Procedure No.
AC4 (C20)
Approving Jurisdiction
Senate
Signed By
Chair, Senate
Administrative Responsibility
Provost & Vice President Academic
Original
Effective Date
Reviewed
Revised
September 1, 1991
1.
Course Outline : outcomes of a course.
The Senate approved document detailing the required learning
2.
Drop : De-registration from a course prior to the withdrawal period. No record is noted on the transcript. See Policy AD091 (C39) – Refunds of Tuition and Other Fees for refund procedures.
3.
Drop Deadline: The last date to drop a course; always the day prior to the beginning of the withdrawal period.
4.
Prerequisite Grade: The minimum grade required to register in a course.
5.
Semester: A defined number of weeks of instruction, including final evaluations. Semesterbased instructional cycles operate in a tri-semester format called Fall, Spring and Summer.
6.
Syllabus : Provided to each student by the instructor specifying elements that contribute to the grade in a course and the proportion each represent. The elements include learning outcomes, course requirements, dates, assignments, assessment methods, deadlines, text book(s), how the students will be assessed, and contact information for the instructor.
7.
Term: A period of instruction. Instructional cycles at KPU are defined as semester-based, fixedterm and continuous.
8.
Withdrawal: De-registration from a course during the withdrawal period. A withdrawal is posted to the transcript as a W grade.
9.
Withdrawal Deadline: For semester-based courses, the withdrawal period begins at the beginning of the third week of the semester, and ends at the end of the ninth week of the semester. For courses that do not follow semester dates, the withdrawal period begins when no
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more than 15% of the course has been completed and ends when no more than 60% of the course has been completed.
1. Implementation a.
EVALUATION i.
Students' final marks should normally be based on no fewer than three separate evaluations. ii.A final assessment may be worth no more than 50% of the final mark. iii.A minimum of two evaluations must be given, graded and returned prior to the last day for withdrawal from a course so that a decision may be reached by the student about the likelihood of success in the course. iv.Evaluations in courses using the Competency-Based Grading System may differ from the above. b.
GRADING SYSTEMS i. KPU has two Grading Systems: the Standard Grading System and the Competency-Based
Grading System.
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Grade
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D
F
1) Standard Grading System a) The following standard grading system is used to describe the achievement level attained within a course.
Grade Points
4.33
Definition
Exceptional Achievement
Percent
Equivalent
90 - 100
4.00
3.67
3.33
3.00
Outstanding Achievement
Excellent Achievement
Very Good Achievement
Good Achievement
85 - 89
80 - 84
76 - 79
72 - 75
2.67
2.33
2.00
1.67
Good Achievement
Satisfactory Achievement
Satisfactory Achievement
Marginal Achievement
68 - 71
64 - 67
60 - 63
56 - 59
1.00
0.00
Minimal Achievement. This is the minimum grade required to pass a course.
Unsatisfactory Achievement - did not meet minimum course requirements.
50-55
<50
Procedure No. AC4 (C20)

W GPA Neutral An approved withdrawal from a course.
WE
AE
AUD
GPA Neutral An approved withdrawal based on extenuating circumstances.
GPA Neutral Aegrotat – An approved pass standing when the student has been unable to complete all course requirements due to a permanent disabling illness or significant life changing event.
GPA Neutral Audit – Student attended class but was not evaluated.
TRF GPA Neutral Transfer credit - TRF grades are granted for courses taken at a recognized institution for which a direct equivalency cannot be determined.
P
2) Competency Based Grading System
The following competency-based grading system is used to describe whether a standard level of proficiency has been reached for a course.
GPA Neutral Pass – Student has participated at the required level and/or mastered the skills and
NCG performance to a required standard. Credit is earned but no grade points are applied to the
GPA calculation.
GPA Neutral No credit granted.
W
WE
AUD
GPA Neutral Approved withdrawal from course.
GPA Neutral An approved withdrawal based on extenuating circumstances.
GPA
Neutral
Audit - Student attended class but was not evaluated.
If a final grade is not submitted for a course within one year from the due date for final grades, including Incomplete Grades, then a grade of “F” will be entered into the academic record. c.
