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Policies & Procedures

New 'F' Grade Policy

MEMORANDUM

TO: All Faculty and Instructional Academic Staff

FROM: John Wanat, Provost and Vice Chancellor

RE: New 'F' Grade Policy

DATE: September 28, 2004

I wanted to alert you to the fact that, due to Federal compliance requirements for students receiving financial aid, the Academic Policy Committee recommended, and the Faculty Senate passed (Document No. 2435, May 18, 2004), a policy change that affects the processing of 'F' grades. For further explanation of the reasons for this change, please see the policy documentation at http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/facdocs/2435.pdf.

The new policy, which will take effect beginning with the fall term of
2004-05, is as follows:

  • When reporting a grade of 'F,' the instructor will also report a number corresponding to the student's "week of last participation" in the course. This is the last week of the term for which there is documented evidence of the student's participation in the course.
  • "Documented evidence of participation" may include any work or materials received from the student, such as exams, quizzes, projects, homework, etc. Documented evidence of participation might also take the form of an attendance roster (if attendance is taken in class), an annotation by the instructor that the student was observed attending class or otherwise participating in the course on a certain date, etc.
  • The mechanism to report the week of last participation shall be
    that, when reporting an 'F' grade, the instructor will follow the 'F' with a numeral showing the student's last week of participation, such as, for example, 'F0,' 'F1,' 'F16,' and so on, with 1 equating to the first week of the course, 2 to the second, etc. A student receiving the mark of 'F0' would, therefore, be one who never attended or participated, whereas a student marked 'F16" would have completed the entire term (assuming this was a full-term course during a 16- week semester). For a six-week summer session course, the possible marks would be 'F0' - 'F6' and so on. (See next page for a complete list of possible marks.)
  • On official transcripts, only the mark 'F' will be reflected. The
    numeral for "week of last participation" will be reflected on internal, unofficial transcripts and grade reports only.

We are providing this information now, at the beginning of the semester that it takes effect, in case you wish to adjust any of your classroom procedures to make it easier to provide this information when you report grades at the end of the term. A reminder and specific directions for reporting 'F' grades under this new policy will also be included with the information you receive
later in the term as the grading process gets underway.

______________________________

Mark Definition for 'F' Grades - Effective Fall, 2004

F0 = No Documented Participation
F1 = No Documented Participation after 1st Week
F2 = No Documented Participation after 2nd Week
F3 = No Documented Participation after 3rd Week
F4 = No Documented Participation after 4th Week
F5 = No Documented Participation after 5th Week
F6 = No Documented Participation after 6th Week
F7 = No Documented Participation after 7th Week
F8 = No Documented Participation after 8th Week
F9 = No Documented Participation after 9th Week
F10 = No Documented Participation after 10th Week
F11 = No Documented Participation after 11th Week
F12 = No Documented Participation after 12th Week
F13 = No Documented Participation after 13th Week
F14 = No Documented Participation after 14th Week
F15 = No Documented Participation after 15th Week
F16 = Student Completed the Term

Note: The above applies to full-term classes during a 16-week semester. Classes which meet during only part of a semester, as well as UWinteriM and Summer Session classes, will have available marks corresponding to the session length, e.g. 'F0 - F8' for an 8-week course, 'F0 - F6' for a 6-week summer session course, etc. In the case of the 6-week course, a mark of 'F6' would equate to the student having participated in the entire course.


c: Deans and Division Heads
Jane Hojan-Clark, Director of Financial Aid
Randall J. Ryder, Interim Secretary of the University
Beth L. Weckmueller, Executive Director of Enrollment Services
Rita Cheng, Associate Vice Chancellor