Grade-related Policies

Grades

For every course you take, you receive a letter grade.

To determine your grade point average (GPA):

1. Multiply the number of semester hours for each course you have taken times the point value of the grade you have received in each course.
2. Add the products for all your courses.
3. Divide this sum by the number of semester hours you have taken excluding P and I grades.

We use your GPA to determine whether you are eligible for honors; for admission to certain majors, colleges, and curricula; and for determining your eligibility for membership in those university organizations for which scholastic achievement is a criterion.

You may see and print your grades for each term by accessing the Student Grade Report feature in myPoint. Enter your username and password and then choose the term you wish to see. Besides the grades listed above, you may also receive the following designations on your grade reports, none of which carry a point value:

If you voluntarily stop attending a class at any time without completing the prescribed change of program procedure, you are considered as still registered, and you receive an F in the course at the end of the semester.

Academic Bankruptcy

If you have been suspended for academic reasons and have remained out of school for one or more semesters, you will have the option of electing academic bankruptcy upon readmission to the university. Academic bankruptcy is the opportunity to start over with a new cumulative grade point average. We do, however, keep all of the work you have done at UW-Stevens Point on your official record.

If you apply for academic bankruptcy, we:

• Apply toward graduation those courses in which you earned a D or better.
• Apply toward your prerequisites and general education requirements, but not necessarily toward your major or minor, those courses in which you earned a D or better.
• Determine your cumulative grade point average from the courses you take after being readmitted, except in determining graduation honors in which case we include all the grades you earned at UW-Stevens Point and other institutions in calculating your cumulative grade point average.

In order to graduate after electing academic bankruptcy, you must earn a minimum of 30 credits and an overall grade point average of 2.00 or better in such courses, OR earn an overall grade point average of 2.00 or better in all work completed at UW-Stevens Point (including grades earned at UW-Stevens Point before and after academic bankruptcy).

You may exercise this option only once in your academic career.

Also realize that if you select the academic bankruptcy option, but have not maintained satisfactory academic progress, you will not be eligible for financial aid. Academic bankruptcy does not adjust your academic progress standing. See Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid  in the Financial Aid & Fees  section.

UW-Stevens Point academic departments may disregard a declaration of academic bankruptcy in calculating your grade point average to determine your eligibility for admission to and/or graduation from their programs. Graduate programs and other universities may also disregard a declaration of academic bankruptcy in determining your eligibility for admission purposes. If you are receiving GI Bill benefits, consult the university Veterans Coordinator in the Office of the Registrar, 101 SSC, before electing this option. If you take it, you may have to repay the VA for past benefits you have received.

Academic Requirements

Your adviser and others at UW-Stevens Point are happy to help you plan your academic program. However, you are responsible for following UW-Stevens Point’s regulations and successfully completing all your academic requirements.

In general, you are required to complete the academic requirements current at the time you first enroll. However, you may choose to complete a more recent set of requirements by declaring your intent to the Office of the Registrar, 101 SSC. You may also choose to complete a more recent set of requirements in one or more of your majors and minors with the approval of the chair of the department. If you choose to meet the more recent set of major/minor requirements, you do not have to choose the more recent set of general education requirements.

Here are some special situations:

1. If an external agency changes the requirements, meet the new requirements. For example, if the Department of Public Instruction changes the requirements for teacher certification, fulfill the new requirements.
2. If you re-enter UW-Stevens Point after being gone for two or more semesters, meet the requirements current when you re-enter. Note that if you enroll and then withdraw within the first two weeks of the semester, you are considered as not enrolled for that semester.
   1. If you have earned more than two-thirds of the credits toward your general education requirements by the time you re-enter (not counting electives and courses toward your major/minor), you may ask to complete the requirements current when you first registered. Your dean approves such a request. 
   2. If you have completed more than half of the credits to fulfill your major/minor requirements by the time you re-enter, you may ask to complete the major/minor requirements current when you first registered. The chair of your department approves such a request.
3. If you transfer from another UW System institution, this policy applies in the same manner as if you had originally enrolled at UW-Stevens Point.

