Overview: Grading System

Instructors are obligated to evaluate each student's work fairly and without bias and to assign grades based on valid academic criteria. (See the University Operations Manual on professional ethics and academic responsibility, part 2(e), and the University policy on human rights.)

It is especially important that grading be consistent across sections of multi-section courses. Fairness to students also implies consistent grading among courses of the same level within one department.

In every course, the grading criteria must be clearly described in the course syllabus.

The following grading system is used in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Students from other colleges taking courses administered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are subject to CLAS policies.

CLAS students taking courses offered by other UI colleges are subject to the grading policies of those colleges.

Option of Plus/Minus Grading
Departments and individual instructors have the option of using the plus and minus grades in the scale given above or of using only the full letter grades for A, B, C, and D. Under either option, instructors may use any or all of the points on the grading scale. However, once an option is chosen, it must be applied to all students in a given class and in all sections of a multi-section course. Instructors must announce at the first class meeting which grading option will be used; this information must also be included in the class syllabus (see Required Syllabus).

Grade Point Average

Grade Point Average Required for Graduation
To graduate, a student must achieve a 2.0 grade-point average in all four of the following GPA calculations: all college work attempted (both at The University of Iowa and at any transfer institutions); all work undertaken at the University of Iowa; all work in the major field; and all work for the major undertaken at the University of Iowa. The Degree Evaluation (available to students through ISIS) provides students with their current GPAs.

Computing the GPA
The cumulative grade-point average (GPA) is computed by (a) multiplying the number of semester hours in each course by the appropriate grade points; (b) adding up the results in (a); and (c) dividing the total in (b) by the total number of hours taken. The Registrar's web site offers an interactive GPA calculator.

Courses in which marks of I, N, P, R, S, U, W, or O have been given are not included in the GPA calculation. Grades of F are included in computing the GPA. Although grades of A+ have a value of 4.33 in calculating a student's GPA, the cumulative GPA displayed at the bottom of the permanent record cannot exceed 4.00.

Waiver of the Minimum GPA in the Major
If a student falls slightly below the 2.0 standard in major course work, the DEO or the department's director of undergraduate studies may petition the College for an exception to the minimum GPA requirement in the major. The student must still achieve a 2.0 GPA in all course work at the University, and the petition must come from the department, not the student. The College's Academic Programs & Services Office, 120 Schaeffer Hall (335-2633), can provide more information on the conditions for requesting such an exception. Ordinarily, the department must demonstrate that there is no pedagogical advantage in holding the student for more course work in the major.

Second-Grade-Only Option

Students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences may repeat up to three courses taken at The University of Iowa if a grade of C- or lower has been earned in the course (regardless of the semester or session when the original course was taken). Only the grade and the credit of the second registration will be used in calculating total hours earned and in figuring the UI grade point averages and total cumulative grade-point averages.

A student who wishes to use this option registers in the usual manner for the course that is to be repeated or adds it during the regular period for adding courses.

The student must file for the option in the CLAS Academic Programs & Services Office, 120 Schaeffer Hall. Until this is done, both grades continue to be counted in the grade-point averages.

Under the provisions of this option, the Office of the Registrar marks the permanent record with the # symbol to show that a particular course has been repeated. Both grades remain on the permanent record, but once the student has filed the second-grade-only option the second grade and not the first is used in calculating the grade-point averages and hours earned.

Restrictions on the use of this option are described in the College's online Student Academic Handbook (see part VIII. Grading)

(Please note that other colleges may have other second-grade-only option policies which govern their courses.)

CLAS Recommended Grade Distributions

The Office of the Registrar posts a grade distribution report online each semester. These reports may be found in InfoBank under Miscellaneous Reports.

The DEO should review all departmental grades, monitoring any significant divergences from the recommended collegiate guidelines, below, which were recently endorsed by the Educational Policy Committee. DEOs should raise questions or concerns about grades with the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Services, who monitors departmental grades practices.

