INCOMPLETE POLICIES and PROCEDURES

INCOMPLETE GRADES MUST HAVE A CONTRACT and MUST BE COMLETED WITHIN 12 MONTHS

Important: The Change of Grade form must be submitted within 11 months to allow a month for processing. Submissions made within the last two weeks prior to the end of semester will probably not be processes until the following semester -- after the 12 month cutoff.

(1) A faculty member can only give an Incomplete grade if it is requested by the student first.  Furthermore, a written contract stating what work must be completed and when it will be completed must be agreed to by both the student and faculty member before the Incomplete grade is issued.  If the student is a GPR major, this agreement must be placed in the student's advising file; otherwise it is kept in the faculty member's class files.  Failure to meet the contract agreement will result in a grade of "F" for the student.

For UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS:

(2) If a student carries an Incomplete Grade in a class for more than 12 months, then LOUIE will convert the "I" into an "F". The Change of Grade form must be submitted within 11 months to allow a month for processing.

This has always been NAU's policy -- that an 'I' must be changed to a grade within 12 months or it becomes 'F'. In the past, this did not happen automatically, but with the new LOUIE system, it now happens immediately.

(3) An instructor can request and extension of the Incomplete beyond the 12 month deadline.  This request must be submitted to the Dept Chair about one month prior to the 12 month deadline, and must be accompanied by a revised student contract.  If approved, the request will then be sent to Larry Gould (SBS Associate Dean) who will then submit it to Ron Pitt (Associate Provost - Academic Administration).

(4) To change the 'F' to a passing grade requires that the student (not the instructor or advisor) submits a petition to the NAU Academic Standards Committee. To do this, the student must prepare a written explanation of why the incomplete grade was not completed in a timely manner. The petition must also provide the course prefix, course number, the name of the faculty member and the semester in which the course was taken.

The student then emails this petition as an MS Word file attachment to the Dr. Larry Gould, the SBS Associate Dean (Larry.Gould@nau.edu)

A copy of this email must be sent to the class instructor so she or he can email a letter of support (or non-support) to Dr. Gould. The instructor will also need to submit a Change of Grade form to Dr Gould showing what the final grade should be.

Once Dr. Gould has received the Petition (by email), the instructor's letter of support (by email), and the Change of Grade form, he will submit these to the NAU Academic Standards Committee for a decision. If the decision is positive, then the Academic Standards Committee will notify the Registrar and the grade will be changed. If it is rejected, then the student will be notified of that.

(5) Besides the petition, the only other option available to the student is to re-take the class. For most lecture classes, the student may submit a Grade Replacement Form to override the "F".

However, for research, independent studies, internships, honors, and some topics courses, the student will not be able to replace the 'F' by retaking the class.  It will become a permanent part of the student's GPA. (The NAU Grade Replacement Policy states: "You may not repeat courses in research, independent studies, internships, honors, and some topics courses. Because of the changing nature of their content, these courses can only be retaken for additional credit and new grades.")

For GRADUATE STUDENTS:

(6) The process described above is the same for graduate students, except that instead of receiving an automatic "F" after 12 months, the graduate student received a permament "I".  This Incomplete is permanent and cannot be change.  It is not included in the students GPA calculation.

(7) Graduate students may receive the "In Progress" (IP) grade for professional paper/practicum (689), thesis (699), dissertation (799), independent study (697), directed reading, and internship.  These are courses "that, by their content and requirements, normally require more time than the semester or summer session for which you have registered." In addition, the student "must also be making satisfactory progress in the course to receive a grade of IP."  

(8) For independent study (697), directed reading, and internship courses the student "must complete the work for an IP grade within two calendar years from the end of the semester" in which the course was taken. If it is not compelted, then within two years, then the IP grade becomes permanent and may not be changed.

IP grades in professional paper (689), thesis (699) and dissertation (799) must be completed within the time limit on the degree (normally seven years).