3.10 Assignment of Grades

(Adopted 8-28-2003; Revised 8-27-2007, 8-31-2009; 12-6-2021)

The faculty at East Central College have sole responsibility for developing grading criteria and assigning grades to students based upon academic performance and detailed criteria as described in the official course syllabus provided to each student.

Procedures:

3.10.1 Grade Descriptions and Records (Revised 3-1-2012; 12-6-2021)

Each faculty member’s assignment of grades reflects the following standard college grading scale and corresponding grade points earned:

At the end of each academic semester, faculty are required to submit final course grades to the Registrar and file a record of the grade plus the criteria used to arrive at the official grade with the appropriate instructional division. Grades are available to students via the online student account on the College website. All submitted grades become part of the student’s official record (transcript) and are used in the computation of the semester grade point average and the student’s cumulative grade point average.

3.10.2 Grade Explanations (Revised 12-6-2021)

1. Withdrawal (W or WX)
   A student may initiate the withdrawal from a course with the approval of the instructor, advisor, or other appropriate campus official per the timeline published in the academic calendar and a grade of “W” will be recorded. The grade is not used in calculating the grade point average and by itself does not represent the quality of the student’s academic performance or conduct.A student may be administratively withdrawn from a class by the instructor or a campus official due to excessive absence or other reason and a grade of “WX” will be recorded.In either situation, a grade of “W” or “WX” carries no credit hour value and will count in credit hours attempted in certain financial aid programs.
2. Incomplete (I)
   A grade of Incomplete (I) may be recorded for a student who has completed 80% of the required coursework with a passing grade but, because of reasons acceptable to the instructor, has failed to complete all coursework. Each grade of “I” must be accompanied by a written contract with specific terms for satisfactory course completion and the signatures of the instructor and student. All coursework must be completed during the following semester. If class attendance is required, coursework must be completed during the semester when the course is next offered. A final grade will be recorded as determined by the instructor. Students on financial aid should consult with the Financial Aid Office regarding the impact a grade of “I” may have on student financial aid status.
3. Audit (H)
   A student may elect an audit grade option following the procedures outlined below. Audit (H) grades carry no credit hour value and will not count in credit hours attempted in certain financial aid programs.
   1. A student is admitted to the College, meets all course admission requirements, registers for the course paying the usual tuition and fees, and enrolls as an audit student. Faculty may or may not require that the audit student take exams, but all attendance requirements are the same as other students in the class. A student completing the class and meeting the audit requirements as established by the faculty member will receive a grade of “H” for the class, but no credit hour completion will be associated with the grade. A student who fails to meet the attendance requirement may be administratively withdrawn from the class and a grade of “WX” will be recorded.
   2. A student is admitted to the College, meets all course admission requirements, registers for the course paying the usual tuition and fees, and enrolls in a class. Within the College refund period (as defined in the course schedule and available in the Registrar’s Office), a student may change status to audit (H). All the procedures for an audit class will then apply.
4. Pass (P)
   In some courses and under certain circumstances a grade of “P” is used to indicate that a student has attained a sufficient level of knowledge within a course or program for the student to receive credit. Circumstances that warrant the use of “P” include but are not limited to articulated credit, advanced placement, and foreign language credit. Any specific course must receive approval from Academic Council to have a grade option of “P.” In each of these circumstances, credit is awarded but no grade point average points are computed. Students may not request a Pass grade option.
5. No Pass (NP)
   An option for students enrolled in a zero-credit hour course who have not met the outcomes of the course.

3.10.3 Grade Point Average (Revised 12-6-2021)

Grade point average is determined using the following steps:

1. Exclude for purposes of computation all grades of W, WX, I, H, P, and NP.
2. For all other grades, multiply the credit hour value of the course by the point value of the grade; this value is the student’s grade points.
3. Total the number of semester hours attempted in all courses used to determine grade points; this value is the student’s hours attempted.
4. Divide the grade points by the hours attempted; this number (a value of at least 0.00 and not to exceed 4.00) is the grade point average.

Cumulative grade point average computations will include all courses taken at East Central College plus any courses transferred and accepted by East Central College but will exclude any course for which the grade was forgiven (Policy 3.12) and include only the highest grade awarded for a repeated course (Policy 3.13).