VIII. Grading System

Information regarding grading policies is available from the Office of Academic Affairs and in the course syllabus for each course. All policies established by academic units and/or by course instructors must be in compliance with policies outlined below.

  • A course instructor will issue a final grade at the conclusion of the course for each student officially registered for the course. The course instructor remains the sole person responsible for issuing a final course grade, except as provided in sub-section B below, and in Section XVI. D.
  • In the event an instructor becomes incapacitated or otherwise is unable to issue course grades, the chair of the academic unit will be responsible for issuing final course grades.
  • Only final grades specified in Section VII E may be issued.
  • Instructors are to report final grades to the Office of the Registrar in accordance with the procedures and deadlines required by the University. Only the Office of the Registrar has authority to issue official final grades.
  • The following system of symbols will be used in grading students:
  • A Excellent: four quality points per semester credit hour
  • B Good: three quality points per semester credit hour
  • C not satisfactory for graduate work: two quality points per semester credit hour
  • D poor; one quality point per semester credit hour (Some graduate programs do not award the grade of D)
  • F Failure: zero quality points, zero credit
  • N The grade of “N” indicates that a research project, thesis, or other special project has not been completed at the end of the term. The grade is only to be used in cases where the work is ongoing. It is not a substitute for an “I” and does not convert to a credit bearing grade until the final grade is submitted by the instructor. The grade of N can only be used in 700-level courses. With approval of the program faculty and the Graduate Council, a 600- level course may be allowed to use the “N” grade if the course spans more than one semester and the request is made prior to the term in which the course is initiated. The grade of “N” is excluded from the GPA tabulation. A student cannot graduate until all “N” grades have been converted to regular letter grades or the appropriate retroactive course withdrawal has been approved. The grade must be converted before the expiration of the time limit for completion of the graduate degree.
  • I Incomplete: not included in grade-point average (see Section VIII.H)