Grades and Grading Policies
A student's academic performance is graded by the instructor at the close of the semester with one of 13 grades. Each of these grades is used to determine a student's average and class standing, according to the table below. The lowest passing mark is D-.
Grading Rubric
The letter grades with their numerical equivalents are shown below:
| EXCELLENT |
A+ |
(4.0) |
A |
(4.0) |
A- |
(3.7) |
| GOOD |
B+ |
(3.3) |
B |
(3.0) |
B- |
(2.7) |
| SATISFACTORY |
C+ |
(2.3) |
C |
(2.0) |
C- |
(1.7) |
| POOR |
D+ |
(1.3) |
D |
(1.0) |
D- |
(0.7) |
| FAILURE |
F |
(0) |
|
|
|
|
The foregoing numerical equivalents of the letter grades are established to enable the registrar to construct students’ grade point averages and class ranks, which are necessarily numerical. An instructor assigns a letter grade to indicate his or her qualitative (not numerical) assessment of a student's work.
Thus, for example, an instructor would assign “C+,” “C” or “C-” to indicate assessments of “satisfactory,” and the instructor may use any information he or she considers appropriate, including, but not limited to, numerical information to decide whether a student's work is “satisfactory.” The registrar’s conversion of the instructor’s letter grade into an element of a student’s grade point average is a separate matter.
Evaluation of performance in a course is represented by a single grade which combines grades for work in the course and for the final examination in a ratio determined by the instructor. When a student elects to take a course on a credit/no credit basis, standing in the course is represented by the notation of Cr, NC, or F (see “Credit/No Credit Option”). When an independent study or an appropriately designated course is carried for two semesters, the grade reported at the end of the first semester is tentative. The grade assigned by the instructor at the end of the second semester becomes the final mark for both semesters.
After the drop period, and following a warning to the student, an instructor may request the Committee on Academic Standing to remove from the course a student who is willfully and consistently neglectful of assigned work or other course obligations. If the committee concurs, a grade of F will be entered on the student's permanent transcript.