GRANT MACEWAN COLLEGE Policy Manual Grading

1.0 POLICY: Grant MacEwan College utilizes one system for the reporting of final grades in credit courses. All final grades shall be reported to the Office of the Registrar using letter grades. Letter grades shall be converted to the fourpoint Alberta Common Grading Scheme for the calculation of a Grade Point.

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2.0

RATIONALE: The purpose of the Grant MacEwan College grading policy is to ensure throughout the College: 2.1 that grading practices are consistent and reflect appropriate academic standards

that evaluation of student performance is made in a fair and objective manner that evaluation practices include regular and timely feedback to students.

3.0

SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS: 3.1 This Policy applies to evaluation of student performance in all credit courses. A grade point is a number between 0.0 and 4.0 that is assigned to a letter grade and then used to calculate a grade point average (GPA).

3.2

REGULATIONS: The Office of the Registrar is responsible for the overall management and implementation of this policy. Only the Office of the Registrar has the authority to issue or release official grade information.

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GRANT MACEWAN COLLEGE Policy Manual Grading C2020

The Grading Scale is as follows: Letter GRADE A+ A AB+ B BC+ C CD+ D F WF Outstanding: Excellent: GRADE POINT Value 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.3 3.0 2.7 2.3 2.0 1.7 1.3 1.0 0.0 0.0 Exemplary achievement. Superior performance showing sustained excellence in meeting course expectations. Above average performance with good knowledge of subject material. Average and adequate performance, demonstrating a basic understanding of the subject matter, and meeting course requirements. Minimally competent performance showing significant weakness in many areas. Performance may be insufficient to satisfy prerequisite requirements. Unsatisfactory performance. have not been met. Course requirements Grade Descriptors Outstanding Excellent Good

Satisfactory

Poor Fail Withdraw Failure

Good:

Satisfactory:

Poor:

Fail:

Withdraw Failure: The grade is assigned by the Registrar and signifies that course requirements were not met because of failure to comply with the College withdrawal policy (E1055).

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GRANT MACEWAN COLLEGE Policy Manual Grading C2020

The following other notations or grades may appear on transcripts: AU IN W DEF CR NGR S TR 4.3.1 Audit Incomplete Withdrawal without academic penalty Deferred Completed requirements No grade received Supplemental privilege Transfer credit AU (Audit)

Students may be allowed to audit courses and will be charged an audit fee as indicated in the College Calendar. The terms and conditions of Policy C5020 Auditors of Courses shall apply. IN (Incomplete) IN indicates that a portion of required course work has not been completed and evaluated in the prescribed time period due to unusual, but justified, reasons. A final grade is assigned when the work agreed upon has been completed and evaluated. Normally, the maximum time for completion of the work shall not exceed one trimester. In cases where the assigned work is not completed with specified time frames, the instructor will submit a grade, based on course work completed at the time the agreement expires. 4.3.3 W (Withdrawal Without Academic Penalty)

A student shall be allowed to withdraw from an individual course until the date specified in the Academic Schedule as the deadline for withdrawal without academic penalty and receive a letter code of W in the course. Students continuing in a course after the official date for withdrawal without academic penalty will be expected to complete the course and will be assigned a final grade.

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GRANT MACEWAN COLLEGE Policy Manual Grading C2020

Students who do not officially withdraw but who stop participating in the course will be assigned a final grade on the basis of work completed. 4.3.4 DEF (Deferred)

DEF may be assigned for those students who have applied for and been granted access to a deferred final examination in accordance with Policy C2005 Final Examinations. 4.3.5 CR (Completed Requirements)

CR shall be used only after receiving the approval of the Vice President-Academic for specified courses, clinical or practicum experiences. 4.3.6 NGR (No Grade Received)

NGR shall be used as a temporary entry into a student record at each grade reporting period for instances where grades have not been received at the time of publishing statement of grades. The Registrars office shall endeavour to procure all grades as soon as possible and substitute NGR notations with a grade. 4.3.7 S (Supplemental Privilege)

Opportunities for the privilege of writing supplemental exams may be provided in cases where a students academic performance in a course declines significantly due to poor performance on a final written examination worth more than 40% of the course grade. The instructor may indicate a supplemental privilege by affixing the letter S to the course grade, and then the onus rests with the student to request a supplementary examination. The instructor makes a determination based on the circumstances of the case. Supplemental examinations shall replace the final examination and cover the same material in scope and depth. The students record shall clearly indicate the original course grade suffixed with an S as well as the subsequent course grade earned after the writing of a supplemental examination.

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GRANT MACEWAN COLLEGE Policy Manual Grading C2020

4.3.8

TR Transfer Credit (Advance Standing)

TR shall be assigned by the Registrar and will be used for coursework approved for Transfer Credit. TRgrades are not included in the Grade Point Average. 4.4 The grading system used at the College is based on Criterionreferenced testing and assessment. In this system student performance is assessed according to pre-determined performance levels, to ascertain how well each student has learned specific knowledge or skills. There are no pre-established percentages of students earning particular grades. Student performance in a course shall normally be assessed on more than one occasion. No single evaluation event shall have a value of greater than 60% of the course grade, with two noted exceptions.

