Dear colleagues,
As the spring term draws to an end, it is important to acknowledge the considerable stress so many in our community feel. It has been an extraordinarily challenging period across the globe and here at home.
It is inevitable, therefore, just as it was at the end of the fall term, that some students will need flexibility in terms of completing coursework and around examinations. Information about our accommodation policies and other supportive measures may be found at https://evcp.berkeley.edu/programs-resources/academic-accommodations-hub. While it is important to be familiar with our policies, I encourage everyone to be sensitive to the spirit, as well as the specifics, of those policies. Our goal is that every student be successful and, thus, we should assess requests for academic flexibility with compassion, generosity, and from a mindset of what is best for each student.
As I wrote last fall, especially at a university whose motto is Fiat Lux, we must all strive to be sources of light and not darkness. Let us behave with compassion and give others the benefit of the doubt and grace that we would like to be given ourselves.
In community,
Benjamin E. Hermalin
Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost
P.S. In case they may be of use, here are links to two recent Cal messages on final exams and incomplete grades:
https://calmessages.berkeley.edu/archives/message/701
https://calmessages.berkeley.edu/archives/message/702
This message was sent to all academic non-student appointees.