Board of Regents Policy Policy on Grading, Notations, and Academic Engagement

The CT State Provost, or designee, shall be the presiding authority over the application of this policy for CT State Community College. It shall be included in all college catalogs, student handbooks, and college websites, and shall be made available upon request.

Grading

Affirmed for Fall 2020, CT State Community College will use the following grading system defined below.

The calculation of the Grade Point Average (GPA) shall be two decimal places, truncated.

The letter grades shown above, with an additional designation of “#,” shall also be used for grades awarded to students in developmental courses.

I – Incomplete

Used as a temporary grade assigned by a faculty member when coursework is missing and the student agrees to complete the requirements.

A student may request an Incomplete from the faculty member; that faculty member is not required to agree to the request. Faculty members should assign an Incomplete when there are extenuating circumstances, such as illness, that prevent a student from completing the assigned work on time.

Further consideration should be given to determine if the student has participated in and completed at least 61% of the course, and, in the judgment of the faculty member, the student can complete the remaining work no later than the tenth week of the next standard semester.

Any faculty member that assigns an Incomplete shall document such an activity, and inform the student, the campus Dean of Faculty or campus dean responsible for faculty affairs, the Campus Supervisor of Enrollment Services, and other appropriate parties, as needed, using a common form. Supporting documentation, agreed upon by both the faculty and student, must include:

• A brief description of the requirements to be completed;
• The date by which the coursework must be submitted to the faculty member;
• A statement that the Incomplete will change to a specific letter grade if the work is not completed by the tenth week of the next standard semester.

If a student fails to complete the required work or fails to submit the work by the specified time, or if the faculty member fails to submit a replacement grade, the Campus Supervisor of Enrollment Services or their designee shall convert the Incomplete on the student's transcript to the letter grade specified on the original paperwork. Specially accredited programs may have specific progression criteria where a student cannot progress in their program with an incomplete on their transcript.

Students with an Incomplete are temporarily ineligible for semester or graduation honors. Upon conversion of the Incomplete to a letter grade, students may retroactively receive semester or graduation honors, and such recognition shall appear on the transcript, provided the student has earned the required GPA.

Administrative Transcript Notations

All colleges will use the following system of administrative transcript notations for student records, when required. Any other letters, whether called administrative notations, transcript notations, non-academic grades, or otherwise, currently in use shall be eliminated.

AU – Audit

Used for students not wishing to be awarded college credit for a course taken. This status allows students to participate in class activities without being required to meet the examination or assessment requirements of the course. Students may ask to have coursework critiqued, but audited courses do not earn a grade and faculty members are not required to grade an auditor’s coursework. Full tuition and fees are charged for courses audited. Students must be informed that State and Federal regulations prohibit the college from awarding aid for audited courses. A student who wishes to change from credit to audit status must request this within the first 20% of a term in which the course is offered, using such forms and procedures as the college may prescribe. Audit deadlines for terms will be published in term calendars. Students auditing a course may not change to credit status. Students may only audit the same course two times, and any additional requests to audit must be approved by the campus Dean of Faculty or campus dean responsible for faculty affairs.

M – Maintaining Progress

Used only for developmental courses to indicate that the student is maintaining progress, but not at the usual rate. It may be given to a student for a course only twice.

P – Pass

Used for successful completion of courses taken on a pass/fail basis. Students failing will receive a letter grade of “F.”

TR – Transfer

Used in lieu of grades for courses accepted for credit from other institutions of higher education.

W – Withdrawal

Used to indicate that a student has withdrawn from a course.

Academic Engagement

While CT State Community College is not considered an attendance-taking institution, it is required to verify the academic engagement of each student in each registered course by demonstrating “academic attendance” or an “academically-related activity” for Title IV purposes. This must be completed prior to the predetermined census date of each traditional semester, as well as during periods of enrollment shorter than the traditional 15-week semester (i.e., summer terms). The purpose of this practice is to identify students who have enrolled in coursework but have not demonstrated an academically related activity as a means to accurately report official college enrollment and meet the regulatory standard of compliance.

Required Activity Prior to Census

All students are required to demonstrate academic engagement (defined below) in each of their registered courses no later than the predetermined census date of each period of enrollment. Students who make this demonstration in at least one of their registered courses shall be considered to have begun the period of enrollment. Students who do not make this demonstration in any registered courses shall be considered to have not begun the period of enrollment.

Students Who Begin a Period of Enrollment

Students who begin a period of enrollment shall be counted in official census data, reflective of their actual enrollment status. Students who then cease engagement in their coursework, without officially withdrawing from the college prior to the end of the withdrawal period, shall be assigned a letter grade of “F” with a corresponding last date of academic engagement for each affected course. These students shall be considered an unofficial withdrawal from the college, and be subject to Return of Title IV regulations, if applicable. The latest date reported by faculty shall be the date of determination for unofficial withdrawal from the college.

Students Who Do Not Begin a Period of Enrollment

Students who are determined to have not academically engaged in a period of enrollment leading up to census shall be assigned a registration status of “Never Participated (NP)” for each affected course. Students assigned an NP for all courses shall be removed from the period of enrollment and shall be counted as “never attended” for enrollment reporting purposes. Courses with an NP designation are not counted toward a college’s official census, and affected students are not eligible to receive financial aid for courses assigned this status.

NP – Never Participated

A registration status used for students who have enrolled in coursework but have failed to engage in an academically related activity by the predetermined census date. Students who receive an NP designation are no longer permitted to attend a course section after an NP has been reported. Additionally, they are not eligible to receive a final grade, and not eligible to access the learning management system for the affected course section.

Academic Engagement

In accordance with federal regulatory definition, academic engagement (otherwise known as “academic attendance” and “attendance at an academically-related activity”) includes, but is not limited to:

• Physically attending a class where there is an opportunity for direct interaction between the instructor and students;
• Submitting an academic assignment;
• Taking an exam, an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction;
• Attending a study group that is assigned by the institution;
• Participating in an online discussion about academic matters; and
• Initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course.

This does not include activities where a student may be present, but not academically engaged, such as:

• Logging into an online class without active participation; or
• Participating in academic counseling or advising.

The institution must make a determination of “academic attendance” or an “academically related activity;” a student’s certification of attendance that is not supported by institutional documentation is not acceptable.