Know your grades?

Put on your instructor caps and let’s see if you can grade the CUNY¹ way.

A student never participated in any academically related activity and never attended a class. What grade do you give?

This isn't a tricky one!

The grade of WN is for that student who "never participated in an academically related activity"

This student should not be given a WU, INC, or F.

A student attended class, but officially withdrew before the 10th week deadline. What grade do you give?

The student will get a W, but that isn't a grade an instructor gives. It should be already filled in by the time grades are submitted through CUNY First.

A student didn’t finish their work, but it seems to be a reasonable expectation that they could by the end of next term. What temporary grade can be given to the student so that at the beginning of next term you can have a conversation about their interest/ability to complete the missing work?

As much as you would like, the grade of INC "should only be given by the instructor in consultation with the student when there is a reasonable expectation that a student can successfully complete the requirements of the course no later than the last day of the following semester, or its equivalent in calendar time, exclusive of Summer Session/Term."

This requires consultation and both the student's agreement and the professor's agreement.

As is, under this scenario the grade might be a letter grade A-D, an F, or a WU.

A student didn’t finish their work, but it seems to be a reasonable expectation that they could by the end of next term. They have approached you about an INC. However, given their already completed work it is impossible for the student to pass the course. (Computed, say, by assuming perfect scores on all remaining work). What grade should be given?

Should you, the instructor, agree to an INC when there is no chance for the student to pass should they "successfully complete the requirements of the course"? It comes down to what successfully means here. It seems just to be able to submit that work for a grade. If this is the case, then this student could satisfy the wording of the INC grade, but would basically just be spinning their wheels as only an F grade is possible. The natural grade then is an F.

(This suggests some clarity might be added to the INC wording in the grading memo.)

A student was on track for an A, but couldn’t finish their work because they were called up by the army reserve. After speaking with the student about their ability to make up the work the next semester, you reached a plan for its completion in a timely manner. What grade should be given?

Okay, you missed this one? Brush up on the INC grade: "given by the instructor in consultation with the student when there is a reasonable expectation that a student can successfully complete the requirements of the course no later than the last day of the following semester"

A student was on track for an A, but can’t sit for the final, as they have a can’t miss family event at the end of the term. After speaking with the student about their ability to make up the work the next semester, you reached a plan for its completion in a timely manner. What grade should be given?

Wait, you still missed this one? This was meant to be another textbook application of when an INC is appropriate.

A student stops attending and submitting work before the drop date, but did not withdraw officially. You never discussed the absence with the student. What grade should they receive?

It isn't clear. First, an INC is not appropriate – there was no consultation.

However, there is no specification about the date of last attendance for a WU grade, just that the student stopped participating.

A WU would be a reasonable choice but that has this stipulation "and did not complete enough work for the instructor to be able to calculate an earned grade using the criteria delineated in the course syllabus."

This is tricky – it depends on being able to "calculate an earned grade" – but what that means isn't defined in the grading memo.

Two cases seem clear:

• If a student has done so poorly, that regardless of any missing work, they would still fail the course.

• If a student was doing well, that regardless of any missing work, they would still receive a passing grade.

The first case should be an F; the second case the letter grade earned (it being better, presumably, for the student than a WU.)

Mathematically, this says if the maximum possible grade is failing, the student should fail; if the minimum possible grade is passing, the student should pass.

If this is the case, the the WU would be for the case where the minimum possible grade is failing, but the maximimum possible grade is passing.

In other words, this is the case where a student could only pass if they did reasonably well on the missing work, so a grade can't be computed. What to give then? A WU.

A student attended and submitted work after the drop date, but stopped participating prior to the end of the term. You never discussed the absence with the student. What grade should be given?

Just like the last question, it isn't clear. What is meant to be clear, is the INC grade is not availalable, as there was no consultation.

In the grading memo, there is no language about what point in the semester the student "stopped participating" in the WU language.

While, a WU would be a reasonable choice, that grade has this stipulation "and did not complete enough work for the instructor to be able to calculate an earned grade using the criteria delineated in the course syllabus."

This is tricky – it depends on being able to "calculate an earned grade" – but what that means isn't defined in the grading memo.

Two cases seem clear:

• If a student has done so poorly, that regardless of any missing work, they would still fail the course.

• If a student was doing well, that regardless of any missing work, they would still receive a passing grade.

The first case should be an F; the second case the letter grade earned (it being better, presumably, for the student than a WU.)

Mathematically, this says if the maximum possible grade is failing, the student should fail; if the minimum possible grade is passing, the student should pass.

If this is the case, the the WU would be for the case where the minimum possible grade is failing, but the maximimum possible grade is passing.

In other words, this is the case where a student could only pass if they did reasonably well on the missing work, so a grade can't be computed. What to give then? A WU.

A student attended and submitted work all semester but did not show up for the final exam. You never discussed the absence with the student. What grade should be given?

Oh my, it hurts to type this but just like the last question, it isn't clear!

Again, an INC is not available, as there was no consultation.

A WU would be a reasonable choice but that grade has this stipulation "and did not complete enough work for the instructor to be able to calculate an earned grade using the criteria delineated in the course syllabus."

(There are some who interpret "stopped participating" as needing to also not attend the last class, but that isn't a viewpoint shared here.)

This is tricky – it depends on being able to "calculate an earned grade" – but what that means isn't defined in the grading memo.

Two cases seem clear:

• If a student has done so poorly, that regardless of any missing work, they would still fail the course.

• If a student was doing well, that regardless of any missing work, they would still receive a passing grade.

The first case should be an F; the second case the letter grade earned (it being better, presumably, for the student than a WU.)

Mathematically, this says if the maximum possible grade is failing, the student should fail; if the minimum possible grade is passing, the student should pass.