The suggested CLAS distributions guidelines are intended for courses with representative enrollments and pedagogical approaches. Adjustments are expected for sections and courses of different sizes, formats, or levels of ability. "W" and "I" grades also may affect the distribution of grades.

When plus/minus grades are used in a course, the department and instructor should decide on the appropriate percentage of plus and minus grades within each grading category. However, it is recommended that the total number of given grades within any category generally meet the Collegiate guidelines. For example, in a typical elementary course, no more than 34% of the B grade, whether B+, B, and B-, is suggested.

Please note that the Educational Policy Committee strongly discourages instructors from assigning the A+ grade. Few or no grades of A+ should ever be awarded except for truly extraordinary work.

Grade Distribution Chart

The College recommends grade distributions according to the level of the course. An elementary course is broad and introductory; open to first-year students; lacking prerequisites; and numbered from :001 to :099.

An intermediate course generally is not open to first year students and requires prerequisite(s) or assumes prior knowledge.

An advanced course ordinarily is for students earning a major, minor, or certificate in the area; requires assumed prior knowledge or prerequisites; and focuses on a particular topic or specific area of knowledge within a discipline.

Incomplete (I)
Instructors may report a mark of I (incomplete) only if all three of the following conditions are met:

1. The unfinished part of the student's work (in a course other than research, thesis, or independent study) is small.
2. The work is unfinished for reasons acceptable to the instructor.
3. The student's standing in the course is satisfactory.

A course may not be repeated to remove a grade of Incomplete; the grade must be removed by completing the unfinished portion of the work.

During the semester immediately following the one in which a mark of I (Incomplete) was recorded, the mark may be changed to a grade without the approval of the CLAS Academic Programs & Services Office. The instructor should complete a grade change at the Grade Change: Instructor link on Osiris and submit the grade change to the DEO. When the DEO approves the change, it is routed to the Registrar's Office for processing.

If the instructor does not submit a change of grade by the end of the next full semester, the I mark will convert to an F mark, with the "I" still displayed on OSIRIS.

To change an Incomplete that has converted to an F to a another grade, the instructor should follow the same procedure outlined above, but include an explanation of why the student was allowed extra time to remove the Incomplete.

The following Marks are at times used on the grade report but are not computed in the grade point average.

A student auditing a course (see "Auditing" in the Student Academic Handbook) receives an "R" if the course is completed and "W" if it is not.

Note: Students may not attend a class without being registered; those who do not wish to earn credit in a course should request permission to register as auditors.

Withdrawn (W)
Students who drop a class after the last day to drop without a W have a "W" entered on the permanent record (see Withdrawal from a Course in the Student Academic Handbook).

Pass/Nonpass Grading Option (P/N)
With the instructor's permission, students in good standing in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences may take elective courses pass/nonpass (P/N).

Students who request this option must obtain the signatures of both the advisor and the instructor on a P/N form, available at the Registration Center, 30 Calvin Hall, and in the CLAS Academic Programs & Services Office, 120 Schaeffer Hall.

The form may be submitted to the Registration Center during the registration period or during the first two weeks of the semester. For summer session courses and courses that begin or end at times other than the beginning and end of the academic semester, students may register for P/N at any time during the first one-fifth of the duration of the course. The registration may not be changed after the deadline.

At the end of the semester, the instructor calculates a standard letter grade for any student who has registered under the P/N option. If the course grade is C- or higher, the instructor reports a P as the final grade. If the course grade is D+ or below, the instructor assigns an N.

As a general policy, students may not use the pass/non-pass (P/N) grading option in courses taken for General Education credit or for courses offered in their major department. The DEO may, however, authorize P/N grading for a student in a departmental course that will not be applied toward the major requirements. The DEO should send a letter of authorization directly to Graduation Analysis, 1 Jessup Hall.

Satisfactory/Fail Grading (S/F) for Undergraduate Students
Students do not need special forms to register for S/F courses since all undergraduates enrolled in such courses automatically receive either an S (Satisfactory) or an F (Fail).

