Grading System
The process is initiated by the student, who completes the “Petition for Incomplete Grade
Form”. This form may be found on the eCampus Online Forms pages. The form is sent to the
instructor via e-mail. The e-mail message also contains a special link that the instructor
follows to the secure “Petition for and Work to Remove an Incomplete Grade Form” (for
instructors only). The instructor uses this form to create a plan of work that the student will
follow to remove the grade of Incomplete. This is a matter that is resolved mainly between
the instructor and the student. This Petition is not a required form. The instructor may
request the student complete the form, but this form is not required to give the student an “I”
incomplete grade.
Type of Valid Grades
Instructors are NOT to assign grades of DR or W for students. If they are still on your roster,
they did not drop or withdraw from your class!! You must assign them a valid letter grade.
Leaving a grade blank is not acceptable for any reason!
Due Dates for Grades/Submission of Final Grades:
If you allow ANY student extra time BEYOND the last teaching day to turn in work to you for a
final grade, you have in effect AGREED to give that student a final grade of INCOMPLETE (I).
If you receive that student's work in enough time to calculate a final grade for them BEFORE
the 12:00 noon deadline, you should enter the final grade you have calculated for them. If
you have not received work from a student within the agreed upon time-frame and do not
have time to calculate a final grade for them, You must enter an "I" grade for that student and
go through the Change of Grade process once you have calculated the final grade.
If you have not entered a final grade or "I" by the 12:00 noon deadline, an "NG" will be
assigned by the final grade coordinator for you and you will be required to fill out Change of
Grade Form for each student to change the grade.
Grading System
Note: Some grades, in addition to the F, calculate as an F in the grade point average.
Grade Description
Credit
Grade points per
credit hour
A
Excellent
Yes
4
B
Above Average
Yes
3
C
Average
Yes
2
D
Below Average
Yes
1
F
Failure
No
0
AU
Audit
No
0
DF
Dropped course with academic penalty
(Calculates as an F in the GPA)
No
0
DP
Dropped course passing
No
0
DR
Dropped course prior to the published deadline
No
0
FA
Failure due to excessive absences (Calculates as an F
in the GPA)
No
0
Incomplete
No
0
Course requirements not completed by end of time
limit for course assigned an Incomplete. Awarded by
registrar. (Calculates as an F in the GPA)
No
0
I
FI
No grade reported by faculty at end
of term (awarded by registrar)
No
0
P
Pass
Yes
0
W
Withdrawal prior to the published
deadline
No
0
WF
Withdrawal with academic penalty
(Calculates as an F in the GPA)
No
0
WP
Withdrawal passing
No
0
NG
Entering Final Grades on Trojan Web Express:
Once you have successfully signed into the Trojan Web Express, use the following instructions
to enter your final grades.
1. On the drop down menu for TERM, click the arrow and choose the term for which you wish
to enter grades, click submit. (You do not need to enter the start and end dates if you
have chosen a term.)
2. At the top of the next screen you will see a drop down menu, which allows you to select
midterm or final grading. Click the arrow and select FINAL.
3. Below the drop down menu, you will see a listing of all the classes you are teaching in this
term. To select one, click in the box to the left of the class until a check mark appears,
click submit.
4. The next screen will be a listing of all the students who are registered for your class. If a
student's name is missing from your Web Adviser roster, the student has dropped or
withdrawn from your class and these students WILL NOT appear on the Web Adviser
roster. Make a note in your personal grade book to reflect this status. Nothing further
needs to be done for missing student names.
5. Enter the FINAL GRADE for each student. Do not leave any final grade fields blank. Make
sure every student has a grade. "NG" is not a valid grade. Click submit after all grades
are entered and then repeat the above for each class you taught.
6. The expiration date field is for students who receive an "I" grade. The expiration date for
ALL students receiving an "I" is 9 weeks after the last day of the term the student received
the incomplete grade in. Enter the dates exactly as shown above. Do not use any other
expiration date or make up one of your own.
