All instructors are expected to submit their grades through Banner. Grades should be submitted within 72 hours of the final exam and no later than the published grade deadline in the academic calendar. If grades are not submitted by the due date, a student will receive an NR grade (not reported) and an instructor will need to complete a grade change form to adjust it. Additional information about available grades can be found in the table below.
Please note: After the grade deadline in the academic calendar has elapsed, all submitted grades are rolled to the student's academic history. After this time, grades may no longer be changed using Banner, and the University grade change policy is in effect.
If you have trouble accessing Banner for final grading, please contact the LTS Help Desk for assistance.
Faculty Grade Entry
Registration & Academic Services is excited to announce the availability of a new Faculty Grade Entry option. While the original version of final grade entry is still available, we encourage all faculty to explore the new option as it offers a variety of additional features such as the ability to upload grades from a spreadsheet, export a class list, and see visual indicators for grading completion. Below, you will find three instructional videos about the new Faculty Grade Entry.
Available Grades
| Grades | Description |
|---|---|
| A, A- | Excellent |
| B+, B, B- | Good |
| C+, C | Competent |
| C- | Level of proficiency for prerequisite |
| D+, D, D- | Passing at undergraduate level; may not be counted toward degree at graduate level |
| F | Failing |
| N (Grade)* | Incomplete |
| X (Grade)* | Absent from final examination |
| Z (Grade)* | Absent from final examination and incomplete |
| AU | Audit |
| W | Withdrawal – after drop/add and up to 11 weeks of semester - "W" grades are pre-assigned and may NOT be changed. "W" is an unacceptable grade unless you have been notified by our office that the student has officially withdrawn from the course. |
| P | Passing - assigned in pass/fail courses |
| SP | may be assigned for coursework or projects that do not conform to standard terms (e.g., thesis, research courses, open learning or multi-term project based learning coursework, etc.) when the student is making satisfactory progress. An SP grade will not be converted automatically but rather will remain until changed by the instructor. SP grades count towards credits completed but do not affect GPA until converted. |
| A+, F+ and F- | grades may NOT be used. |
| Writing Intensive courses - Instructors should indicate the completion of the writing intensive requirement by selecting "Yes" or "No" using the original final grade entry. |
*Note: All undergraduate students must be assigned a default grade that would be the grade assigned to the student if no further work was completed. This default grade is the lowest grade that may be permanently assigned to the student for that course. An X, Z, or N must include a parenthetical grade. Final grades in such courses cannot be lower than the parenthetical grade.
Proper use of N(*) Incomplete Grade
An N(*) grade is appropriate when the instructor and student make prior arrangements to complete the course based on the amount of work completed. An N(*) is also appropriate when communicated by the Dean of Students Office about extenuating circumstances.
Each semester a large number of N grades are assigned to students that just stop attending class. They do not contact the faculty member with a rationale for being permitted extended time in a class and do not seek the assistance of the Dean of Students Academic Support Office to report an absence that is greater than three days. These students are not eligible for an incomplete N(*). Those students should be assigned the grade they earned when attending. A student that never attended should be assigned an F grade. If a student contacts the instructor, or if the instructor is contacted by the Dean of Students Office, the instructor may feel that an N(*) grade is appropriate.
Assigning an N(*) grade in inappropriate situations or circumstances may seem like you are doing the student a favor. In reality it just delays our ability to assist a student with registration errors or other personal circumstances affecting their status as a student.
If you signed a drop form or think the student intended to drop but the form was never processed, once again an incomplete grade (N) is not appropriate. Grades of W will already be on the roster and may not be changed. A grade of WF may be changed, but only to a WP.
For more information on the policies for submitting incomplete grades for undergraduate and graduate students, please refer to the Faculty Rules and Procedures.
3.8.2 Incomplete (N grade) UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
The grade N(grade) may be used to indicate that one or more course requirements (e.g., course report) have not been completed. It is the obligation of the student to explain to the satisfaction of the instructor that there are extenuating circumstances (e.g., illness or emergency), which justify the use of the N grade. If the instructor feels the N grade is justified, he or she assigns a grade of N supplemented by a parenthetical letter grade, e.g., (N(C)). In such cases, the instructor calculates the parenthetical grade by assigning an F (or zero score) for any incomplete work unless he or she has informed the class in writing at the beginning of the course of a substitute method for determining the parenthetical grade. In each case in which an N grade is given, the course instructor shall provide written notification to the department chairperson stating the name of the student receiving the grade, the reason for the incomplete work, the work to be done for the removal of the N grade and the grade for the work already completed.
An undergraduate student who incurs an N grade in any course is required to complete the work for the course by the fifth day of instruction in the next academic-year semester. The instructor will submit the grade to Registration & Academic Services by the tenth day of instruction in that academic year semester. The N grade will be converted into the parenthetical grade after the tenth day of instruction in the next academic-year semester following receipt of the N grade unless the instructor has previously changed the grade using the removal-of incomplete procedure. The parenthetical grade will be dropped from the transcript after the assignment of the course grade. In no case shall the grade N be used to report absence from a final examination. N grades do not count as hours attempted and are not used in computations of cumulative averages.
3.27.2 Incomplete (N grade) GRADUATE STUDENTS
The N grade is defined as in section 3.8.2 except that parenthetical grades are not required for thesis or research courses and graduate students have a calendar year to remove course incomplete grades unless an earlier deadline is specified by the instructor. Graduate student incomplete course grades that are not removed remain as N or N(grade) on the student record for one year. After one year, the N grade will be converted to an F and the N(grade) will be converted to the parenthetical letter grade.
Incomplete grades may be extended an additional year with approval of the course instructor and the graduate coordinator. After two years, outstanding incomplete grades would be converted to the parenthetical mark. Past two years, students could appeal to the Committee on Standing of Graduate Students (SOGS) with a timeline and plan for completion. Thesis or research project N grades may remain beyond one year until the work is completed.
Removal of Incomplete & Correction of Grade Procedure
The instructor of record for a course can submit a Correction of Grade or Removal of Incomplete form using Banner Self-Service. After logging in to Banner, faculty should select the Faculty Services.
After accessing the Faculty Services tab, instructors can select either the Correction of Grade or Removal of Incomplete options. Each form is processed via DocuSign and routed as appropriate. Upon completion of the form, the instructor will receive an confirmation email.
