Communications
It was determined, in discussion with academic and faculty leadership, that this policy offers the greatest flexibility and support for the community by providing options that are fair, equitable and appropriately generous at a moment that calls for such an approach.
We want to emphasize that faculty have final discretion over how they assess a student’s performance based on work prior to 4:00pm EST on December 13, and may choose to be flexible with regard to their original grading rubric.
What are the grading options following the cancellation of Fall 2025 in-person exams and extension of grading deadlines?
- Option 1: Students may choose to conclude the course and accept a final grade based on work due prior to December 13, with no penalty for work originally due after December 13 that is not submitted. Students may choose to be graded under their originally selected grade option, or in combination with Option 2 below.
- Option 2: Students may elect to retroactively change their grade option for the course to satisfactory/no credit (S/NC). Students who elect this option will receive a notation on their transcripts indicating that the change was made due to extenuating circumstances.
- Option 3: In courses with a previously assigned final paper, project or take-home exam, students may elect to complete and submit the work for a grade, whether that be for the originally selected grade option or the revised S/NC option.
Whom should students inform of their decision regarding their course grades? How will faculty know what grade option their students selected?
Students who elect to accept a final grade based on coursework due prior to December 13 do not need to do anything. Faculty should grade all students based on coursework due prior to December 13, with no penalty for exams or other work due after December 13.
Students who elect to submit a previously assigned final paper or project need only inform their instructor.
Students who elect to change their grade option to S/NC should follow the Registrar's instructions on using the new application launched in Banner on December 18 to do so by 5 p.m. EST on January 7.
As is standard, faculty will find out whether their students elected to accept an ABC grade or an S/NC when faculty log in to the system to submit grades after January 7.
Who should students contact if they are concerned about how the changes to fall 2025 exams and grading will impact their records?
Please encourage undergraduate students with concerns to reach out to the College advising team at college@brown.edu.
For undergraduate students on a pre-med track, the Health Careers Advising team will add an explanation of the fall 2025 grading options in the cover letter they attach to students' letter packets so that all schools to which they apply will have this information. Students can contact them directly at hco@brown.edu.
Master's students can contact spsdean@brown.edu.
Doctoral and MFA students can contact the Graduate School advising team at graduate_dean@brown.edu.
If all of the work in a course was due before December 13, can faculty submit grades now?
Because students have until 5 p.m. EST on January 7 to make decisions about their options, faculty should refrain from submitting grades until after January 7. (Final grades are due by January 14.) This is particularly in order to accommodate any students who may opt to retroactively switch to S/NC.
While it was initially intended that the option to change to S/NC would only apply to students in courses with work due after December 13, in practice it is not possible to distinguish in the University's systems the courses that had all material due before December 13 (including cases of deadline extensions, make-up exams, etc.). It would be impractical and not the right use of time to triage individual cases, so we are erring on the side of generosity by allowing all students the option to change to S/NC.
My students submitted work/completed exams before 4 p.m. on December 13. Is that work part of the final grade?
Yes. Work submitted before 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, may be included in the calculation of the final grade for the course.
If a student elects Option 1—to receive a grade for the course based on work due before December 13—and had previously failed to submit assignments that were due earlier in the semester, can those unsubmitted assignments be calculated as part of their final grade?
Yes. Students who elect Option 1 will receive a final grade based on their performance on all coursework due before December 13.
Can students choose to take the final exam or to make up an exam from earlier in the semester?
No. All exams are cancelled, with the exception of take-home exams assigned before December 13. Students may accept a grade based on their work prior to December 13 with no penalty for the missed exam, whether under the grade option they originally selected for the course or under the option to retroactively change their grade option for the course to satisfactory/no credit (S/NC).
The policy says "in-person" exams are cancelled. Can students' exams be administered over Zoom?
No. All in-person exams that were scheduled after December 13 are cancelled and may not be administered in another format.
Can faculty create a new take-home assignment for students to complete in lieu of an in-person exam?
No. Faculty should not be creating new assignments; students may only be encouraged (but not required) to complete previously assigned work.
In courses where most or all of the students' final grade is based on their final paper/project/exam, can students be required to complete the final assignment?
No. Students may be encouraged, but not required, to submit previously assigned papers, projects or take-home exams by January 7, but they also have the option option of forgoing the work and accepting a final grade based on coursework due prior to December 13, should they not be able to complete the work at this difficult time.
