324 registration and academic policies
Final Grades, Grade Disputes, and
Grade Appeal Policies
All grades are final as assigned by the
instructor. If a student feels that a grade
received is an error, or that he or she
was graded unfairly, it is the student’s
responsibility to make prompt inquiry
of the instructor after the grade has
been issued. Should this procedure not
prove to be an adequate resolution, the
student should contact the chair of the
department in which the course was
taken to arrange a meeting and appeal
the grade. If this appeal is unsuccessful,
a further and final appeal can be made
to the dean of the school in which the
course was taken. It is important to note
that only the faculty member who issued
the grade holds the authority to change
the grade. If a grade is to be changed, the
student must be sure that the change is
submitted within the following semester.
Petitions of change of any grade will be
accepted only up to the last day of the
semester following the one in which the
grade was given. Other than resolution
of an initially assigned incomplete grade
or of a final grade reported in error, no
letter grade may be changed following
graduation.
Repeated Courses
A repeated course must be the same
course as the one for which the previous
final grade was awarded. No graduate
student may choose to repeat a course that
was passed with a grade of C or higher
without specific authorization from the
chair or dean. Graduate students must
repeat all required courses in which F
is the final grade. The initial grade will
remain, but only the subsequent grade
earned will be averaged in the cumulative
index from the point of repeat onward.
Grade Point Average
A student’s grade point average is
calculated by dividing the total Grade
Points received by the total Credits
Attempted. A Grade Point is computed
by multiplying the Credits Attempted for
each class by the Quality Points earned
for completing that class. Only credits
evaluated with letter grades that earn
quality points (see table below) are used
in GPA calculations. Each semester has a
minimum length of 15 weeks. In courses
that are passed, a credit is earned for
each period (50 minutes) of lecture or
recitation, and for approximately one and
one-half periods of laboratory or studiowork, each week throughout one term or
the equivalent.
quality points
A = 4.00 B– = 2.70
A– = 3.70 C+ = .30
B+ = 3.30 C = 2.00
B = 3.00 F = 0.00
(If unresolved at the end of the
following semester, INC = F = 0.00
and NR = F = 0.00)
In the following example the GPA is 3.33:
grade = quality points ×
credits attempted =
grade points
A = 4.00 × 3 = 12.00
B+ = 3.30 × 3 = 9.90
B– = 2.70 × 3 = 8.10
= 30.00
total grade points ÷
total credits attempted =
grade points
30 ÷ 9 = 3.33
30 (total grade points) divided by 9
(total credits) makes a GPA of 3.33.INC
(incomplete)and NR (no record)carry no
numerical value for one semester after the
grade is given. Thereafter, if unresolved,
the INC and NR grades convert to an F
and carry a numerical value of 0.
The following grades do not carry
numerical values and are never calculated
in the GPA: