UPM #24 - The Grading System - Office of the University Registrar

Effective Date: September 2023

PURPOSE

This publication is intended to bring together the policies and procedures developed by the University for the administration of the grading system.

General Provisions

The Office of the University Registrar maintains student records and transcripts. Official transcripts report completed courses and grades in accordance with the approved grading system. The Faculty Council has approved various policies and procedures regarding the grading system. In order that we may have uniform administration of this policy, the procedures below were developed to apply to all schools and departments.

The Grading System

Undergraduate, Graduate, Law School, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medical School, and Special Use grades are detailed below. Grades based upon the following system of marking are the only authorized grades to be used on the official grade rosters, grade change forms, and transcripts.

Undergraduate Grades

Letter grades of A, B, C, D, and F are used.

Pluses and minuses may be assigned to grades of B and C.
Minus may be assigned to an A
Plus may be assigned to a D.

A = 4.0	C = 2.0
A- = 3.7	C-= 1.7
B+ = 3.3	D+ = 1.3
B = 3.0	D = 1.0
B– = 2.7	F = 0.0
C+ = 2.3

The following definitions will be used as a guide for the assignment of undergraduate grades.

Mastery of course content at the highest level of attainment that can reasonably be expected of students at a given stage of development.
The A grade states clearly that the students have shown such outstanding promise in the aspect of the discipline under study that he/she may be strongly encouraged to continue.

Strong performance demonstrating a high level of attainment for a student at a given stage of development.
The B grade states that the student has shown solid promise in the aspect of the discipline under study.

A totally acceptable performance demonstrating an adequate level of attainment for a student at a given stage of development.
The C grade states that, while not yet showing unusual promise, the student may continue to study in the discipline with reasonable hope of intellectual development.

A marginal performance in the required exercises demonstrating a minimal passing level of attainment.
A student has given no evidence of prospective growth in the discipline; an accumulation of D grades should be taken to mean that the student would be well advised not to continue in the academic field.

Unacceptable performance in the course.
The F grade indicates that the student’s performance in the required exercises has revealed almost no understanding of the course content.
A grade of F should warrant an advisor’s questioning whether the student may suitably register for further study in the discipline before remedial work is undertaken.

Absent from final examination, but could have passed if exam taken.
This is a temporary grade that converts to an F* on the last day of final exams for the next fall or spring semester unless the student makes up the exam.
Temporary grades of IN (Incomplete) and AB (Absent from Final Examination) are not reflected on a student’s transcript after conversion to a permanent grade.

Failed and absent from exam.
The FA grade is given when the undergraduate student did not attend the exam, and could not pass the course regardless of performance on the exam.
This would be appropriate for a student that never attended the course or has excessive absences in the course, as well as missing the exam.

Work incomplete
This is a temporary grade that converts to F* on the last day of final exams for the next fall or spring semester unless the student makes up the incomplete work and the instructor submits a final grade.
Temporary grades of IN (Incomplete) and AB (Absent from Final Examination) are not reflected on a student’s transcript after conversion to a permanent grade.

Low passing grade for a course using Pass-Fail grading, when an undergraduate student would have earned a letter grade of C-, D+, or D. Effective special grading accommodation for fall 2020, spring 2021, and later approved as a permanent grade.
For undergraduate students who elect to take a class under the Pass-Fail option, the instructor must assign the regular appropriate letter grade.
Instructors are not informed of which students have elected the Pass-Fail option.
Grades of C-, D+, or D are converted to a LP grade on the official record maintained by the Office of the University Registrar.

Passing grade for a course using Pass-Fail grading, when an undergraduate student would have earned a letter grade of A through C. Prior to fall 2020 the PS grade was used when a student would have earned a letter grade of A through D and the LP grade was not used.
For undergraduate students who elect to take a class under the Pass-Fail option, the instructor must assign the regular appropriate letter grade.
Instructors are not informed of which students have elected the Pass-Fail option.
Grades of A through C are converted to a PS grade on the official record maintained by the Office of the University Registrar.

Satisfactory Progress (Authorized only for the first portion of an Honors Program.)

Withdrew passing
Entered when a student drops after the eight-week drop period.

Graduate Grades

H	High Pass
P	Pass
L	Low Pass
F	Fail
S	Satisfactory progress on research courses, thesis, dissertation and courses taken to fulfill language requirements (including the computer science substitutes)
IN	Work Incomplete A temporary grade that converts to an F* unless the grade is replaced with a permanent grade by the last day of classes for the same term one year later
AB	Absent from Final Examination A temporary grade that converts to an F* unless the grade is replaced with a permanent grade by the last day of classes for the same term one year later

NOTE: Effective Fall 2013, the S grade is no longer available as a permanent graduate grade. Graduate students enrolled in courses numbered 099 and below (prior to Fall 2006) and 399 and below (starting with Fall 2006) should receive undergraduate grades.

Law School Grades

Effective August 2007, letter grades of A, B, C, D, and F are used. Prior to this, from Fall 1993 to August 2007, grades were assigned on a numerical scale ranging from 4.0 to 0.0 with a grade of .7 considered the lowest passing grade.

