Yale University, which switched to a pass / fail grading system this spring due to the closure of the campus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume issuing grades this coming fall semester. Students were notified this week that grading will be back on — even if in-person classroom instruction likely will not be. It still remains unclear which — if any — Yale students will be permitted to live on campus this fall. In fact, much of everything for this coming fall at Yale seems up in the air as students wait for a July decision to be rendered by administrators.

As Valerie Pavilonis and Matt Kristoffersen write for The Yale Daily News in a piece entitled “Letter grades for next fall, admins say,” “Last semester’s universal pass/fail system will not continue this fall, administrators wrote in a Monday email to students. Instead, students will take their largely online courses for letter grades, though the University may change some policies — like those for incomplete work — to account for the pandemic…As was communicated to faculty last week, courses are being planned on the basis of a ‘residential/remote’ model, which assumes that classes will mostly take place online. Exceptions may be granted for lab- or studio-based courses and discussion sections, but administrators will decide exact policies as the public health situation develops over the coming weeks.”

Stay tuned for updates on Yale’s fall semester. Will students be able to live on campus? If so, which students will get to do so? Will all classes — with the exception of classes that require lab-work, studio-work, and / or discussion — be taught online? We’ll know all these answers in due course.