COVID-19 Special Grading Option (SD/UD)

This special grading option  has been introduced for students in response to the COVID-19 events.   Between May 9 through May 22, 2020, students may choose to convert their letter grade in any spring 2020 course to one or two new grades that have been created:  SD (Satisfactory-Disruption) and UD (Unsatisfactory-Disruption).  This policy applies to all UW-Madison students enrolled in courses that award A-F grades, with the exception of students within the Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs and students in the Law School.   Students’ decisions are intended to be final.  For more detailed information, see spring 2020 special grading option during disruption FAQs.

Students can elect the COVID-19 grading option between May 9th through May 22nd, 2020.   Once you have had the opportunity to see the official grades in your Student Center, you can follow the step-by-step guide to convert your grades to SD/UD.   Please consult your advisor if you have questions about whether or not you should convert to SD/UD.  You have until 11:59 pm on May 22nd to make your final decision about converting to SD/UD.

Yes, students have until 11:59 pm on Friday, May 22nd to convert SD/UD grades back to the letter grades they original received.  No additional permission or review is needed.   Students’ decisions are intended to be final.  However, if students change their mind about converting to SD/UD, they will need to do the following before 11:59 pm on Friday, May 22, 2020:

• Send an email to registrar@wisc.edu stating that you have changed your mind.
• The Registrar’s Office will send you a Qualtrics form to fill out.  The form should be filled out and returned immediately.
• Once you have submitted the form, the change will be reviewed and the change will be made without question.

Any L&S undergraduate who wishes to convert their SD/UD grade back to their letter grade AFTER 11:59 pm on May 22, 2020 can no longer self-select the SD/UD grading option.   Students’ decisions are intended to be final.

Students seeking an exception to the COVID-19 grading option after the May 22nd deadline will need to contact L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans’ Services by filling out the following exception request form.  Students should get feedback within seven (7) to ten (10) business days after successfully submitting a completed form.

Between the May 9th and May 22nd window to convert to SD/UD grades, students still have the option to convert the new grade to SD/UD via the Disruption SD/UD Grading page in Student Center if a grade change is processed to the student’s record.  If students receive a new grade change after converting to SD/UD, the SD/UD grade will be overwritten by the grade change and students must go back into their Student Center to reconvert the new grade to SD/UD.

If students receive grade changes after 11:59 pm on May 22nd, they will receive an email from the Office of the Registrar (registrar@em.wisc.edu) notifying them that they have eight (8) days to inform the Registrar’s Office by completing a Qualtrics survey if the student wishes to convert the new grade to SD/UD.   The Registrar’s Office will make the conversion to the SD/UD grade and then contact L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans’ Services if the grade update prompts a change in a student’s academic status.

L&S undergraduate students will not be dropped from the university for reasons of academic standing at the end of the Spring 2020 term, regardless of semester/term GPA.  For Spring 2020, the academic standing view for students (on your View Grades page in Student Center and on official/unofficial transcripts) will be disabled.

If you are currently in good academic standing, you will not have a negative academic standing action (e.g. probation, strict probation) placed on your records regardless of your semester/term or cumulative GPA.

If you are currently on some kind of probation (e.g. probation, strict probation), your academic performance in Spring 2020 will be evaluated against L&S academic policies and you will either be cleared of the previous action and returned to good academic standing, if eligible, or your Fall 2019 probation status will continue following the Spring 2020 term.  If you are returned to good academic standing, your transcript and ‘View Grades’ page in the Student Center will show “Cleared of Previous Action,” which is UW-Madison’s practice once a student returns to good standing.

Students studying abroad through a program sponsored by UW International Academic Programs (IAP) will be able to select the SD/UD grading option even if their grades come in after May 22nd.   UW Study Abroad has a different process for students participating on an IAP program.

In short, the IAP deadline is not the same as the one for students who are taking classes on campus during the spring 2020 term.   Students should refer to the Academic Section of  COVID-19 FAQ section of the Study Abroad website for more detailed information.

The disruptive grading option of SD/UD is only available for spring 2020.  Students will not have this option for summer 2020 courses or future terms at this time.  Students cannot select the COVID-19 SD/UD grading option for terms/semesters prior to spring 2020.