Pass / Fail and Shades of Gray

I have, once and for all time, passed* my comprehensive exams.

Truly, it's a relief. After literally months of uncertainty, I now know that I can proceed on to the final research parts of my degree. It's a nice feeling, really. I must admit that the joy is less effusive than had I found out relatively soon after turning things in. Nonetheless, it's a quiet "chocolate fudge" sort of satisfaction. All that money was not thrown into an elaborate four-year bonfire!

Wait, what's that you say? Oh, the asterisk after "passed" in the opening sentence? Yeah, I should probably explain that.

When I say that I "passed" the exams, that is strictly true. I did not fail anything, and have been given the green light towards continued education. However, if you asked a different question, like "is your whole comprehensive exam grading nonsense finished?", I'd be forced to answer no.

Before my mom and dad angrily storm the dean's office, I need to reiterate that I have passed all exams. There are no further barriers to completing the degree. Finishing it is now a matter of time, not of providence and the mercurial whims of some picky professors. The issue is that not all of my exams have been *graded*.

Perhaps you're confused. I'm here at "confused", too, so pull up a chair and I'll tell you what I think I know.

In the beginning, the university says that there shalt be comprehensive exams. Yea, and the conservatory handbook confirms that the method of grading shall be two: either thou shall pass, or thou shall not pass (it actually says "faileth" in the original Old English). That's pretty unambiguous. In fact, that's as cut and dried as they can possibly make it: either you passed or you failed.

Where it gets interesting is that the individual exams are graded by the professors with letter grades first. To make it even more tricky, the graduate student grading scale is already restricted. Any grade below B is considered failing. I know one friend who went through her undergrad rejoicing at all her C- and D-grades (because they weren't failing). That sort of thing doesn't fly here. Basically, there's A, B, and three flavors of F.

So what I assume happens is that the professor gives the Pass/Fail exam a letter grade, which is then converted (through an ancient, obscure, and arcane ritual) into a yea/nay. That pass / fail is then added to the checklist of the master "Pass Comps? YES/NO?" ballot question. Pretty straightforward so far, right? Waaaaaaaait for it.....

What happened in my case is that a professor shortcut the system and submitted a "pass" grade. The office was waiting for an "actual" grade. So, everybody was waiting around for someone to do something else. I sent an email to see what the status was, and the response was that the last of the exams was marked pass, so I passed, but that they were still waiting for an actual grade. A grade which ... doesn't matter.

It gets a little weirder for people following me. Under the new comprehensive exam system, there are actually THREE pass/fail grades possible. I'm reminded of the computer science joke wherein a computer (thinking only in binary 1 and 0) has a nightmare and wakes to tell his neighbor he dreamed of a "2". "That was just a bad dream," says the other computer. "There's no such thing as '2'".

Under the new system, one can receive PASS, FAIL, and HIGH PASS. Obviously, a "high pass" is what happens if you can do the exams while smokin' the ganja. Much in the same way no university official has ever given me a satisfactory answer for why attempts at the exams were limited to two, no teacher seems to be able to explain why a simple pass or fail system now has magna cum laude distinction. Perhaps the valedictorian of the testing class gets to make a speech when she or he picks up their results at the office desk.

I never expected to see this much confusion over an essentially black or white issue.
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