Incomplete Grades
GRADES OF INCOMPLETE MUST BE ENTERED IN TROJAN WEB EXPRESS AS AN "I".
All letter grade of "I" must have an expiration date entered. (The expiration date for “I”
grades can be found on the Academic Term Calendar located on the Faculty Resources tab in
blackboard).
Change of Grade Forms that are submitted late changing a grade of "I" will be denied. If it is
late you will be asked to submit a Change of Grade Form changing the grade from an "FI" to
a higher grade with the appropriate explanation included.
ALL students - graduate and undergraduate, must finish up any missing work to clear
incomplete. No incomplete may exceed nine weeks from the date it is assigned. Incomplete
grades will automatically be changed to an "FI" if the Change of Grade Form is not submitted
and processed before the expiration date.
The expiration date is an internal trigger for our Datatel system. It detects any "I" grade not
changed to a final grade of A, B, C, D, or F before the date entered and automatically changes
the "I" to "FI" on the date you entered. Making up your own date to use as the expiration
date is NOT a good idea. The memos sent out each term regarding grades will ALWAYS have
the expiration date to use for that term. Reports are run each term to find incorrectly entered
dates and they are changed to reflect the posted dates before processing the grades. Please
be kind enough to use the dates supplied to you.
Whatever arrangements you may have made with students receiving "I" grades are not
affected by the expiration date since the students never see it. The date does not come up on
Trojan Web Express for Students, and it does not show up on transcripts. Unless you inform
the student about the expiration date, most of them do not even know of its existence.
Grade Appeals
Faculty members have the authority to grade student work and to assign grades; these are
academic judgments. A faculty member’s syllabus enumerates student academic performance
expectations and consequences. Faculty members render academic judgments when a
student’s academic performance violates established standards or fails to meet stated
expectations. Academic judgments, made by faculty, are based on academic content, course
requirements, and student performance. Students may not appeal grades based on
allegations concerning the competence of a faculty member, the fairness of examinations, the
difficulty of a course, or other matters of a purely academic nature. Grades for individual
assignments and exams may not be appealed. While it is recognized that faculty hold the
right and responsibility to grant a grade, a student who receives a course grade that he or she
believes to be unwarranted for reasons other than those listed above may appeal that grade
using these stated procedures.
Step 1: Within the first four weeks of the start of the following term or semester in which the
grade is received, the student shall have informally appealed the grade to the instructor. If
that instructor is not teaching at Troy University during the term following issuance of the
grade, the student will make contact with the instructor through the department chair to
informally appeal the grade. In the case of a course taught through Global Campus or
eCampus, students should contact their home campus to determine the person designated by
the appropriate college dean to assist the students with their appeals.
Step 2: If the issue is not resolved at this informal level and the student wishes to pursue the
appeal, the student shall request in writing a meeting with the respective department chair.
This request shall be addressed to the department chair and shall be received no later than
the end of the fifth week of instruction for the term or semester following issuance of the
grade. The request must summarize the student’s complaint and the student’s informal
appeal to the instructor. In the case of a course taught through Global Campus or eCampus,
students should contact their home campus to determine the person designated by the
appropriate college dean to assist the students with their appeals.
Step 3: Within two weeks of receipt of the request, the department chair shall discuss the
appeal with the student and with the instructor, separately or at the same time. If the
department chair upholds the decision, the matter is closed. The decision is final.
Step 4: If the department chair does not support the decision of the instructor, the matter
shall be appealed within two weeks of the department chair’s decision to the designated
associate dean or dean of the college. The department chair will forward the appeal package
to the designated associate dean or dean. The designated associate dean or dean will
empanel three full-time faculty colleagues from the department and/or discipline to review the
matter. The decision of this panel shall be final and binding on all parties.
Note: Students may not use this procedure to appeal grades resulting from violations of
academic honesty. Students should refer to the Oracle, the University’s official student
handbook for those appeals.