Grades and Reports
Grading System and Quality Points
Graduation is dependent upon quality as well as upon quantity of work done. A student earns quality points as well as credit hours if the level of performance does not fall below that of “D-.” Letter grades are assigned. They are interpreted in the table below, with the quality points for each hour of credit shown at the right.
|
Grades
|
Hours Attempted Per Credit Hour |
Quality Points Per Credit Hour |
|
A+
|
1 |
4 |
| A |
1 |
4 |
| A- |
1 |
3.67 |
| B+ |
1 |
3.33 |
| B |
1 |
3 |
| B- |
1 |
2.67 |
| C+ |
1 |
2.33 |
| C |
1 |
2 |
| C- |
1 |
1.67 |
| D+ |
1 |
1.33 |
| D |
1 |
1 |
| D- |
1 |
.67 |
| F |
1 |
0 |
| FZ - Fail in Pass/Fail Option (no credit hours earned) |
0 |
0 |
| FX - Failure for Academic Dishonesty |
1 |
0 |
| FD - Dimensions Failure |
0 |
0 |
| P - Passing (with approval) |
0 |
0 |
| I - Incomplete |
1 |
0 |
| IN - Incomplete (with approval) |
0 |
0 |
| W - Withdrew |
0 |
0 |
| @F - Administrative Failure |
1 |
0 |
| @W - Administrative Withdrawal (student never attended) |
0 |
0 |
NC - No Credit
|
0
|
0
|
| TR - Hours Credit |
Hours Credit Only |
Transfer Hours Only |
| CR - Hours Credit |
Hours Credit Only |
Hours Credit Only |
| AU - Auditor |
0 |
0 |
| E - Course Repeated |
0 |
0 |
| I - Later or Higher Attempt Computed According to Grade |
1 |
Multiplied by quality points for final grade |
Notations on Transcripts
E - Course Excluded from GPA
I - Course Included in GPA (Located to the right side of the quality points of the course)
1 - Multiplied by quality points for final grade
Students are expected to complete all coursework prior to the end of the semester/term. It is sometimes possible for a faculty member to issue an Incomplete (I) designation to permit the completion of coursework after the semester/term has finished. An incomplete can only be awarded in cases in which all the following criteria are met:
· the student completed at least 75% of the course requirements;
· the student is in good standing and passing the course at the time of the request;
· the student experienced circumstances beyond their control such as illness, emergency, death in the family, or other reasonable cause, which prohibited the completion of coursework;
· upon the occurrence of these circumstances, the student (in consultation with their academic advisor) discussed their inability to complete the work for the course with their instructor;
· the student initiated the request for the Incomplete before the last regular day of the course.
Specific programs may have additional stipulations regarding the Incomplete designation described in their program handbook. If granted, the faculty member assigns an I instead of the grade for the student needing an Incomplete when grades are submitted. Within 24 hours of submission, Registrar Services will send the faculty member an e-mail notification that the Incomplete Contract is available through WebbConnect under the Manage Classes folder. The faculty member completes the online contract and submits it electronically through WebbConnect. WebbConnect automatically sends the contract to the student via the student’s Gardner-Webb email address. The student must accept the contract within seven business days to confirm the Incomplete. Otherwise, the contract is nullified. If the contract is nullified or the student denies the The final date for completion of the coursework and conversion of the Incomplete designation to a grade can be no more than 90 days
(or 28 days for eight-week courses) after the last day of the term in which the I was submitted. If this period expires without conversion of the Incomplete, notification is sent to the faculty member by
email requesting the final grade. If no grade is submitted then, the Incomplete is converted to a final grade of F. Once the F is recorded, the student, the advisor, and the faculty member are notified by email. The provost or their designee approves final grades resulting from conversion of the Incomplete designation.
An “IN” is assigned to a student involved in an internship or other multi-semester course structures in which the final assessment cannot be determined by the end point of the registered term. The student has a maximum deadline of the end of the following semester to complete the coursework (this may vary by program in the graduate programs); otherwise the incomplete grade will be automatically changed to an “F” by the Registrar. While in effect, the “IN” will have no negative bearing on the student’s semester and cumulative grade point average.
A “W” will be assigned when a student withdraws from a course during the first 40% of the term. After the first 40% of the term, a “WF” or “WP” is assigned by the instructor based upon the instructor’s assessment of the student’s work at the date of withdrawal.
