Dear Howard University Students, 

We hear you. I recognize that these are difficult and unusual times. You are being called and pulled in many different directions by your friends, family – and by your academic responsibilities. You have challenges right now that you did not anticipate. I hope you know that you don’t have to go through this alone, and we are here to help and support you.  

We have heard from many students voicing their individual circumstances and concerns as well as faculty and staff who have advocated on behalf of our students. To address concerns regarding the additional stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic racism reckoning and mental health impact on students, faculty and staff, we are implementing the following changes in our academic calendar and providing updates regarding online training for faculty: 

• Spring Break 2021: We are officially reinstating Spring Break 2021. The University will be closed from Saturday, March 6, 2021 – Sunday March 14, 2021. Classes will begin again on Monday, March 15, 2021.  

• Spring 2021 classes: To accommodate the incorporation of spring break, the Spring semester will now begin on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The University will be closed for Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 and classes will resume on Jan. 21. This would allow us to meet the Middle State Accreditation requirements regarding a 15-week semester and minimum number of instructional days. 

• Faculty training: We have required all faculty to be certified in online instruction by Dec. 11, 2020. While a number of faculty have been voluntarily participating in training for online instruction for several years, this deadline was recently imposed because of the pandemic. We assure you that we have been working diligently with staff to enhance their technical training since Spring 2020. As of today, about 75% of faculty have completed this training. We will continue to monitor their progress to ensure that the online instruction you receive meets the high standards of a Howard University education. 

While I know many of you have been advocating for Howard to transition to a pass/fail system instead of issuing letter grades, we will not be implementing a University-wide pass/fail option. The reasons for this decision are as follows: 

• Faculty have expressed concerns that changing the grading process midsemester negatively affects the integrity of courses, negatively impacts academic rigor and limits the academic freedom of faculty. 

• In the Spring 2020 semester, in order to implement this unique allowance, students were permitted to choose the letter grade or pass/fail option on a course-by-course basis. Unfortunately, this meant that the process could not be automated, and our Office of the Registrar manually modified over 20,000 grades. This created a tremendous burden on the office as this task took four months to complete. While we believed the decision was right for the emergency circumstances in the Spring, we do not believe that is the case for Fall 2020, when we had time to prepare for our present conditions.   

• During the Spring, when the pass/fail default was implemented, over 5,000 students submitted requests not to receive pass/fail grades, but to maintain letter grades in courses. 

• Additionally, during Spring 2020, when the entire country was initially impacted by COVID-19, all of our courses transitioned from face-to-face instruction to virtual/online over Spring Break. The emergency nature of the transition, during the course of an academic semester, interrupted instruction and warranted immediate emergency action. At that time, we further indicated that “the Fall 2020 semester would return to the established letter grading system for undergraduate and any graduate courses.”  

I also wish to remind you that this institution has a great deal of concern for your wellbeing. Without you, there is no Howard. It is the students, first and foremost, that make Howard the special place it has always been and will always be. But we must care for you at the same time that you are challenged academically. We are charged with keeping you safe and well, yes; and we are also responsible for your intellectual growth. There is a reason you came to Howard instead of another college or university. We will continue to fulfill that responsibility to help you develop in a nurturing environment.  

We have done our best to communicate effectively with the student body this semester and solicit your opinions and feedback, and we will continue to solicit your feedback and improve continually. For instance, in Spring 2020 we conducted a town hall to discuss the pros and cons of a pass/fail system and communicate at that time that Fall 2020 would return to the established letter grading system. We have also conducted a recent student town hall on mental health and stress. We strongly believe that the town hall meetings are most effective when we request that participants submit questions in advance, so that full, thoughtful and complete responses can be provided. We will also continue to engage in and adopt other means of communication convenient for students. 

Throughout the pandemic, Howard has strived to meet our students’ diverse and evolving needs. We have increased training and certification for faculty. We have increased financial aid through the HEART grant  to help students with the most documented need. We have expanded University  counseling services, provided housing to students with housing insecurity and maintained the campus food pantry for those with food insecurity. Our testing and contact tracing processes continue to be implemented free of charge to students, faculty and staff currently on campus. 

Of course, we will always consider how we can do more and further assist students in need. Thank you for your endurance, your tolerance and your persistence during what I know has been a most challenging semester, particularly in the midst of the greatest public health challenge of our time. 

Excellence in Truth and Service,  

Anthony K. Wutoh, Ph.D., R.Ph. 
Provost & Chief Academic Officer