NON-GRADES
The following non-grades are applicable to both grading systems at KPU:
I N/A Incomplete – Course requirements to be completed before a specific deadline date (see d. below).
CIP N/A Course In Progress
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Procedure No. AC4 (C20)
DEF N/A Deferred – the course duration does not correspond to the usual term duration. A final grade will be assigned within a year. d.
INCOMPLETE ( I ) GRADE INFORMATION i.
The I grade is intended to assist a student in completing course assignment requirements when circumstances prevent them from doing so during and by the end of the term. ii. The guidelines used for the development of an I Contract are:
1) Previous work in the course should have been at a satisfactory or passing level;
2) The student must have been prevented from completing requirements by some abnormal circumstances, such as: a) embarking on a project whose completion turns out to be more time-consuming than contemplated b) an emergency situation such as illness or accident has prevented the student from completing one or more of the course requirements.
3) The student must complete an I contract within eight weeks after it is made; the due date may be extended due to extreme circumstances if approved by the Dean and the Registrar. The I contract form is available on the KPU website. e.
GRADE POINT AVERAGE
Course i.
The grade point average expresses the academic performance of a student as a numerical weighted average. It is calculated by multiplying the grade points associated with the letter grade assigned for a course by the number of credit hours assigned to that course; add those values for all courses taken; and divide the result by the total number of credit hours registered. Withdrawals are not included in the calculations. For repeated courses, only the last grade achieved is used in the calculations. ii.
A GPA is calculated for each academic level and is based only on courses at that level.
Academic levels at KPU include graduate, undergraduate, vocational and preparatory.
The transcript will reflect each level separately.
Example of the calculation of a GPA:
Letter Grade Numeric Grade Value Credit Hours Grade Points
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ENGL XXXX
PSYC XXXX
SOCI XXXX
HORT XXXX
BIOL XXXX
A
A+
B-
C
F
4.00
4.33
2.67
2.00
0.00
3
3
3
2
4
Total 15
Term grade point average (TPGA): 37/15=2.47
Cumulative grade point average (CGPA): Is the average calculation of all KPU term GPA’s
into a Cumulative grade point average.
1) Term Grade Point Average (TGPA) is the GPA calculated for all courses taken in a specific term at KPU.
2) Institutional Grade Point Average (KGPA) is the cumulative GPA calculated for all KPU courses.
12.00
12.99
8.01
4.00
0.00
37.00
3) Transfer Grade Point Average (RGPA) is the cumulative GPA calculated for transfer courses from another post-secondary institution that are accepted for credit at KPU.
4) Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is the cumulative GPA calculated for all courses completed at KPU and transfer courses. It is noted on the transcript as
Overall Grade Point Average.
5) Program Grade Point Average is not institutionally defined. It can be determined at a program level but is not posted to the transcript. A record of how the program GPA is calculated is maintained in the Registrar’s office. f. RECOGNITION OF A PASSING GRADE
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Courses in which a passing grade has been achieved may be used to satisfy program requirements for graduation. g. REPEATED COURSES i.
All grades are recorded on the student's transcript. If a course is repeated to replace a grade, the most recent or last grade will be used to compute grade point averages and to determine standing. A course may only be attempted twice; the original attempt and one repeated attempt. An attempt includes equivalent courses completed through transfer credit. ii.
A course for which a ‘W’ or ‘WE’ grade has been awarded will not be considered as an attempt or a repeated attempt. iii.
A course that is a prerequisite for another course that has been successfully completed cannot be repeated.
Procedure No. AC4 (C20)

h. MINIMUM GRADE REQUIRED IN PREREQUISITE COURSE i.
Normally, in order to enrol in a course for which there is a prerequisite course (or courses), a student must have been assigned a passing grade or higher or an AE or TRF in the prerequisite course (or courses) unless otherwise stated in the course outline. i. PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT AND RECOGNITION (PLAR) i.
Credit granted through the PLAR or prior learning assessment process may be used to satisfy a graduation requirement, and recognition of PLAR will appear on the transcript.
B.4 Final Examinations and Grade Reporting for Semester-Based Courses
XX Grade Appeals
AD091 (C39) – Refunds of Tuition and Other Fees
Reviewed Revised
January 2007
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