Academic Standing

If your current cumulative and semester grade point average is 2.00 (C) or above, you are in good academic standing.

Auditing

“Auditing” means you attend class regularly without having to take exams, do laboratory work, participate in class discussions, or do any other classwork except listen. You may audit as many courses as you wish, up to five credits beyond the normal maximum study load. (See Study Load .) You receive no academic credit for auditing a course, but you may take the course again for credit.

To audit a course:

1. Receive the instructor’s permission, and be sure that there is enough space in the class.
2. Register for the course as you would for any course.
3. Between the first and eighth day of class, fill out an audit form at the Enrollment Services Center, 106 SSC, and have it signed by both the instructor and the department chair.
4. Attend classes regularly, just as you would a credit course. (See Attendance .)
5. Follow all university regulations, just as you would if you were attending a course for credit.
6. If you meet these conditions, your student record will show “audit” for the course.

Note that you may not change a course from “audit” to “credit” or change it from “credit” to “audit” after the eighth day of classes. After auditing a course, you may seek credit by examination for some courses if you are enrolled at UW-Stevens Point at the time of the examination and pay the examination fee.

Fees for audited courses are as follows:

• If you are a Wisconsin resident enrolled only for audit, you will be assessed 30 percent of the normal academic fees for a resident.
• If you are a nonresident enrolled only for audit, you will be assessed 50 percent of the normal academic fees for a nonresident.
• If you are enrolled for credit and audit, you will be assessed 100 percent of the normal academic fees for your residency.
• You will not be assessed segregated fees if you are only enrolled for audit, but you may only have access to those university facilities normally available to the general public such as the library and student union.
• You will be assessed any special fees for course instruction, if there are any.
• The general policy for refund of academic fees applies.
• Audited courses do NOT count toward credit load for financial aid purposes.
• Wisconsin residents at least 60 years of age may audit classes free of charge provided there is space available in the class and the instructor approves. Those who qualify may register on or after the first day of the term. Proof of age and residence will be requested. Stop in the Enrollment Services Center, 106 SSC, or call 715-346-3300 for information and/or registration materials.
• Disabled Wisconsin residents who present evidence of receiving federal old age survivors and disability insurance benefits (OASDI) under 42 USC 401-403 and who are enrolled exclusively for audit throughout the term are not assessed fees.

Grade Review

If an instructor does not give you, by the end of the second week of class, a written statement of how grades are determined, or if you feel that your instructor does not assign grades as described on that written statement, you may appeal the grade you receive in the course.

First talk with your instructor about your concerns. If, after doing so, you are not satisfied, write a statement of the problem and request that your grade be reviewed. Send this to the coordinator for grade review in the Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Office, Room 202 Old Main. You may submit this appeal up until the end of the fourth week of classes in the following semester.

After the coordinator receives your request, the following things take place:

1. You meet with the coordinator and discuss your grounds for appeal, the appeal process, and the options available to the Grade Review Subcommittee if the appeal is sustained.
2. The coordinator gives a copy of your appeal to your instructor and asks the instructor to respond to it in writing within 20 working days.
3. After 20 working days, the coordinator evaluates the allegations and determines if your appeal is valid.
4. Then, if the coordinator concludes that a grade change may be warranted, or if the instructor has failed to respond in writing, the coordinator gives the Grade Review Subcommittee of the Academic Affairs Committee all relevant information and directs the members of the committee to investigate your allegations and determine whether they are valid.

The subcommittee usually reaches a decision by the end of the semester in which you make the appeal. If, however, one of the parties is not on campus that semester, it may take longer.

If the subcommittee or the instructor determines that special academic expertise is needed, the subcommittee solicits an independent evaluation in writing from three impartial experts appointed by the chair of the instructor’s department in consultation with the instructor and the subcommittee chair. The subcommittee accepts the evaluation and recommendations of the impartial experts on matters of academic content whenever it asks for them.

