Special Pass/Fail Policy for CS Majors in 2020–2021

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The following email was sent to the undergrads mailing list on Nov 30, 2020

Dear students,

In light of the present extraordinary circumstances, the Department of Computer Science has decided to revise its policy on using courses taken for a Pass to fulfill the degree requirements of the CS major for Academic Year 2020-2021 (hereafter "AY21"). At the conclusion of the current academic year, without further amendments to policy, the Department will revert to its previous policy of not allowing any courses taken for a Pass to be used to fulfill the requirements of the major. Please note the accommodations described in this document do not apply to the CS minor, only the major.

Students who are majoring in Computer Science will be allowed to use up to two courses taken for a Pass in AY21 towards the CS major, subject to the limitations enumerated below.

The Pass major courses are subject to the following limitations:

  1. Students may use a maximum of three courses taken for a Pass including any courses taken for a Pass in Spring 2020.
  2. Students may use at most one Pass to complete the introductory sequence (CMSC 1x100, CMSC 1x200, CMSC 15400) requirement.
  3. Students may use at most one Pass to complete the Theory requirement.
  4. Students may use at most one Pass to complete the Programming Languages and Systems requirement.
  5. Students may not use a Pass taken in AY21 towards the Honors designation.
  6. Students may not use a Pass taken in AY21 to complete the requirements for a CS major specialization.
  7. Students may not use courses taken for a Pass in Summer 2020 towards their CS major.

We have attempted to anticipate some common questions, and answer them:

If you have questions about the details of these policies, please contact me (amr@cs.uchicago.edu), the major advisor, Adam Shaw (ams@cs.uchicago.edu), or the minor advisor, Jessica Garza (jdgarza@uchicago.edu).

-Anne Rogers
Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies