2024-2025 Undergraduate Academic Catalog

Incomplete Grade Policy - Undergraduate

Incomplete (I): Students may be eligible for an incomplete grade (I) if they experience serious or unavoidable circumstances past the deadline to withdraw from the course and have satisfactorily completed a substantial part of the course work as determined by the instructor. Examples of such circumstances include verifiable cases of illness, death or serious illness in the family, significant accident or other grave circumstances beyond a student’s control. Students must speak with the instructor before making a formal request and may be asked to provide documentation of their circumstances. The course instructor will determine: a) whether a student is eligible for an Incomplete; b) what outstanding work the student is able to complete; c) and when the outstanding course requirements are due.

Requests for an Incomplete grade must be formalized through a Contract for Completion of Incomplete Coursework available on the Office of the University Registrar webpage. Remaining course requirements must be completed in accordance with the Incomplete Contract. 

Steps in Process

  • Before an Incomplete is requested, the student should speak with the instructor to determine their current grade, remaining course requirements, and grade student would receive if they did not complete remaining course requirements.The student can then decide if they wish to request an Incomplete or accept the grade they would earn if they did not request an Incomplete.
  • If the student wishes to request an Incomplete, they must initiate the contract no later than the last day of the final examination period or by a date set by the instructor in the course syllabus.
  • If approved by the instructor, the instructor completes remaining sections of the contract (e.g., outstanding requirements, deadlines, and grade student would receive if they did not complete remaining course requirements).
  • The deadline by which students must submit outstanding course requirements is at the end of the fifth week of the subsequent semester/term. Fall term 1 incomplete grades must be changed by the grading deadline in the Academic Calendar for fall term 2 courses). 

    Course instructors may set a deadline for the completion and submission of outstanding course requirements that is earlier than this final date. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all work is completed and submitted within the established deadlines.

    Faculty must grade the submitted work and change the student’s grade from an I to the grade earned by mid-semester so the student can make informed decisions about their course selection for the following semester. Grades are changed via a Grade Change dynamic form.

    If the course is a requirement and a passing grade was not earned, the student must repeat the course at the current tuition rate to earn a passing grade. The policy regarding incomplete grades remains in effect regardless of the student’s withdrawal or leave of absence status. No grade changes are accepted after graduation. Students who receive two or more successive incomplete grades will be subject to an academic review to determine eligibility for continued enrollment.

    In those exceptional cases in which a student wishes to request an extension of the incomplete course contract beyond the original time frame, the student must submit an Incomplete Course Contract Extension form. The extension request must be submitted before the due date on the original incomplete course contract. Extensions are not guaranteed, and extension requests submitted after the original deadline will not be reviewed. Further extensions will not be considered. The only exception to this policy may be made in regard to a course or set of courses offered in an unusually designed program that requires a unique treatment of “incomplete” grades for the success of the program. In such cases, the Vice Provost of the Academic Program, in which the course resides, must submit a written petition to the Provost justifying an exception to this policy and offering a proposal for resolving the “incomplete” grade. The petition must be submitted to the Provost prior to the scheduling of the course or courses.

     

    ~Policy effective as of Fall 2023. Approved by Academic Advisory Committee on January 12, 2023