After investigating your grievance, the subcommittee will inform both you and your instructor of its decision in writing. If it finds that a change of grade is warranted, it will also recommend to your instructor the appropriate grade change. If your instructor refuses to make the recommended grade change within 10 school days after being notified, the subcommittee will do one or more of the following to protect your interests:

1. Attach to your permanent record and transcript a statement of the recommended change of grade and the reasons your instructor did not change the grade.
2. Exempt the challenged grade from being included in your grade point average, unless you want the grade to be included.
3. Authorize your graduation minus the credit hours represented by the challenged grade, if that grade was F.

Honors

Graduation Honors

You may receive undergraduate graduation honors on the basis of your grade point average for all the courses you have attempted, including college level work you attempted elsewhere and any courses taken at UW-Stevens Point before the declaration of academic bankruptcy. In the commencement ceremony you are recognized on the basis of the work which you complete before your final term. On your transcript, you are recognized on the basis of all the work you have done, including your final term.

Summa cum laude is awarded for a grade point average of 3.90 or above. Magna cum laude is awarded for a grade point average of 3.75 to 3.89. Cum laude is awarded for a grade point average of 3.50 to 3.74.

If you are eligible to wear an honors cord at the commencement ceremony, it will be issued to you when caps and gowns are distributed at the University Store. If you have earned summa cum laude honors, you will have the distinction of having your name announced at the commencement ceremony.

Semester Honors-Dean’s List

UW-Stevens Point faculty have established semester honors as part of their program to recognize undergraduate students for outstanding academic achievement. To be eligible for semester honors, complete at least 12 semester hours of work with passing grades.

Semester highest honors are awarded for a grade point average of 3.90 or above; high honors are awarded for a grade point average of 3.75 to 3.89; and honors are awarded for a grade point average of 3.50 to 3.74. Semester honors are printed on your transcript.

You will receive an honors certificate and be placed on the dean’s list in the Colleges of Fine Arts and Communication, Letters and Science, and Professional Studies when you earn a semester grade point average of above 3.75. The College of Natural Resources awards dean’s list certificates to undergraduate students in their college who earn a grade point average of 3.5 or above.

In addition to these honors all undergraduate students who obtain a semester grade point average of 3.9 or above receive an honors certificate from the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Department Honors Program

Some departments provide departmental honors programs which involve 9 credits of work or more. Contact individual departments for further information on their programs.

Incompletes

If you are unable to complete your work in a course due to extenuating circumstances or if you need to extend your research or performance beyond the normal limits of a term, you may ask the instructor for an “incomplete” in the course. An “incomplete” should be reserved for the completion of a definable amount of work (for example, one term paper or one exam) that occurs near the end of the semester. An “incomplete” normally will not be used for making up in-class work; therefore do not expect to sit in the class in a subsequent semester. If your request for an “incomplete” is approved, the instructor will inform you and the department chair of the work you need to complete and the due date.

You will have until the end of the next semester (excluding summer session) to complete the work unless your instructor gives you an earlier deadline. Failure to complete the work prior to the appropriate deadline will result in a grade of F. If, for reasons beyond your control, you are unable to make up the “incomplete” by the deadline, you may ask the instructor and department chair to extend this time limit one time. However, any further extension of time will require the approval of the dean of the college.

DO NOT register for a course in which you received an “incomplete.” If you do, the incomplete will be changed to an F. Instead, arrange with your instructor to complete the work remaining in the course. When you have completed the work satisfactorily, your instructor will report the removal of the “incomplete” to the Office of the Registrar who will notify you that your record has been updated. If you do not receive notification after a reasonable waiting period, you should contact your instructor. Your final grade will not change any prior academic status.

Minimum Acceptable Standards

You are in good academic standing if you have a semester and cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.00 (C) or above. With a GPA at or above 2.00 you meet the minimum acceptable standards of UW-Stevens Point, and are not placed on probation.

Pass/Fail Grading

Through the pass/fail grading program, you gain the opportunity to secure a broader, more liberal academic experience than is usually possible under the traditional, many-stepped grading program. As a result, you may take courses which are personally or intellectually attractive to you, without the pressure to secure and maintain a high grade point average. You may take courses of value outside your major in which your knowledge is not great enough to sustain a high letter grade. You may, in other words, experience learning for its own sake.

