In a Monday email, Professor of Chemistry Christoph Rose-Petruck offered his students in CHEM 0330: “Equilibrium, Rate and Structure” — an introductory chemistry class required for several concentrations — a voluntary virtual final on Dec. 20. The alternative exam was offered to students in the wake of last Saturday’s mass shooting, in which two students were killed and nine others were injured.
The next day, he wrote in an announcement to students that he was “forbidden” to assign the optional final based on guidelines outlined by University Provost Francis Doyle.
In a Sunday email to the Brown community, Doyle shared that students could opt to accept a final grade that considers work submitted prior to Dec. 13. Students could also instead choose to submit any previously assigned final paper, project or take-home exam by Jan. 7 for a grade.
Either way, students can change the overall grading option for the course to Satisfactory/No Credit — and those who do so will have a note on their transcript reflecting the “extenuating circumstances,” Doyle wrote.
Students must select their preferred grading option by Jan. 7, and faculty will have until Jan. 14 to submit final grades. Grading will default to being based on work submitted prior to Dec. 13.
“I think it’s wrong,” Rose-Petruck said in an interview with The Herald. “After the things that happened on Dec. 13, now I think a good number of students get essentially harmed again, because they now will fail the class.” He explained that many students rely on finals to boost their overall grades — especially in introductory classes, where individuals may need time to “find their footing before they really get better in the course.”
University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald that the final exam policies were made after discussion with academic and faculty leaders. The guidelines aim to offer “the greatest flexibility and support for students at a very difficult and uncertain time,” he said, and University advisors have “plans in place” to address student concerns.
William Holmes, an associate teaching professor of biology, molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry, was glad that the guidelines “give students the agency to choose what’s best for them.” They were the “best range of options” under the circumstances, he said. He appreciated the provost’s emphasis on avoiding overburdening students, as well as his transparency when answering faculty questions.
Holmes teaches BIOL 0200: “The Foundation of Living Systems,” a class that has “lots of assessments throughout the semester,” which gives him a “pretty good snapshot” of how the student is doing at the end of the course. Based on data from past years, Holmes and his co-instructor in BIOL 0200 adjusted the course’s grade cutoffs.
Without the provost’s guidance, Holmes said he would have offered a makeup final or pushed the exam to next semester. In hindsight, though, that would have been the “wrong” choice, Holmes reflected.
Finals taken in the wake of the shooting would not be true assessments of students’ capabilities, Holmes said.
Razanne Shoukfeh ’27 wrote in a message to The Herald that the incident made it clear “how easily grades and deadlines can feel small compared to the basic need for care, community and human connection.”
“I don’t think learning or testing is meaningful when people are grieving, shaken and just trying to feel safe again,” she wrote.
Associate Professor of Mathematics Isabel Vogt, who teaches MATH 1530: “Abstract Algebra," reweighted midterms and previous assignments to accommodate for the lack of a final exam.
But some students were “counting on the final exam,” she wrote. “Those students are hurt by this policy.”
“This is obviously a suboptimal way to determine a final grade, but I think it is the most fair solution in an unfortunate situation,” she wrote in an email to The Herald.
“Nothing about this is ideal,” Jonathan Roth, associate professor of economics, wrote in an email to The Herald. “I understand the difficult position the administration is in and think their choices are fairly reasonable.” He added that he felt for students that did poorly on their midterms, and wished that students with special circumstances could take a make-up final next semester.
Roth, who teaches ECON 1630: “Mathematical Econometrics I," curved midterm exam grades to be “a little more generous.” He also used a formula based on the midterm and problem sets to replace the final grade.
Nitin Sudarsanam ’28 believes the current solution is “fair,” but noted that students “should be given the option to take the final next semester.” Some students may have planned on relying on previously established grading policies that now don’t work, such as replacing a midterm grade with the final, he said.
“What matters most right now is giving us space to process, to lean on one another, and to heal,” Shoukfeh wrote. “I hope we carry that compassion forward, and remember that education should always center people first — especially in moments like this.”
Ava Stryker-Robbins is a sophomore and a Metro editor at The Herald.
Talia is a metro section editor covering the health and environment and community and culture beats. She is a sophomore from Bethesda, MD studying history and international and public affairs. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Providence one wrong turn at a time.
