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Chapter IV: Academic Policies and Procedures
The policies and procedures described in this chapter
govern the conduct of academic matters affecting students enrolled
in the College. Exceptions to these policies may be granted only
upon written petition to the Academic Standards Board. Honors
students petition the Honors Academic Board; Residential College
students petition the RC Counseling Office.
Grade Notations and Grading Policies
Academic Record
The Academic Record is the official record of a
student's course elections, grades, and credits earned toward
a degree. Since the academic record is a permanent record of
a student's academic performance, it must be correct. Students
who believe an error has been made on their academic records
should contact the Assistant to the Academic Standards Board
(1255 Angell Hall).
LS&A academic records are maintained by the
Records and Enrollment Department in the Registrar's Office (1513
LS&A Building).
A student wishing to have a transcript of the academic
record sent to another college or university or to an employer
can place an order online from http://wolverineaccess.umich.edu/.
You will need a Uniqname and university password and should receive
a confirmation number. Requests with attachments or needing special
services should be brought to a Student Services site, 1010 LS&A
Building or 1212 Pierpont Commons. Mail requests can be sent
to:
Transcript and Certification Office
555 LS&A Building
500 South State Street
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor 48109-1382.
All requests should include dates of attendance
and a student identification number. A transcript of the academic
record bearing the official seal of the University of Michigan
and the signature of the Registrar is forwarded directly
to the institution or person specified by the student, assuming
there is no outstanding financial commitment from the student
to the University. There is no fee for official transcripts.
A student may request and receive on demand an academic report
of the academic record. The academic report is "unofficial"
and contains additional information not included in the official
transcript. It should not be used in lieu of a transcript for
the purposes of admission or employment. A copy of your academic
report can be obtained from: http://wolverineaccess.umich.edu.
A student may pay a fee set by the Registrar's
Office and request a special transcript
1. listing courses but no grades, 2. translating all grades into P or F, or
3. including an appendix listing the original grades
submitted for all courses elected "Pass/ Fail."
A specially prepared transcript indicates which
of these options has been chosen. A request for a special
transcript does not permanently revise the original academic
record.
Summary of Transcript Notations
| Letter Grade | Honor Points |
| A+ | 4.0 |
| A | 4.0 |
| A- | 3.7 |
| B+ | 3.3 |
| B | 3.0 |
| B- | 2.7 |
| C+ | 2.3 |
| C | 2.0 |
| C- | 1.7 |
| D+ | 1.3 |
| D | 1.0 |
| D- | 0.7 |
| E | 0.0 |
| Pass/Fail |
| P (passed) | credit, no honor points |
| F (failed) | no credit, no honor points |
| Credit/No Credit |
| CR (credit) | credit, no honor points |
| NC (no credit) | no credit, no honor points |
| Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory |
| S (satisfactory) | credit, no honor points |
| U (unsatisfactory) | no credit, no honor points |
| (The S/U symbols are used by the
School of Education.) | |
| Withdrawal/Drop |
| W (official withdrawal) | no credit, no honor points |
| ED (dropped unofficially) | no credit, no honor points |
| (A notation of ED for a graded election
has the same effect on the grade point average as does an E.) | |
| Incomplete/Work in Progress |
| I (incomplete) | no credit, no honor points |
| Y (work in progress for project
approved to extend for two successive terms) | no credit, no honor points |
| Official Audit (VI) |
| VI (VIsitor) | no credit, no honor points |
| Miscellaneous Notations (NR, ##) |
| NR (no report) | no credit, no honor points |
| ## (no grade reported) | no credit, no honor points |
| NG (no grade reported) | no credit, no honor points |
A notation of P, F, CR, NC, S, U does not affect
a student's term or cumulative grade point average. A notation
of I, Y, NG, ## or NR, if not replaced by a passing grade, eventually
lapses to E or ED and, for graded elections, is computed into
the term and cumulative grade point averages.
If an LS&A student elects a course in another
Ann Arbor unit which is graded on a pattern not indicated here
(for example, graduate courses in the Business School), the grade
will be translated by the Registrar to fit with LS&A's letter
grading scale.
Drop (W) / Official Withdrawal / Unofficial
Withdrawal (ED)
If a student withdraws officially from a course
after the first three weeks of a full term (first two weeks of
a half-term), the course is recorded on the transcript with a
W notation; neither credits toward a degree program nor honor
points are earned. The W notation is posted regardless of a student's
reasons for requesting the official withdrawal. If a student
unofficially withdraws from a course (i.e., stops attending
the course but does not obtain permission for an official withdrawal),
the notation ED (Unofficial Withdrawal) is posted on the transcript.
An ED is computed into the term and cumulative grade point averages
as an E if the course was elected for a regular letter grade;
neither credit toward a degree program nor honor points are earned.
Grading for a Two-Term Course (Y)
A few courses (e.g., senior Honors thesis
courses or some Biological Sciences research courses) are approved
as "two-term" sequences. In these specially approved
cases only, an instructor can report a Y grade at the end
of the first-term course to indicate work in progress. When a
final grade is reported at the end of the second term, that final
grade is posted for both terms' elections. In cases where a Y
grade is reported for a course which is not approved to extend
for two successive terms, an I (Incomplete) is posted on the
transcript and the course is subject to the regular deadline
for incompletes. Students needing more time to complete this
work must petition the Academic Standards Board for an official
extension of the deadline (see below).
Incomplete Courses and Notations (I)
An "Incomplete" (denoted on the transcript
by the symbol I) may be reported only if the amount of unfinished
work is small, the work is unfinished for reasons acceptable
to the instructor, and the student's standing in the course is
at least C—. The I grade is not included in the computation
of the term or cumulative grade point averages during the period
when a student has the privilege of making up the work. Incomplete
grades may be made up while a student is not in residence even
if a student has been dismissed from the College for reasons
of unsatisfactory academic performance. An incomplete grade must
be made up by the fourth week of a student's next fall or winter
term in residence or by an extended deadline approved by the
Office of Academic Standards.
An instructor has ten days following the "four-week
deadline or ten days following an approved extended deadline"
in which to report a final grade. The final grade is posted on
the transcript, and credits and honor points are posted accordingly.
The I is not removed when the course is completed but remains
on the transcript. An I grade not finished by the incomplete
deadline or an approved extended deadline lapses to E. In such
cases, no degree credit is earned and the course is then computed
as an E in the term and cumulative grade point averages. Unfinished
courses elected on a non-graded pattern ("Pass/Fail,"
"Credit/No Credit," etc. ) lapse to "Fail"
or "No Credit" but do not affect the term or cumulative
grade point averages.
No Report (NR), No Grade (NG), Blank Grades
If an NR is reported by an instructor, the grade
is treated as an I and will convert to an ED at the fourth week
of the next fall or winter term of registration. An ED carries
no degree credit, and the course is computed as an E in the term
and cumulative grade point averages.
If an instructor does not report a grade (leaves
the grade blank), the Registrar's Office records the grade as
##. If unresolved after the first four weeks of the next fall
or winter term in residence, the ## in a graded election is lapsed
to an ED. An ED carries no degree credit, and the course is computed
as an E in the term and cumulative grade point averages.
The NG is recorded when a student has been registered
into a class after the course grade sheets have been sent to
the instructor. The NG will convert to an ED if unresolved after
the first four weeks of the next fall or winter registration.
An ED carries no degree credit, and the course is computed as
an E in the term and cumulative grade point averages.
Non-Graded Courses
(P/F, CR/NC, S/U)
Students may count a maximum 30 non-graded credits
toward the 120 credits required for a degree. Non-graded credits
are earned in courses for which no letter grade (A+ through E)
is recorded on the transcript. Only those non-graded credits
actually earned are counted as part of the total number of non-graded
credits applicable toward a degree.
- Non-graded courses may be included in a
distribution plan.
- Pass/Fail courses may not be included in
a concentration plan or in an academic minor.
- Experiential and Directed Reading/Independent
Study courses that are graded on a Credit/No Credit or Satisfactory/
Unsatisfactory basis may be included in a concentration
program.
- The final course in a sequence used to fulfill
the Language Requirement may not be elected on a Pass/Fail
basis. (Effective for all students admitted to the College in
Fall Term, 1995 and thereafter.)
- A change in grading pattern for a course is
not permitted after the first three weeks of a full term (first
two weeks of a half-term). Grading pattern choices must be
modified through the registration system. Courses elected after
the third week of a term may not be elected on a non-graded basis
unless the course is offered as a "mandatory non-graded"
course. The only exceptions to this policy are short courses
(e.g., GEOSCI 101-115) which have started after the beginning
of the term. In these cases, the grading pattern may not be changed
after the second week of class. The Academic Standards Board
does not grant exceptions to this policy.
- The College holds students responsible for
ensuring the accuracy and completeness of their class schedule.
- Non-graded courses earn credit toward a degree
but not honor points. Therefore, "Pass" (or Credit)
grades do not enter into the computation of the term or cumulative
grade point averages.
- Instructor approval is not required for a choice
in the elected grading pattern nor should the instructor be informed
of such a choice. Instructors report letter grades (A+ through
E) for all students in their courses, except in mandatory CR/NC
courses. In the case of a student who has chosen to elect a course
"Pass/Fail," the Office of the Registrar converts the
letter grades according to the following policies:
- Grades of A+ through C— are posted on a transcript
as "P" (Pass); credit toward a degree is earned.
