Academic Policies 2020-2021

Grade Changes

Faculty Submitting Grade Change Requests

Requests to change a grade from Incomplete (I) to an A-F letter grade may be submitted directly to the Registrar’s Office by the instructor of record. Requests to change a grade from one A-F letter grade to another A-F grade must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office with approval of both the instructor of record and the College Dean. Faculty are encouraged to have all grade changes submitted to the Registrar’s Office within one academic semester after a course has ended.

Grade Changes The Week of Commencement

All grade changes requested the week of commencement must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office by that Monday at 5 p.m. Requests submitted after this deadline will be processed as time permits, but the Registrar’s Office will not guarantee processing by Friday at 5 p.m., and reserves the right to hold grade change requests until the following Monday. Students and faculty should be aware that failure to submit grade changes by the Monday deadline may negatively impact financial aid.

Transcription of Grade Changes

Grade changes, regardless of when submitted to the Registrar’s Office, will be included in final grade point average (GPA) calculations for the relevant academic session (includes cumulative GPA). To maintain the integrity and clarity of transcripted records, even though grade changes alter GPA they may not alter the original academic standing notation for a given academic session (see below). Generally, if the transcripted academic standing does not coincide with the listed GPA, always look for indication of a grade change. In situations where a grade change causes the GPA and academic standing to not coincide, a mark of “*” will be included next to the standing notation.

Academic Standing & Grade Changes

The policies below only pertain to the notation of academic standing (i.e., probation or suspension) as listed on the transcript and not GPA. GPA will always be updated as result of grade changes. The effects of grade changes on academic standing can be divided into the following categories:

  • Improvement in Probation/Suspension Standing: Improvements to academic standing resulting from grade changes will be reflected on a student’s transcript so long as the grade change is submitted to the Registrar’s Office prior to the last day of classes for the subsequent semester. Grade changes for spring semesters courses may be submitted to reflect changes in current standing through the last day of classes for the following fall semester.
  • Reduction in Probation/Suspension Standing: In the event that a grade change lowers a student’s academic standing, the change in standing will only be noted on the transcript if the grade change is submitted to the Registrar’s Office within one week of the deadline to submit grades. A reduction in standing at a later date could prevent students from having reasonable time to communicate with advisors, appeal their standing (suspension only) and make appropriate scheduling changes prior to the start of the subsequent semester.
  • Calculation of Probation/Suspension For Future Semesters/Terms: GPA will always be updated as a result of grade changes. At the end of each academic session standing will be based the most up-to-date GPA calculations. This means that regardless of whether the original notation of probation or suspension was updated on the transcript for a prior semester/term, future calculations of academic standing will include GPA values based on all grade changes processed to date.

*Dean’s List and Honors List are not updated each semester based on grade changes. See Academic Honors section of this catalog for further details.