4.5

One-credit courses are exempted from the no single evaluation event rule. Directed Field Studies courses (in Applied Degree programs) may be exempted from the no single evaluation event rule in cases where a single project or research study constitute the course requirements. 4.6 The grading system shall provide for an adequate number of differentiation points to allow for the appropriate discrimination between levels of student performance and determination of those students to be recommended for academic merit and scholarship. At the beginning of each course, the instructor shall make a Course Outline (C1025) available to students. This outline will provide information on student evaluation including the method by which student performance shall be evaluated, the relative weight of each evaluation component for overall course evaluation, and the determination of final course grades. The Chairs shall ensure that: 4.8.1 instructors within the same discipline and/or program use a consistent standard of grading,

4.7

4.8

Instructors of different sections in the same course use a consistent standard of grading. 5.0 PROCEDURES:

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GRANT MACEWAN COLLEGE Policy Manual Grading

Submission of Grades All instructors shall submit their final grades to the Registrars office, within five calendar days of completion of the course. The definition of completion of course varies by program and delivery mode, and is based upon how course end dates are established, whether courses require a final examination, and whether courses are scheduled according to an examination week schedule. The Registrars office will provide information on the academic standing of all students to the appropriate Chairs. Access to Deferred and Supplemental Examinations 5.2.1 All students who are eligible to write deferred and supplemental examinations shall be notified as to the time and place to write the examination as agreed to with their Chair, in accordance with Policy C2005.

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5.3

Reassessment of Grades and Change of Grades 5.3.1 Students may request the reassessment of written final examinations within 15 calendar days from the date of the official release of the course grades. The results of the reassessment as affecting the final grade shall be communicated to the student and the Registrar as soon as possible. All programs should provide students the opportunity to review their examination paper.

5.3.2

5.3.3

All changes of grades shall be submitted using stipulated forms by the instructor to the Registrar through the Chair. Access to Supplemental Examinations Within 5 working days of the posting of grades, a student wishing to write a supplemental examination, shall contact the program to ascertain their eligibility for a supplementary examination. The Chair shall arrange for the writing, and marking of the supplemental examination with notice of these particulars to the student and to the Registrars office.

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GRANT MACEWAN COLLEGE Policy Manual Grading C2020

The instructor shall submit a revised course grade as soon as possible upon completion of the supplementary examination to the Registrar to update the students record.

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GRANT MACEWAN COLLEGE Policy Manual Grading

FACT SHEET DATES: Approval Review SOURCE: 79.08.17 Approved by Board Motion: 8-17-79/80. Replaces Board policy 9.12 approved 78.11.01 by motion 3-1-78/79. Motion to add Grade G defeated by Academic Council 81.04.07. Amendments to regulations recommended by Academic council 82.06.08 and approved 82.06.23 by Board Motion 13-16-81/82. Changes made to policy and regulations (addition of CR grade) as recommended by Academic Council 85.05.07 and approved 85.05.16 by Board Motion 12-15-84/85. Page 3, third paragraph amended to include Grade D. Procedural changes to regulation 1.13 as approved by Academic Council motion 87-10-08-15 approved by Board motion 87/88, October 15, 1987. Recommended by Academic Council 90.04.03 and approved 90.04.19 by Board Motion 7-12-89/90 for implementation 90.09.01. Approved the addition of clauses 2.11 and 2.12 as recommended by Academic Council 96.11.01.05 and approved by Board Motion 3-1121-96/97. Revised as recommended by Academic Council Motion 98-10-13-05 and approved by Board Motion 1-4-15-98/99. 2004.02.24 2009.02

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81.04.07 82.06.23

85.05.16

86.01 87.10.15

90.04.19

96.21.11

99.04.15

Addition to regulations to include the grade of WF as approved by Academic Council Motion 00.11.21.05 and approved by Board Motion 02-315-2001/01 for implementation 01.09.01. 03.09.09 Addition of the grade point of A+ at a grade point of 4.0 effective September 2004, as approved by Academic Council Motion 03-0909-07.

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GRANT MACEWAN COLLEGE Policy Manual Grading

03.12.18

C2020
Policy updated for clarity approved by Board Motion 01-12-182003/03 as recommended by Academic Council motion 03-11-18-06 and was endorsed by Executive Committee. Implementation date of September 1, 2004 approved by Board motion 01-2-24-2003/04.

2004.02.24

RELATED POLICIES: Note 1: C1025 Course Outlines C2005 Final Examinations C2070 Academic Progress C2080 Academic Merit C2100 Graduation (Note: Graduation policy specifies the GPA required for graduation from programs) C5020 Auditors of Courses E1055 Withdrawal from College Program REFERENCES: Note 2: As a member of ARUCC (Association of Registrars of the Universities and College of Canada) Grant MacEwan College ensures that its grading practices conform with the National Transcript Guide for use in Canadian Post secondary Institutions, published by ARUCC. Note3: The Common Grading scale has been adopted by Alberta Universities and Colleges, based on recommendations from the Ministers Working Group on Admissions and Transfers. Adoption of the common grading scale eliminates the need for receiving institutions to convert grade point averages for admission purposes.

Implementation Date: The implementation date is September 1, 2005

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