Grade and Academic Standing Policies

Credit and Grade System

The scholastic year is normally divided into 2 semesters—fall and spring— of 15 instructional weeks plus a week of final exams with 150 minutes scheduled for each course. A class hour is 50 minutes of lecture, seminar, or recitation, or 110 minutes of laboratory work. The number of meetings per week and the corresponding credit in semester hours are indicated in the class schedule. Experiential learning opportunities that take place during winter break are included as part of the spring term for academic, financial aid, and tuition purposes. Carroll also offers an optional summer term, divided into different sessions; there is a special summer tuition rate that is charged in addition to academic year tuition.

The unit of academic credit is the semester hour. Ordinarily, a semester hour represents the work of 50 minutes of class meeting once weekly and requiring approximately 2 hours of preparation. Thus, a class which meets 100 minutes weekly carries 2 hours of credit; 150 minutes weekly, 3 credits; etc. One laboratory period (two to three hours) is equivalent to one class meeting. The minimum passing grade required before a student can receive credit is “D.”

Interpretation of Letter Grades

The grading system in use is an alphabetical system using the letters A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F, I, P, W, NR and AU. The option for +/- grading went into effect beginning with academic year 2015-2016. Grades are interpreted as follows:

A/A- indicates excellence of performance in every aspect of the course

B+/B/B- indicates a better than satisfactory but less than excellent performance in every aspect of the course

C+/C/C- indicates a satisfactory performance in every aspect of the course

D indicates a less than satisfactory performance in some or all aspects of the course

F indicates serious deficiencies in some or all aspects of the course

I incomplete is given only under unusual circumstances which cause a delay in a student’s completion of a course. The student must be doing passing work after 60% of the course has been completed before an “I“ (incomplete) may be given. The student must make specific arrangements including completion date (no later than the end of the following semester) with the faculty member for the completion of the course. A formal written Request for Grade of Incomplete must be filed in the Office of the Registrar before the assignment of the grade as incomplete

P pass—indicates the requirements for receiving credit for a course have been met.

W withdrawal NR not reported

AU audit student—no credit or grade.

Grade Points and Academic Average

A student’s cumulative grade point average (GPA) is calculated by using only those grades earned at Carroll. A student’s GPA is determined by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number of graded attempted credits. In computing this average, the following points are assigned each grade:

Neither the notation “W” nor the grade “P” is computed when calculating the grade point average of a student.

Good Standing and Academic Probation

The grade point average required to maintain good academic standing at Carroll College is 2.00. In order to remain in good standing, a student must have a 2.00 grade point average for both the semester and cumulative work.

When semester grade reports indicate that a student has failed to meet the minimum scholastic standards (2.00 grade point average), the student is not in good academic standing.

After a semester of unsatisfactory work, a student enrolled for 12 or more semester hours will be placed on academic probation; however, acute or significant failure to meet minimum academic standards after one semester may warrant academic suspension. Likewise, academic suspension may result upon completion of a second consecutive semester of unsatisfactory work or upon completion of a total of three non-consecutive semesters of unsatisfactory work.

A student who has been suspended is not eligible to apply for readmission for at least one academic year.

Suspension may result after one semester of unsatisfactory work should very poor performance warrant such action. The associate vice president for academic affairs, in consultation with appropriate faculty and staff, will evaluate these cases and make an appropriate determination.

The records of part-time students will be reviewed after the student has attempted 12 or more semester credits. If a total of 12 or more semester credits have been attempted and cumulative grade point average is unsatisfactory (below 2.00), the student will be placed on probation.

For transfer students, the grades earned at Carroll College alone will determine the grade point average of the student at Carroll.

The academic standing of a student who withdraws from the College and then seeks re-admission will be based on that of the student’s last term of attendance at Carroll. Students must meet the grade point average described above to be considered as making satisfactory progress. Students who fail to make satisfactory progress may be declared ineligible for financial aid, either institutional or under the Title IV Federal Aid program. Grade point averages falling below this 2.00 standard are considered unsatisfactory.

Participation in College-Sponsored Activities

Students on academic probation for a second term or more (consecutive or non-consecutive) as a result of work at Carroll College may not hold offices in student activities and organizations, nor may they participate in any varsity sports contests, intercollegiate forensic competitions, main stage theatre productions, choir tour commitments, the Gold Team Ambassadors, Community Advisors, Peer Ministers, or Carroll sponsored education or service abroad. Upon restoration of good standing, students may resume participation as long as all other eligibility requirements are also met.

Restoration of Good Standing

Full-time students (6 Carroll credits or more in summer, 12 credits or more in fall or spring) on academic probation are restored to good standing when their semester grade point average is 2.00 or above and their cumulative grade point average is 2.00 or above when enrolled as a full-time student. A part-time student on probation must complete at least 9 credits with grades of the quality required to be restored to good standing. A student with satisfactory performance in a semester, but a continued unsatisfactory cumulative grade point average, will remain on probation until the cumulative average is above the minimum.

The Pass/Fail Grade

Selected courses are regularly graded on a pass/fail basis. However, students may undertake other courses on a pass/fail basis under the following conditions:

• Courses taken on a pass/fail basis are not accepted into the major or minor;
• Beginning Fall 2017*, courses taken on a pass/fail basis are not accepted as fulfilling Core Curriculum requirements;
• Writing intensive courses may not be taken pass/fail;
• To elect pass/fail grading, a student must have completed 60 or more semester hours of college work (junior standing) with a cumulative grade point average of 2.00;
• A student may only enroll in one course per semester on an elected pass/fail basis, with a maximum of two such courses allowable toward graduation.

Students who register for such courses must indicate this choice at the time of formal registration—that is, during the period specified by the academic calendar for each semester. After this period, students may not change their registration from regular grade status to pass/fail or from pass/fail to regular grade status.

Credits transferred from other institutions to a student’s Carroll College program will not be accepted into the major, minor, or (as of Fall 2017*) Core Curriculum requirements if taken on a pass/fail basis. No more than two such courses will be allowed toward graduation whether they are taken at Carroll or at another institution.

Students taking courses on a pass/fail basis should pay special attention to faculty grading policies.

*This policy was implemented campus-wide for all students and courses beginning Fall 2017. Carroll courses and transfer courses taken before Fall 2017 that met the previous pass/fail policy conditions were grandfathered in; courses taken Fall 2017 and later fall under the revised policy, regardless of when the student began his or her studies at Carroll.

Grade Reports

Students may view their grades via Carroll Self-Service at mid-semester and the end of fall, spring, and summer semesters. The College does not hold itself responsible for grade report errors unless the Registrar is notified of errors within 6 months after the issue of the report.

Grade Change Policy

Once an instructor has submitted an official grade report to the Registrar’s Office, a grade can only be changed within one year of its issuance and only in the case of fraud, error, or a successful student academic appeal. In extraordinary circumstances, a change of grade may be requested after the one year limit has expired. However, any grade change after a one year period must have the approval of the Registrar.

Transcript of Credit and Record

• Carroll College will issue official academic transcripts only upon the signed request of the student whose transcript is being requested.
• A transcript is not considered official unless it bears the seal of the College, the signature of the Registrar, and is transmitted directly from the Registrar to an authorized recipient.
• The College reserves the right to deny the issuance of transcripts if a student’s financial account is not paid or payment plan arrangements have not been followed.
• The College does not hold itself responsible for any error on a transcript which is not brought to the attention of the Registrar within 6 months of issue.
• Work completed at other institutions will not be posted to Carroll College transcripts after a student has received a degree from Carroll (unless the student has declared the intention of completing a subsequent major, minor, Associate of Arts degree, etc. through Carroll).