by Frank I. Michelman, chairman of the Committee on the First Year-is probably not significant in terms of widespread grade reforms at the Law School, however.

"This [the faculty vote] is not necessarily an indication of broader changes to come," Michelman explained. "It is a separable question and most faculty don't regard the change as having any bearing on the broader question of grade reform."

The Committee on the First Year first considered the question of passfail grading several weeks ago when confusion arose as to how Spring seminars and small group courses would be graded.

Although the course catalogue states that the Spring courses would be graded on a letter scale, some students apparently felt that pass-fail grading used in Fall term seminars would extend to the Spring semester.