COVID-19 Academic Guidelines for Spring 2020 Semester

The College recognizes that the academic, personal, and financial situations of students, faculty and staff have been abruptly transformed by COVID-19.

The following guidelines are enacted for the Spring 2020 Semester in response to the changes that have occurred to Delgado Community College’s delivery of academic courses and programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The College realizes that students have experienced significant disruption in their learning potential, and their current learning environment may not be conducive to optimal academic performance. Therefore, the College has developed the following student-centered guidelines to help students make the best decisions regarding their academic performance in the Spring 2020 Semester.

1. On March 23, 2020, all courses were transitioned to online/remote delivery.
    
2. The last date to drop a course or withdraw from the College has been extended to May 4, 2020. Students are encouraged to reach out to their Academic Advisors prior to dropping a course or withdrawing from the College.
    
3. Based on recommendations from the Faculty Senate, the Student Government Association, the Deans’ Council, and Student Affairs, for the Spring 2020 Semester only, students will have the opportunity to elect to have their final grades reported on their transcript from the five (5) options listed below:

   • Students can drop with a ‘W’ grade until the last day of class. 

   • ‘A’ and ‘B’ grades will be posted on the students’ records. 

   • Students with ‘C’ and ‘D’ grades have the option to request and receive the ‘ECV’ grade. No credit or quality points will be given, but required courses will have to be repeated.

   • The ‘ECV’ grade denotes that the student did not earn credit for the course due to COVID-19 disruptions.

   • ‘F’ grades will automatically default to the ‘ECV’ grade if the student remains enrolled in the class to the end.  No action on the student’s part will be necessary, but required courses will have to be repeated.

   • “I” (Incomplete) Contracts will be handled as normal according to the College’s current policy.  I Contracts are a written agreement between the student and the Instructor at the end of the semester.  

4. As per the Board of Regents’ directive, Dual Enrolled student have the option of requesting an “Administrative Withdrawal” to exit the course without any credit and nothing will be posted to the official college transcript.
    
5. For students who were placed on Academic Probation at the end of the Fall 2019 Semester and do not earn a cumulative GPA of 2.0 at the conclusion of the Spring 2020 Semester, the Academic Suspension standing will be waived due to the impact of COVID-19. This applies to First-Time Freshmen, Continuing, Transfer, and Readmit students.  
   
   Therefore, academic suspension appeals will not be necessary. However, the Academic Suspension standing will be reinstated at the conclusion of the Fall 2020 Semester. Please note that this applies only to Academic Suspension.  Students may still have to file an appeal with the Office of Student Financial Assistance if they receive notice of suspension of their financial aid.
    
6. All students who have completed program requirements at the end of the Spring 2020 Semester will be awarded and conferred their degrees on May 19, 2020.  The Graduation Ceremony will be held on August 4, 2020.