Grading Options

A student must have all grades reported prior to degree completion on this campus. Thus, a course that’s notated as “NR” (Not Reported), “I” (Incomplete), or—in most cases—“DFR” or “DF” (deferred) on a student record must have a final grade submitted prior to degree completion. A list of all grade types and their notations on a transcript can be found on the Registrar website.

Credit/No Credit

The College of Media permits undergraduate students to take up to 18 credit hours using Credit/No Credit grading across their undergraduate careers to allow them a chance at exploration of academic interest without impacting their GPA (as noted in Section 3-105 of the Student Code). During individual semesters, a student may take up to 2 courses at a time using Credit/No Credit grading. If the Credit/No Credit policy is elected and approved, grades of D- or better are required in order to earn credit on the transcript. Courses taken under this policy are ONLY eligible to count toward FREE ELECTIVES OUTSIDE OF THE COLLEGE OF MEDIA. Thus, a student CANNOT earn credit toward General Education requirement courses, major and minor coursework, College of Media elective hours, or anything else that will directly count toward a degree requirement.

To request Credit/No Credit, a student must complete the Credit/No Credit form and submit the form to the College of Media Student Services Center during the first 8 weeks of instruction. The Credit/No Credit will be determined by the student’s academic advisor. Part of Term A and B courses (first and second 8-week), summer session courses, and winter session courses have Credit/No Credit deadlines that differ. You can review the current semester’s academic dates and deadlines, which are controlled by the Office of the Registrar.

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

See Credit Requirements for Degree.

Grade Replacement

If a student earns a grade of C- or below when taking a course, they are permitted to re-take the course under the Grade Replacement policy. Up to 4 courses may be taken for Grade Replacement, not to exceed 10 total credit hours. A student must submit the Grade Replacement form to the Student Services Center during the first 8 weeks of instruction. Note that Part of Term A and B courses (first and second 8-week), summer session courses, and winter session courses have Grade Replacement deadlines that differ. You can review the current semester’s academic dates and deadlines, which are controlled by the Office of the Registrar. Additional eligibility criteria apply. More information can be found in Section 3-309 of the Student Code.

Course Late-Drop Requests (“w” grade)

If a student faces an extenuating circumstance and is unable to drop a course prior to the drop deadline (as designated by the Office of the Registrar’s Academic Dates & Deadlines, then they may submit an academic petition to their academic advisor for review by the Student Services Center’s committee for academic petitions. The petition should include a narrative or explanation of the extenuating circumstances as well as documentation corroborating the narrative. If a student wishes to drop all of their classes in a semester, please see information in the “Withdrawals” section of Registration, Course Changes, and Withdrawals.

Incompletes

According to the Student Code Section 3-104, an Incomplete (“I” notation) is an “approved extension of time to complete the final examination or other requirements of the course.” Students are expected to be in direct contact with their instructors throughout the semester, particularly if additional time is required to complete assignments due to extenuating circumstances. In a situation where a student needs additional time to complete coursework past the end of the semester, an “Incomplete” grade may be requested through the College of Media’s Student Services Center. It should be requested specifically by the Senior Assistant Dean of Student Services. If the Incomplete grade has not been changed to a letter grade within the first 8 weeks of the following semester, the “I” grade will be automatically converted to an F grade.