Register for the pass/fail option on or before the eleventh day of classes. You may not change either to or from pass/fail after the eleventh day of classes except for extenuating circumstances and only when approved by the department chair, the instructor, and your adviser.

If you earn a P in your course, you have passed it and are granted credit for it. We do not include a grade of P in calculating your grade point average; however, we do apply the credit you earn toward your degree.

If you earn an F in your course, you have failed it and do not receive credit for it. We do include a grade of F in calculating your grade point average.

At the undergraduate level, you may select up to five pass/fail credits (other than the required GDR wellness) each semester. However, you may count no more than 20 credits from pass/fail courses (other than the required GDR wellness) toward your degree requirements.

If you are on probation, you may take a course on a pass/fail basis only if it is in the required GDR wellness or if the course is offered as pass/fail only.

Count pass/fail courses only as electives. You may count the “pass” credits you earn toward the total credits you need for a degree; however, pass/fail courses DO NOT satisfy general degree requirements (GDRs) or requirements of the General Education Program (GEP). For example, a course which applies toward the humanities requirement might be available on a pass/fail option. If you take the course pass/fail and pass, you may NOT count it toward your humanities requirement. If you take it on an A-F basis and earn a D or better, you may count the course toward your humanities requirement. However, in both cases you may count the credits toward the total number of credits you need for your degree.

There are three exceptions to this rule:

1. You may satisfy your wellness/health enhancement requirements of the GDRs with pass/fail courses.
2. Certain courses offered only as pass/fail may be approved for Experiential Learning credit in the GEP. You cannot use your pass/fail option in a course normally offered on an A-F basis and count it toward the Experiential Learning requirement.
3. In certain departments you may be permitted to take up to two pass/fail courses in your major and one pass/fail course in your minor. To do this, you will need to fill out a special pass/fail registration form available in the Enrollment Services Center, 106 SSC.

For information on which courses are offered pass-fail, go to the Enrollment Services Center homepage (www.uwsp.edu/enrollmentservices) and then click on “Class Search.” The link for Pass/Fail Grading is on the top of that page. Each department determines which courses to include in the program and under what conditions.

Departments provide the option of a standard grade in all courses offered under the pass/fail program except for those courses and sections that were approved to be offered as pass/fail only.

Probation/Suspension

You are in good academic standing if both your semester and cumulative grade point averages (GPAs) are 2.00 or better.

Probation

Probation-1 means that either your semester GPA or your cumulative GPA (or both) are less than 2.00. This is a warning that you need to raise both your semester and cumulative GPAs to a 2.00 or higher at the end of your next semester of attendance at UW-Stevens Point to be in good standing.

1. If you are on Probation-1 and your semester OR cumulative GPA (but not both) falls below 2.00 at the end of your next semester of attendance, you will be placed on Probation-2.
2. If you are on Probation-1 and your semester AND cumulative GPA fall below 2.00 at the end of your next semester of attendance, you will be suspended.
3. Probation-1 does not appear on your transcript.

Probation-2 means that either your semester or your cumulative GPA is less than 2.00 AND you are already on Probation-1. This is a final warning that you need to raise both your semester and your cumulative GPAs to a 2.00 or higher at the end of your next semester of attendance.

1. If you are on Probation-2 and your semester OR cumulative GPA falls below 2.00 at the end of your next semester of attendance, you will be suspended.
2. Probation-2 does not appear on your transcript.

Once placed on probation you must meet with your adviser by the end of the first week of classes of the next term you attend.

Suspension

Suspension means that you are not eligible to continue classes at UW-Stevens Point for a period of time. If you are suspended, you will be sent a copy of your academic record and a letter that further explains your situation. You will be suspended if:

1. You earned less than a 2.00 in EITHER your semester or cumulative GPA after having been on Probation-2.
2. You earned less than 2.00 in both your semester and cumulative GPAs after having been on Probation-1.
3. You earned a cumulative GPA less than 2.00 and a semester GPA less than 1.00.
4. You were admitted to UW-Stevens Point on probation and you earned less than a 2.00 GPA during your first semester of attendance at UW-Stevens Point.

Suspension status DOES appear on your transcript.