A student wishing to withdraw from a class or completely from school after the schedule modification period is over must submit the withdrawal form located in WebbConnect. Advisors do not have the accessibility to withdraw a student from courses. Course or complete withdrawals are not official until they have been processed by the Registrar. E-mail notifications are sent to the student, the advisor and the instructor(s) of the courses once the withdrawal has been processed.
@F - This grade represents an administrative failure of a course. It could be assigned by either the instructor or the Registrar to any student who ceases to attend class or who otherwise exceeds the permissible number of absences in a course. This grade is treated the same as the basic “F”; it counts against the student’s grade point average and is repeatable under the provisions of the Repeat Course Policy.
FX - This grade is assigned for reasons of academic dishonesty and counts against a student’s GPA just as a grade of “F” does. It is assigned by the Registrar upon written request of the instructor of record in accordance with the University’s policy on academic dishonesty. Once the grade is assigned, it appears on the transcript as a permanent indication of an incident of academic dishonesty. University policy on repeating courses does not apply in the case of an FX. A student may repeat the course, but the FX remains on the transcript and will continue to be calculated into the GPA.
The last date for withdrawing from an individual course will be four weeks after mid-term or a date not to exceed 75% of the course (including summer school). After this point, students may not withdraw from individual courses but may completely withdraw from school.
Once a grade has been submitted to the Registrar, it cannot be changed except in the event of a clerical error or an error in calculation, or as a result of an academic appeal. Unless an “I” or “IN” has been assigned, an instructor cannot accept coursework from a student after a grade has been submitted.
For the policy concerning the appeal of a grade, see the section entitled Academic Appeals.
Pass/Fail Option
In the spirit of its liberal arts tradition, Gardner-Webb encourages students to pursue a broad range of interests outside their chosen major. Toward this end, students enrolled in the Traditional Undergraduate Program may (but are not required to) select the Pass/Fail (P/F) grading option to utilize in a maximum of four courses during their undergraduate enrollment at Gardner-Webb. This option may only be utilized for free electives and may not be utilized for any course counted as meeting General Education, major, minor, or required prerequisite requirements. The Pass/Fail option may be utilized for no more than one course in any given semester or session. The Pass/Fail option must be selected by the student prior to the end of the designated schedule modification (i.e., “drop/add”) period in any given semester/session and once the option is selected may not be changed although the course may be dropped as per normal rules governing that process. Student transcripts will show a final grade of “PZ” or “FZ” for the chosen course and the “PZ”/”FZ” grade will not count toward GPA calculations either as hours attempted or grade points earned. If passed, the course will count toward the 120 hours needed for graduation; if failed, the course and grade will be indicated on the student’s transcript but the failing grade will not affect the student’s GPA. Repeats of failed P/F courses will be governed by the normal rules for that process. Credit hours for any course chosen for the P/F option will count toward a student’s semester/session enrollment and billing hours as if it were taken under regular grading policies.
Individual student selection of the P/F option will not be indicated on official communications (e.g., rolls, progress reports, etc.) to the course instructor until the final grade report which will indicate that the student has selected the P/F option. The instructor will select the appropriate grade in accordance with the course grading policies he/she promulgated in the course syllabus. All grades of “D-“ or higher are considered passing.
NOTE: Because courses taken under the Pass/Fail option do not count toward GPA calculations, students should be aware of the policy on earning Dean’s List and Honor Roll distinctions (i.e., students with 12-15 hours calculated in their GPA must earn a 4.0 for Dean’s List and at least 3.5 for Honor Roll; for students with more than 15 hours calculated in their GPA the minimum thresholds are 3.7 and 3.2 respectively).
Grade Point Average
The student’s general academic performance is indicated by both a current term grade point average and a term-by-term grade point average (GPA). The current term and the cumulative GPAs are determined by dividing earned quality points by attempted credit hours. Both values are calculated based only on academic work completed at Gardner-Webb. In addition, there are three total GPAs calculated: total institution GPA, total transfer GPA, and overall GPA. Total institution GPA represents combined academic work at Gardner-Webb as of the last term of attendance. Total transfer GPA represents combined academic work that qualified for transfer from other institutions. Overall GPA represents both academic work completed at Gardner-Webb and work transferred from other institutions.
Grade Reports
Each student receives a course grade at the end of the semester. Final grades can be accessed by visiting webbconnect.gardner-webb.edu.
Transcripts of Student Records
Requests for copies of a student’s record should be made to Registrar Services. All transcripts will reflect the student’s complete academic record. No transcripts will be issued without the written authorization of the student. No transcript will be issued for a student who has a financial obligation to the University.