If this is the case, the the WU would be for the case where the minimum possible grade is failing, but the maximimum possible grade is passing.

In other words, this is the case where a student could only pass if they did reasonably well on the missing work, so a grade can't be computed. What to give then? A WU.

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This scenario highlights a rational action by a struggling student who would need a really good grade on the final to pass the class but doesn't have sufficient time to prepare for the exam. If their instructor follows the grading memo, they would receive a non-penalty WU grade with no impact on their GPA by not showing up for the final. However, if this student showed up for the final and didn't do really well, they would get an F which would impact their GPA. Both scenarios leave the student with the same number of earned credits, only the latter impacts the GPA. The former might have some financial aid impact (as an F indicates the course has been completed; a WU indicates the course has not been completed).

(I think this possibility – if intended – should be highlighted in the grading memo.)

A student attended and submitted work all semester but did not show up for the final exam. However, on your course syllabus you have specified: “Any missing work will be recorded as a zero when grades are computed including the final exam”. With this rubric, the student has an F average. What grade should be given?

Okay, this one is a bit shaky, but the course syllabus indicated how an earned grade is to be computed, and by that computation an F is earned.

(I'd like this to be an incorrect answer.)

A student turned in all the work and earned a D. However, the student asked to receive an F, as CUNY policy allows such a course to be retaken and the resulting grade will replace the F. What grade should be given?

Okay, you might be tempted to give an F. There are lots of good reasons for the student to prefer an F to a D. For example, your sequence of courses might require that student to retake the course regardless, as they would need a C or better to continue. In this case, an F has advantages for GPA and possibly financial aid reasons.

But you should assign the earned grade.

A student missed the first assignment worth 50% of the grade, but completed all the other work in the class and attended all classes. No discussion of making up the missing work was held. What grade to give?

Okay, this student never stopped attending, so a WU is not appropriate.

The student did participate at least once, so a WN is not appropriate.

There was no consultation, so an INC was not appropriate.

By the grading rubric, a passing letter grade is not appropriate.

So an F is the grade.

However, perhaps reaching out to the student during the term to negotiate over the missing work with the student might have been warranted!

A student got 100% on every assignment. However, your syllabus says “If a student misses more than 20% of the classes, they will receive an F.” What grade should they be given if this student only showed up for the three exams?

Well, I'd give an A, but in the WU grade language we see "for the instructor to be able to calculate an earned grade using the criteria delineated in the course syllabus." As the syllabus is the reference for determining a grade in the case of a WU grade, it should also be the reference for determining the grade in the given case.

(At one time there was a 15% non-attendance rule in some catalogs, but this seems to have been swept away, given CUNY is a non-attendance taking institution. If this type of grading rubric is problematic, the grading memo should be explicit here.)

A student had the following grades for assessments with the given weights:

Assignment	Weight	Grade
Test 1	25%	100
Test 2	25%	100
Final	50%	missing

What grade should be given in this case? (Assuming an INC grade was not agreed to.)

The student stopped participating prior to the end of term.

The best the student could do is an A, but the worst is an F. As such, no earned grade is computable and a WU seems prescribed.

A student had the following grades for assessments with the given weights:

Assignment	Weight	Grade
Test 1	25%	0
Test 2	25%	0
Final	50%	missing

What grade should be given in this case? (Assuming an INC grade was not agreed to.)

The student stopped participating prior to the end of term.

The best the student could do is an A, but the worst is an F. As such, no earned grade is computable and a WU seems prescribed.

(It just seems that this should be an F, regardless.)

A student had the following grades for assessments with the given weights:

Assignment	Weight	Grade
Test 1	50%	missing
Test 2	25%	100
Final	25%	100

What grade should be given in this case? (Assuming an INC grade was not agreed to.)

This student didn't stop participating, so a grade of WU is not appropriate. As a grade of WN, WU, and INC is not appropriate, a letter grade should be assigned. Their average for the course is 50% generally considered an F average.

A student had the following grades for assessments with the given weights:

Assignment	Weight	Grade
Test 1	25%	missing
Test 2	25%	100
Test 3	25%	100
Final	25%	missing

What grade should be given in this case? (Assuming an INC grade was not agreed to.)

This student did not withdraw and there was no consultation, but did stop participating (by not taking the final). As such a WU or a letter grade is a possibility.

In this case, if the missing first test were assigned a 0, the earned grade would be an F, the student only earned half the available points.

But, the grading policy says: "did not complete enough work for the instructor to be able to calculate an earned grade using the criteria delineated in the course syllabus." It doesn't speak to when that work was not completed. A strict reading then implies a WU is the proper grade, given the missing first test.

(I think this case is problematic and an F is the appropriate grade, though again, I'd have suggested the faculty member reach out to the student about the missing first exam, if they didn't do so.)

A student had the following grades for assessments with the given weights:

Assignment	Weight	Grade
Test 1	35%	100
Test 2	35%	100
Final	30%	missing

What grade should be given in this case? (Assuming an INC grade was not agreed to.)

If a grade of 0 is used for the missing data (the worst possible grade), the students carried a 70% average. By most criteria this would be a grade of C.

A faculty member wishes to use a different grading scheme than is suggested by their campus. In particular, one where 80-84 is a B-, 85-87 a B, and 88-89 a B+, etc. They put this in their syllabus, grade according to this. A student who got an 84 average, complained that an 84 in her other class was a B, and asks for a grade change. What grade should the instructor do?

The WU explantion includes "able to calculate an earned grade using the criteria delineated in the course syllabus". As this grading scheme has been delineated in the syllbus it should be followed by the instructor.

(This question was brought to me from City College.)

Footnotes

1. Reference the CUNY Uniform Grade Symbols and Guidelines