Faculty Handbook

Policy No. EPCC.1999.002

11.7 GRADE CHANGE ANNOTATION ON ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPT

Approved by University Council, April 22, 1999

1. Current Process

We now record both the old grade and the new grade on the academic transcript.  The old grade appears with a strike-through and the new grade is the only grade used in calculating the grade point average.

2. Proposal

Change our procedures to fit the “best practice” which is that used most commonly across the country.  “Best practice” is to record only the final grade the student receives except in the case of incomplete grades where both grades would appear as they do now.

3. Rationale

The current grade change form asks the instructor the reason for the grade change.  If the reason is instructor error, our procedure is to delete the old grade and post only the final grade.  If the reason is something else, we post both grades, with a strike-though the old grade.  Faculty and students often want the old grade deleted, but because the reason was not instructor error, we can not accommodate them.  Or the faculty forgets to mark instructor error, the student complains, we have to verify that situation with the instructor and then make the change.  Since the final grade is truly the grade the student earned, it seems reasonable to post only this grade on the student’s record and eliminate questions about the two grades for one course that may come up during job interviews or graduate/professional school application processes.

If this proposal is approved, the grade change form would ask for the new grade, without reason for change, and that new grade would replace the old grade in all instances except for the incomplete grade process.

A transcript is attached to show how grade changes are now recorded.  On the first page under the Spring 1987 semester you can see a grade change of “I” to a final grade of “F”.  This process would stay the same.  On the second page under Spring 1998 semester you see a grade change from “C” to “B”.  Under the proposal, only the final grade of “B” would appear on the transcript.

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