- Grades of D+ through E are posted on a transcript
as F (Fail); no degree credit is earned.
- In the case of an incomplete course elected "Pass/Fail,"
credit is posted only when the work has actually been completed
and a grade of at least C— has been reported. "Pass/Fail"
courses which are not finished lapse to "Fail," although
the term and cumulative grade point averages remain unaffected.
- If the instructor of a mandatory Credit/No Credit
course believes that the amount and quality of a student's work
is such that it deserves credit, CR (Credit) is posted on the
transcript. If the instructor believes that a student's work
does not justify the awarding of credit, NC (No Credit) is posted
on the transcript. Courses offered mandatory Credit/No Credit
are designated in the course listings in Chapter VI.
- In computing the grade point average for honorary
societies, the reported letter grades for "non-graded"
elections are computed into the cumulative grade point average.
- No course elected "Pass/Fail" will receive
the Honors notation on the transcript or be counted as an "Honors"
course for the Sophomore Honors Award.
- A student may pay a special fee set by the Registrar's
Office and request a specially prepared appendix to the transcript
on which the original grades submitted for all courses elected
"Pass/Fail" are listed.
- Students who have transferred "non-graded"
credit to the College must count that credit as part of the maximum
30 hours of "non-graded" credit which may be counted
toward an LS&A degree.
- A student cannot choose to elect a course by the CR/NC and
S/U grading patterns; the optional non-graded pattern
is P/F.
Auditing Courses
Students are expected to elect courses for credit.
Occasionally, however, a student may wish to attend a course
but not elect it for credit. This arrangement can take the form
of an official audit (sometimes called Visitor
status).
An official audit obligates a student to
attend classes regularly and complete course requirements (e.g.,
papers, laboratory assignments, tests, and the final examination).
Regular tuition fees apply, and the course appears on the transcript
with the notation VI (Visitor); no grade is posted and
no degree credit is earned. To arrange an official audit, a student
must submit to the Academic Standards Board a written statement,
signed by the student and instructor, indicating the reasons
for the official audit and outlining the student's obligation
to course requirements. A request to officially audit a course
should be approved before the election is made and at
least by the end of the third week of a full term. Students who
do not fulfill course requirements earn the grade ED to indicate
that the course was unofficially dropped. In these special cases,
the term and cumulative grade point averages remain unaffected.
A course elected as an official audit without permission
will be posted on the transcript as an unapproved election.
Tuition is assessed by the Office of the Registrar for both
approved and unapproved audits.
Repetition of Courses
If a course was taken in residence and a grade
of A+ through C—, P, CR, or S was earned, then repetition
of this course results in no additional credit or honor points.
The course and grade appear on the transcript with the notation
"Not for Credit." A student repeating a course in which
D+ through D— was previously earned will receive honor points
but no additional credit toward a degree. The course appears
on the transcript with the notation "Repetition." Repetition
of a course in which an E, F, or U grade was originally earned
produces both credits toward a degree and honor points for courses
elected on the graded pattern; there is no special transcript
notation. In all such cases, the first election and grade earned
remain on the transcript. The grades earned by repetition of
courses are not averaged and posted as a single entry; but are
posted as separate elections.
Out of Sequence Courses
If a course is elected which is a prerequisite
for in-residence credits already received, the course and grade
will appear on the transcript with the notation "Not for
Credit." No credits or honor points will be granted.
If a course is elected which is a prerequisite
for credits previously transferred from another institution,
the transferred credits will be deducted and the in-residence
course will be posted for both credit and honor points.
Grade Point Average
Term and Cumulative Grade Point Averages
The Term Grade Point Average is determined by dividing
the total number of Michigan Semester Hours (MSH) elected during
a term into the total number of Michigan Honor Points (MHP) earned
during the same term. The Cumulative Grade Point Average is determined
by dividing the total number of Michigan Semester Hours (MSH)
into the total number of Michigan Honor Points (MHP) earned.
Notations of Y, I, NR, NG and ## are not initially calculated
into the term or cumulative grade point averages. Notations of
I, NR, NG and ##, if unresolved by the end of the fourth week
of the next fall or winter term in residence or by an approved
extension deadline, lapse to E or ED and are computed into both
the term and cumulative grade point averages, if the course was
a graded election.
Minimum Term and Cumulative Grade Point Averages Required
To be in good academic standing, a student must
earn at least a 2.0 term grade point average and a 2.0 cumulative
grade point average. If a student fails to accomplish this, the
"honor point deficit" can be determined by multiplying
the Michigan Semester Hours (MSH) elected by 2.0 and subtracting
the total number of Michigan Honor Points (MHP) earned. Only
honor points earned in courses elected at the University of Michigan
(Ann Arbor, Dearborn, or Flint campus) may affect the grade point
average.
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