Due to the spread of COVID-19, the majority of ECU classes have been made virtual with very few in person or face-to-face classes taking place on campus. The few students who have class on campus must adapt to the new socially distant learning environment or risk falling behind in the curriculum. While this decision to move toward distant education serves the population and protects the whole community from potential exposure, it puts the ECU students at a educational disadvantage.

We have been forced to substitute most face-to-face classes for zoom conferences and virtual learning, we have also substituted a higher quality of learning and engagement for a lower quality in both. Also, the majority of lectures are asynchronous and does not allow students to interact with professors in real time, leading to either forgotten, delayed, or unanswered questions from students.While we can still interact with our professors through email and video-calling there are limitations such as time zone, WiFi, logistical reasons, ect, that make personalized instruction very hard to receive.

Offering a pass/fail option for class's of a student's choosing would help alleviate some of the stress that has been caused by measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. ECU students are motivated and passionate but even under the right circumstances, the amount of work and mental engagement needed can be exhausting and detrimental to the mental health of the student body. The next step is for ECU to make classes pass/fail to reasonably accommodate the ever-changing situation.