Winterim grades can be used to improve your academic standing, but you cannot be placed on academic probation or suspension as a result.

Summer grades can cause you to be placed on or off academic probation, but you cannot be suspended as a result.

You may attend a summer session after being suspended. While your successful performance in such courses may provide evidence of your readiness to return to college, it does not guarantee your readmission to UW-Stevens Point. Please call Admissions at 715-346-2441 for more details. Also see Academic Bankruptcy  and Returning UW-Stevens Point Students .

Repeating Courses

1. Repeating a course at UW-Stevens Point that was originally taken at UW-Stevens Point.

You may repeat a course in which you received a D+, D, or F if you receive online authorization from your adviser and the chair of the department in which the course is offered BEFORE you register for the course (see repeat policy for First Year Seminar below). If you are a graduate student and need to repeat a graduate course, you must have the written authorization of the dean of the college offering the course.

A second repeat of a course in which you received a D+, D, or F requires written authorization from the dean of the college, in consultation with your adviser and the department chair in which the course is offered, BEFORE you register for the course. Important Note: Repeating course work has an impact on financial aid - see policy below in section E.

You may not repeat a course in which you received a grade of C- or better. Your dean, in consultation with the department chair, may grant an exception on appeal only for extenuating circumstances. You must obtain written authorization from your adviser, the chair of the department and the dean of the college in which the course is offered BEFORE you register for the course. Important Note: Repeating course work has an impact on financial aid - see policy below in Section E.

2. Repeating a First Year Seminar (FYS) Course:
   1. You can only repeat an F letter grade for any First Year Seminar course. Repeats are not allowed for any passing grade earned in a First Year Seminar course, including a D or D+.
   2. If you elect to repeat your First Year Seminar course, then
      1. you must request permission from the Director of General Education to repeat the course, and
      2. you must enroll in the repeated First Year Seminar course before you earn a total of 30 credits.
   3. When repeating your FYS, you may take any FYS course number.
   4. If you do not earn a passing grade for a First Year Seminar course by the time you earn 30 credits, contact the Director of General Education who will approve an appropriate substitute course. Note: The grade for this additional course will not replace the F from your FYS course in your GPA.

If you repeat a course which you had initially completed here, we figure only the credit and grade you earn in your last attempt in your cumulative grade point average. However, we do not expunge your original grade from your transcript. On the Degree Progress Report (DPR), the major GPA and the overall GPA will be recalculated using the grade earned in your last attempt and the first attempt course and grade will be listed in the “Courses not Applicable” category. This applies only when the original attempt and the repeat are taken at UW-Stevens Point.

Be sure to have your request authorized BEFORE registering for the course. Any repeat not authorized before enrolling in the course will result in the repeat being expunged from your record.

3. Repeating a course at another institution that was originally taken at UW-Stevens Point.

Grades of D or better may NOT be repeated at another institution. Courses in which you received grades of F at UW-Stevens Point may be repeated at another institution. Courses repeated at another institution will not replace a grade on your UW-Stevens Point transcript or be used to recalculate the cumulative grade point average on your transcript. However, courses repeated at another institution will replace a grade on your Degree Progress Report (DPR) and it will be used to recalculate the major GPA and the overall GPA on the DPR.

4. Repeating a course at UW-Stevens Point that was originally taken at another institution.

Grades earned at another institution may be repeated at UW-Stevens Point provided you follow the same approval process as if the original grade was earned at UW-Stevens Point. If approved, the previous attempt earned at the other institution will be removed from your UW-Stevens Point transcript and Degree Progress Report.

5. Repeated Courses and Financial Aid.

In some cases repeated courses will not be funded by federal financial aid. Department of Education regulations specify the types of repeated coursework that are allowed for financial aid. The U.S. Department of Education defines a D or above as a passing grade and will fund only one additional attempt for a repeated course above a greade of D. (See the chart below for specifics). If you withdraw from a course you are repeating, the W received will count toward the calculation of Satisfactory Academic Progress. For the purposes of calculating repeated coursework funding and Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid, all repeats of courses are considered, whether taken at UW-Stevens Point with a grade received or transferred credit from another institution applied toward the completion of a degree.