This Friday, March 4, is the last day to change grading status to or from Pass/No Pass.
The intent of Pass/No Pass is to encourage students to take courses that they otherwise might not have the confidence to do well in. However, students also use Pass/No Pass as a way to protect their GPA's in required courses. The advantage of Pass/No Pass is that the student is still taking the hours and to some extent and cases the courses still apply to their degrees, but the GPA will be calculated as though the student were not enrolled, therefore having no effect whatsoever on the GPA.
Computer Science: Students may take up to 24 hours Pass/No Pass generally. However, restrictions apply to the major and minors. Up to 6 hours of Pass/No Pass can be waived (see Riedesel for the form, assuming you pass) in the Computer Science major for CSCE courses (the required math and natural sciences are part of the 24 hour overall rule, unless they are part of a minor). Up to 3 hours Pass/No Pass are allowed in the upper-level (non-calculus) Math minor. Other minors may vary. Honors courses, including all Raikes courses, must be Graded in order to count as honors courses.
Computer Engineering: Students may only take their general studies ACE courses as Pass/No Pass. No technical courses may be allowed as Pass/No Pass.
Even if Pass/No Pass is not allowed by the major/minor for a class, students may still have reason to make the class Pass/No Pass. (There are a few cases in which the course is only offered with the Graded option.) Students may wish to do so to protect GPA on a temporary basis, accepting the fact they will need to repeat the course. Students needing to maintain a full load may wish to do so. Students who anticipate changing majors may wish to do so.
Dr. Riedesel and Jeff Ifland are out of town through Saturday. You're welcome to email them (chuckr@unl.edu and jifland@cse.unl.edu) or contact the following professors who will be on campus:
Ryan Patrick
Avery 357
rypat@unl.edu
Stephen Scott
Avery 268
sscott@cse.unl.edu