Hello SCU Family! I plan to use this blog post to offer some transparency and share live updates throughout the lockdown. I’ll be updating regularly so please check back. As a member of the Student Affairs Committee, I hear your concerns. As always, you can feel free to message me on any social media service, email me at miersjessica@gmail.com, or set up a Zoom call!

March 19, 2020 (9am) Updates

• Yesterday, with the help of 1L SBA Rep, Leo Kim, I drafted a letter to the faculty asking they shift to a Pass/No Pass grading system. You can sign that letter here. The letter has been received well so far and I am hopeful about the outcome. Please share the letter widely among your peers. If you would like to share it to your members through your LSO, please feel free to use this email template. 
• Yesterday, on behalf of the Student Affairs Committee, I created a Google Form to take in student needs and requests. We are actively responding to these requests as they come in. Please continue to submit as you need.
• Today, I will be working on organizing a town hall with any Faculty and Deans that wish to participate. More details on this to come.
• If you would like to contribute to the Giving Circle, please venmo @Karla-DeLa Torre. These funds are being used to address student needs.
• I know housing is a serious issue right now. The Student Affairs Committee, the Wellness Committee, and SBA are working on this issue around the clock. For now, there is a form on your Ecampus that you can fill out for an exemption to stay in your current housing.
• The Internet Law Student Org is working on putting together a BYOA(nimal) event for next Friday, March 27th at 7pm. We encourage students and faculty to join our Zoom hangout, show off your pets, and have some fun (for once!).

March 19, 2020 (1PM) 

• A town hall will be fairly complicated (site crashes, difficult to get many voices heard, etc). Instead, the Deans are considering a student survey to solicit feedback. They’ve also made it very clear that they’re deeply interested in student feedback so please reach out!

March 20, 2020 (1PM) 

• A few faculty members have started passing around the letter. So far, I have heard only positive feedback. I suspect our goals are likely to be met. The letter is up to 240 signatures as of today. Please feel free to continue signing. I’ve also been told that the best way to speed along the decisions is for students to provide their input on the mandatory vs. optional P/NP system. I’ve created this Google Form for students to do so. Please take the time to make your voices heard. The Deans are going to circle this feedback to the faculty Monday/Tuesday of next week.
• I have a meeting with the Wellness Committee at 4pm today. Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you want me to bring any up any specific concerns. More updates to follow.
  • Note: I opted out of attending this meeting. The needs being addressed are out of my scope and bandwidth. My attention is better served on aiding the pass/no pass issue along.

March 21, 2020 (12:30PM) 

• Dean Flynn circled this survey for more participation on the P/NP issue. The deadline is Tuesday. I urge you all to respond. The more information the faculty has, the quicker we’ll get a decision.
• You can still fill out the survey I circled yesterday. This survey will also be circled to faculty Monday/Tuesday and it’s your opportunity to make your concerns heard. There were some concerns about student privacy raised. I want to reiterate that I have no way of seeing who submitted what response. I set up the survey to pre-scrub out emails before the responses are recorded and I cannot undo that setting.
• You can still sign the letter to the faculty here. Some have asked what this letter accomplishes now as it appears the faculty is receptive of changing the grading system. You can think of your signature as continued support for the faculty to make a change and not fall back on the current system.

March 25, 2020 (2:22pm) 

• The following was divulged to our evidence class regarding the faculty meeting about P/NP:
• Good news: There is confidence there will be a shift to some P/NP system. Faculty are on board with making a change. The system (mandatory v. optional) remains a challenge.
• The faculty has received the letters/surveys going around. Our voices have been clearly heard.
• No official vote took place today. There are still so many factors up in the air that faculty are forced to consider. This includes UP points, scholarships, and the job market.
• A straw vote revealed that the faculty is completely split down the middle on mandatory vs. optional (traditional optional, NRO, safety net)
• In addressing the job market issue: faculty discussed they will have to do a lot more to help students get jobs through their networks, write letters on their behalf. One suggestion was that profs continue to grade normally and share with prospective employers that although a student received a “P,” they actually scored highest overall.
• If you have more comments and feedback, you should try to make that known before Friday to give faculty more time to discuss. The letter and survey are still available and I invite you to continue submitting more feedback.