S/F grading is an option available for undergraduate courses in which letter grading is not the most useful measure of the learning and for experiences that are not specifically academic in nature but for which credit toward graduation may be appropriate.

The department may designate independent study courses, readings courses, academic internships, and other appropriate courses as "offered on S/F basis only. " Instructors must submit S or F grades for all undergraduate students enrolled in these courses.

S/F grading may be adopted at the time a course is developed, or it may be requested later by submission of a course approval form.

Restrictions on the use of S/F grading are described in the College's on-line Student Academic Handbook (see Grading and Related Matters).

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading (S/U) for Undergraduate Students

Students do not need special forms to register for S/U courses since all undergraduates enrolled in such courses automatically receive either an S or an U.

A "U" grade in an undergraduate course will not affect the GPA.

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading is an option available for undergraduate courses in which neither letter grading nor S/F grading is the most useful measure of the learning and for experiences that are not specifically academic in nature but for which credit toward graduation may be appropriate.

A department may designate a course as "offered on S/U basis only" and instructors for such courses must submit S or U grades for all undergraduate students enrolled in these courses.

S/U grading may be adopted at the time a course is developed, or it may be requested later by submission of a course approval form.

Further information on the use of S/U grading is available in the Student Academic Handbook

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading Option (S/U) for Graduate Students
Information on S/U grading for graduate students can be found in the Graduate College's Manual of Rules and Regulations.

No Grade Reported (O)
A mark of O is assigned when a final grade is not submitted to the Registrar by the designated deadline. The O will remain on the student's record until a valid grade is submitted. Every effort must be made to avoid assignment of an O and to submit a valid grade as soon as possible when an O has been assigned.

Reporting Grades

In some departments, faculty are required to submit mid-term grades; in other departments mid-term grades are optional.

Please see the College discussion of grades and grading and student records and confidentiality.

Timeliness of Grade Reports
Final grades must be submitted to the Registrar (via OSIRIS) within seventy-two hours (excluding weekends and holidays) after close of examination week (fall and spring semesters); or after the close of the 3-week summer session, regular summer session, or winter session. Specific dates may be found on the Registrar's academic calendar.

All grade reports (including those for independent studies and off-cycle courses) must be turned in by the deadline. Grades are essential to the evaluation of students for graduation, academic probation, or dismissal. If grade reports are late, instructors may be penalized by a delay in paycheck issuance following the delinquency.

Changing a Previously Reported Grade

To correct an error in computing or in transcribing a grade or to change a grade for other justifiable reasons, the instructor must complete a grade change. Go to Osiris and use the Grade Change: Instructor link, submitting the grade change to the DEO. The DEO evaluates the circumstances and decides whether to approve the change. If the DEO approves the change, it is then routed to the CLAS Academic Programs & Services office if the student is an undergraduate or to the Graduate College if the student is a graduate student.

Exceptions to submitting a change in grade on OSIRIS are as follows:

1. A Guided Independent Study (GIS) course;
2. A course that was added retroactively after the session ended;
3. A course taken in a session prior to fall 2004.

To change grades for any of these courses, a paper form is required. The form is available at the Registrar web site, should be submitted by the instructor to the DEO, then reviewed and signed by the DEO, and sent to CLASPS (120 Schaeffer Hall) for the final, required authorization.

Instructors should notify students (in writing) if the result of changing a previously reported grade is a lower grade.

If the instructor does not submit a grade change by the end of the next full semester, a mark of I will convert to an F, with the I still displayed on Osiris. To change an Incomplete that has converted to F to another grade, follow the same procedure as outlined above, but include an explanation of why the student was allowed extra time to remove the Incomplete.

(Please note that summer and winter sessions are not considered semesters. Students finishing an incomplete in the spring semester thus have until the end of the fall semester before the I converts to an F.)

Grading Grievances
Students who have a grading grievance must follow the procedures set up under Student Complaints about Faculty Actions in the Student Academic Handbook.