Course Change Forms - Grading
I would suggest that all the official Course Change Forms address the following:
· New and Experimental Course Forms should clearly indicate whether a new course is to be graded with normal grades (A, B, C, D, F) or graded Pass/Fail (S, U). Forms should also clarify if the grading method change applies to all sections, or only some of the sections, offered for the course.
· All Course Change Forms should contain a section that can be used to change a course/section from normal to pass/fail or pass/fail to normal grading. The approval request must clearly indicate if this change applies to all universities that offer the course or only to some of the universities that offer a course. The form should also clarify if the grading method applies to all sections, or only some of the sections, offered for the course.
· The grading data entry for a Unique course should always be made at the Course Level if the grading method requested applies to all sections of the course. If the change applies only to some sections of the course the data entry should occur at the Section Level.
· The grading data entry for a Common Course should occur at the course level if it applies to all universities (all sections offered) approved to offer the Common Course. The data entry should occur at the section level if it only applies to some of the universities (or only to some of the sections offered) that offer the Common Course.
Pass/Fail and Normal Grading Data Entry and Guidelines
Data Entry
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| 05/10/05 09:53 COURSE RESTRICTIONS CRES |
| Course: ENGL-101 Composition I Status: Active |
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||15 Allow Audit...... : Yes (“Yes” means that an individual student may select the audit option for this course at the time of registration. “No” means that a student would not be permitted to audit this course. The data is entered at the Course Level and will default to the Section Level. The data can be changed at the Section Level by the university after the appropriate approval is received. |
| 16 Only Pass/No Pass...... : No (“Yes” means that every student enrolled in this course will be graded “S/U”. “No” means that students enrolled will be graded with normal grades. However, when “No” is entered individual students will still be permitted to select the pass/fail option at the time of registration if Field #17 is “Yes”. The data is entered at the Course Level and will default to the Section Level. This data can be changed at the Section Level by the university after the appropriate approval is received.
| 17 Allow Pass/No Pass...... : Yes (“Yes” means that an individual student may select the pass/fail option for this course. “No” means that a student will not be permitted to select the pass/fail option for this course. The data is entered at the Course Level and will default to the Section Level. This data can be changed at the Section Level by the university after the appropriate approval is received.
The PDT, at the time of the merge, determined that a “Yes” in Field #15, a “No” in field #16, and a “Yes” in field #17 would be the default entry on CRES unless a Course Change Form specifically requests a different data entry. The corresponding screen to CRES at the section level is SRES.
The new Web Advisor Grading Enhancement permits an S or U grade only if SCS.PASS.AUDIT = ‘Y’ exists on the registration record. The SCS.PASS.AUDIT = ‘Y’ is set if Field 16, Only Pass/No Pass, is set to “Yes” and Field 17, Allow Pass/No Pass is set to “Yes” at the course or section level before registration . CS.PASS.AUDIT = ‘Y’ can also be set when an individual student selects the pass/fail option at the time of registration (Field #17on CRES or SRES must be set to “Yes”).
The Registrars, prior to Summer Term 2005 grading, will need to review their current course and section data entry to ensure that Fields 15, 16, and 17 on CRES or SRES are set to permit the appropriate grading. Changes to courses must be requested from Robin Stambaugh for central data entry. Changes to sections must be performed by the Registrars. If registrations have already occurred for a course or section that is to be changed, the student registrations for these courses/sections must also be changed prior to Summer 2005 grading.
Some concern has been expressed about the current capability of students to select the pass/fail grading option for a section, without first obtaining permission, at the time of Web Advisor registration. Currently, Web Advisor functionality does not prohibit a student from selecting the pass/fail option when the Allow Pass/No Pass field is set to “Yes” at the course or section level. If the Allow Pass/No Pass is set to “No” at the course or section level a student would never be permitted to select the pass fail option for that course or section even if they obtained permission. A Web Advisor enhancement would be required to prohibit a student from selecting the pass/fail option during Web Advisor registration. Since the number of students who select the Pass/Fail option is small it is recommended that the universities run an edit of these registrations prior to the census date of each term. The need for permission can then be evaluated and corrected prior to census date.
Grading Guidelines
1. Normal Grading
· Requires assignment of letter grades (A, B, C, D, and F)
· Normal grading is permitted only if Field #16 (Only Pass/No Pass) on CRES or SRES is set to “No” or if Field #17 (Allow Pass/No Pass) on CRES or SRES is set to either “Yes” or “No” and the individual student has not selected the pass/fail option at the time of registration.
2. Pass/Fail Grading
· Requires assignment of S/U grades
· The assignment of an S/U grade is permitted only if Field #16 (Only Pass/No Pass is set to “Yes” on CRES or SRES or if an individual student requests the pass/fail option at the time of registration (Field #17 must be set to “Yes” either on CRES or SRES to permit this option).
3. Other Grades
· Other grades such as I, IP, and NP can be given any time the specific criterion of these grades are met. These grades can be given if the course/section is set up for Pass/Fail Grading or for Normal Grading.
Grading of Zero Credit Tracking Courses
BOR Policy 2:10 currently states:
“A credit (CR) grade may be granted only for non course credit that is not related to an examination or to equating transfer grades to the BOR grading system. The grade is not used for any Regental university course.”
During Spring 2005 grading, some universities requested the capability of using the CR grade or the S/U grade for zero credit tracking courses. Dr. Turchen approved this request for Spring 2005.
Registrars must now reach consensus as to what grade should be assigned to these zero credit courses and make a recommendation to the AAC.
· If CR is recommended and approved the Web Advisor grading enhancement will require the Registrars to list all zero credit tracking courses. The enhancement will then restrict the CR grade to these institutional courses only.
· If S/U is recommended, the pass/fail data entry and grading guidelines above must be followed.
· A new grade could be recommended (i.e. “TRK” for tracking). If approved, the grading enhancement would require the Registrars to list all courses for which this an appropriate grade. The enhancement will then restrict this new grade to these courses only.
· Currently the system policy is that zero credit tracking courses are transcripted. Students with only zero credit tracking courses are counted in enrollment extracts and IPEDS reporting. Our current position is that courses listed on the student’s transcript will match the student’s official registrations as they exist as of the census date of the course. This provides a cross reference capability.