We want to emphasize that faculty have final discretion over how they assess a student's performance based on work due prior to 4 p.m. EST on December 13, and may choose to adjust or be flexible with regard to their original grading rubric.
Can a student who had a dean's note or other extension for work assigned before December 13 be required to complete that work?
No. All work with deadlines after December 13—including extensions of prior deadlines—is either cancelled (in the case of in-person exams) or optional (in the case of papers, projects or take-home exams). Students who received an extension prior to December 13 with a due date after December 13 may elect to submit the work (Option 3). If they do so, their deadline for submission is January 7. But such students may also opt to accept a grade based on work submitted prior to December 13, in which case they would not have to submit the work for which they received a previous extension.
In an effort to be generous to students, should faculty just give all students a full score for the cancelled final exam, or give all students an A in the course?
No. Students should be assessed based on the work due prior to December 13.
We want to emphasize, however, that faculty have final discretion over how they assess a student's performance based on work prior to December 13, and may choose to adjust or be flexible with regard to their original grading rubric.
If students aren't sure which option they want to take, may faculty tell them what their grade would be if they opted to take a letter grade based on work submitted prior to December 13?
We encourage students to determine the grade on their own based on the grades they earned on work prior to December 13, rather than relying on faculty to do so. However faculty may, at their discretion, provide students with this information.
Is the S/NC option available to graduate students?
Yes. The S/NC option is available to graduate students, including students in master's programs that do not normally allow S/NC grading. For questions regarding the S/NC option in master's programs, please contact School of Professional Studies Deputy Dean for Academic and Student Affairs Joel Revill at joel_revill@brown.edu.
Are students allowed to switch an initial election of S/NC to a letter grade?
No.
Can students request an incomplete? Can faculty assign an incomplete?
The deadline for students to apply for an incomplete was December 11. We are not granting incompletes based on work that cannot be completed due to the events of December 13. Students may request incompletes based on other circumstances at the faculty member's discretion.
Please note that students must request an incomplete. Faculty cannot mandate an incomplete.
Can incompletes that were requested and approved before December 13, with a final deadline beyond January 7, go forward?
Students may choose to fulfill the requirements of the incomplete that were agreed to before December 13. The student may submit the work by January 7, or at a later date that they agree upon with the instructor. But, in such situations, students also have the option to accept a final grade for the course based on work due prior to December 13.
For students in courses that provide capstone and/or WRIT credit, will capstone/WRIT credit be provided even if the students don't submit the final project?
For all courses that grant WRIT credit, a passing grade automatically confers the WRIT credit. If a student elects Option 1 or 2 and, based on the instructor's assessment of work submitted prior to December 13, receives a passing grade, they will receive WRIT credit.
Capstone credit will be granted based on each department's rules. If a department's rules state that a passing grade in the course satisfies the department's capstone requirement, then the student would receive capstone credit if they receive a passing grade based on work due prior to December 13.
Does this policy apply to students studying abroad in the Fall 2025 semester?
This policy does not apply to courses administered through study abroad programs and institutions abroad, as Brown does not have the ability to direct the policies and practices of other institutions. However, the policy does apply to any courses that study abroad students took remotely through Brown and on Brown-administered courses on "Brown in" programs. Please direct questions about students involved in study abroad to Senior Associate Dean of the College for Study Abroad Malik Blue at malik_blue@brown.edu.
How will these changes affect the review of undergraduate academic standing?
Due to these extended deadlines, the Committee on Academic Standing (CAS)'s review for undergraduates will be delayed for the Spring 2026 semester. Students with questions about CAS review may contact cas-petitions@brown.edu.
How will these changes affect progress reviews and reviews of academic standing for graduate students?
In light of the disruption to finals, grading and other end-of-semester business, the Graduate School and the School for Professional Studies have extended deadlines for finalizing progress evaluations. Evaluations will be based on performance prior to December 13, 2026.
- For PhD, master's and MFA students receiving progress evaluations of "warning," "satisfactory" or who are returning to "good" or "satisfactory" from warning, the deadline will be extended to January 21, 2026.
- For students who are continuing in good standing, progress evaluations and letters of standing will be due on February 4, 2026.
PhD and MFA students with questions may contact Dean Alycia Mosley Austin or Dean Maria Suarez at graduate_dean@brown.edu. Master's students may contact Dean Joel Revill at joel_revill@brown.edu.