Grading

In order to maintain good academic standing and graduate, you must maintain a 3.000 or higher Grade Point Average (GPA). First-year students must maintain a GPA of 3.000 or higher in order to retain their scholarship for their second year in the program.

Grades of “S” are not included in GPA calculations. Grades of “U” are not typically included in GPA calculations, except when you are undergoing a review of academic performance leading to a termination, in which case they are considered “F.” For more details, see Section III.D. Standards of Satisfactory Academic Performance.

Grades from approved transfer credits and Consortium courses are not computed in your GPA.

Once your final grade has been correctly posted to your transcript, you may not retake any portion of the course’s requirements or do any additional work to change your grade.

Incomplete Courses:

Most of the time, you are expected to complete all exams, assignments, and other coursework by the end of the academic term (e.g., semester) in which you take the associated course. Under special circumstances, when you only have one or two outstanding exams or assignments, your instructor and advising dean may grant you an exception to complete work up to the end of the next following academic term, instead.

Your instructors are not required to grant such requests, nor are they required to give a full extra term/semester to complete the work. Some specific instructors do not allow this “Incomplete” option. You should familiarize yourself with the policies of the professors whose classes you enroll in.

If your instructor grants you permission to take an “Incomplete” option, they will assign you a grade of “Incomplete” (“I”) for the course; this grade will only appear on your official transcript until a final grade is reported.

You must submit your completed work to the instructor within six weeks of the start of the subsequent semester.

Failure to resolve your Incomplete classwork will result in your “I” being converted to an “F” on your final transcript.

The only exception to this is if you receive an “Incomplete” in your final semester of enrollment, but are able to graduate without those credits. In that case, you will retain the “Incomplete” indefinitely; once you graduate your transcript is closed and no further grade changes are made.

1. “NR” Grades

The Registrar will give you a grade of “NR” (“No Grade Reported”) in two circumstances:

1. Your instructor does not assign a grade to anyone in the course.

2. Your instructor assigns grades to some students, but not others.

In the latter case, the “NR” will be treated as equivalent to an “I” assigned by your instructor. If it is not changed to a letter grade by your instructor before the last day of classes in the following academic term/semester, it will be changed to an “F” on your transcript.

Standards for Satisfactory Academic Performance:

You, not your department/program, are responsible for recognizing your own academic difficulty. If you are encountering academic difficulty, you should immediately consult with the appropriate faculty member.

If you are in academic difficulty, you will receive one or more of the following, based on the severity of your circumstances:

• An oral warning from your department/program

• A written warning from your department/program

• A written termination of degree candidacy from your school

The first three of these occur when you receive one “F” or when your GPA falls below the minimum level for good academic standing. The fourth occurs either a.) when you have failed (“F” or “U”) 20% or more of the credits required for your degree, or b.) when it is no longer possible for your grade point average to reach the minimum level required to graduate. You cannot register in additional credits beyond your degree requirements for the purposes of raising your GPA.

Your degree candidacy can also be terminated for one or more of the following:

• Unsatisfactory progress towards your degree, as defined by your department/program

• Failure to pass a comprehensive exam

• Failure to prepare/defend a thesis, Doctoral project, or dissertation

• Violating the time limit for completing your degree

The GHD Program will determine if you will be terminated for these reasons.