Pluses and minuses may be assigned, but there is no grade of D-.
In rare instances, a grade of A+ is awarded in recognition of exceptionally high performance. Some designated courses are graded on a pass-fail basis.

A+ = 4.3	B+ = 3.3	C+= 2.3	D+= 1.3
A = 4.0	B = 3.0	C = 2.0	D = 1.0
A- = 3.7	B- = 2.7	C- = 1.7

The following definitions will be used as a guide for the assignment of undergraduate grades.

IN – Work Incomplete
AB – Absent from Final Examination
PS – Passing grade (equivalent to a D or higher) for designated courses using Pass-Fail grading.
F – Failed

Pharmacy Professional Program (PHARMD) Grades

Adopted in 1997, and amended in 2001 to eliminate +/- grading for all cohorts admitted to the Doctor of Pharmacy (professional degree) program in or after Fall 2002:

Classroom & Laboratory Courses

A– Clear Excellence
B– High Level of Achievement
C– Satisfactory Level of Achievement

All Courses

F – Failed, Unacceptable Level of Achievement
AB– Absent from Final Examination

A temporary grade; converts to an “F*” unless replaced with a permanent grade by the last day of classes for the same term one year later OR at the end of the term in which the course is next taught.
IN – Work Incomplete

A temporary grade; converts to an F* unless replaced with a permanent grade after one year OR at the end of the term in which the course is next taught.
PS – Passing grade (equivalent to a C or higher) for elective courses using pass-fail grading under the University’s Pass-Fail option.

NOTE: Graduate Programs in the School of Pharmacy (MS or PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences) use the standard University graduate grading scheme. No quality points are assigned to these grades.

Dentistry Professional Program (DDS) Grades

A – Highest Level of Attainment
B – High Level of Attainment
C – Adequate Level of Attainment
F – Failed, Unacceptable Performance
IN – Work Incomplete
AB – Absent from Exam
PS – Pass

Medical School (MD) Grades

CO – Conditional-final grade pending reexamination and/or limited additional academic work

COF – Fail after remediation

COP – Pass after remediation

F – Failed

H – Honors – Clear Excellence

HP – High Pass – Above Average

P – Pass – Entirely Satisfactory

NOTE: Effective Fall 2015, the Office of the University Registrar began processing School of Medicine transcripts for MD students who started the Fall 2014 semester and later. School of Medicine MD students who started their program prior to Fall 2014 will continue to receive their official transcript through the School of Medicine directly. Expanded grade information is available at: http://www.med.unc.edu/ome/registrar/transcripts

Special Use Grade Symbols

The following symbols are not used by individual instructors but are assigned by the University Registrar’s Office under the circumstances indicated.

BE – By Exam A notation of BE (By Examination) is entered in the grade column of students’ academic transcripts if they are awarded credit for a course as a result of evaluation by examination. The notation of BE should be used for any course for which credit hours are awarded.

F* – Administrative F – The Office of the University Registrar automatically converts the temporary grades of AB and IN to F* when the time limit for a grade change on these temporary grades has expired.

NE – No Grade Expected – The symbol of NE is recorded as a notation for courses that are not graded, such as placeholders and some zero-credit courses.

NG – No Grade A notation of NG is not used by individual instructors but rather is assigned by the Office of the University Registrar when a permanent grade is pending a judicial review by the Honor Court.

NR – No Grade Recorded – The symbol of NR is recorded as a notation for courses where grades are not recorded, such as when a faculty member has not submitted grades by the posted deadline.

PL – Placement A notation of PL (Placement) is entered in the grade column of students’ academic transcripts if the result of an evaluation places them in a succeeding course without awarding credit for the preceding course.

W – Withdrew Passing Entered in the grade column when a student “drops” a course after the official eight week drop period in a fall or spring semester without “adding” an equivalent credit hour course. After the drop period, this symbol will be entered unless the office approving the “drop” (normally the student’s academic dean) specifies on the drop-add form that the W should not be posted. The W is also employed in summer session courses when a course is dropped after the equivalent drop period for the particular summer session.

XF-Failure Due to an Honor Court violation the student did not pass the course. The grade of XF can be replaced by a final grade of F if the student follows prescribed steps to remediate the violation.

Special grading accommodations were put in place during the Covid pandemic.

In terms spring 2020 through spring 2021, the grade of WCV was used as an alternative to W to accommodate students adversely affected by the public health emergency.
The WCV grade was enacted for undergraduates and in some graduate/professional schools).
The Graduate School and Law School do not employ the symbol W for their students.

Specialized Study Abroad Grades

For non-faculty led programs, the UNC-Chapel Hill official transcript will indicate the term abroad, the location (country) of the study abroad program, equivalent subject codes, equivalent course numbers, course titles for the abroad enrollment, equivalent credits earned, and specialized grading notations. The specialized grading notations are:

SA – Study Abroad Pass

SF – Study Abroad Fail

SI – Study Abroad Incomplete

SN – Study Abroad No Grade Reported/No Credit Awarded

SW – Study Abroad Withdrawal

Reporting Grades

Procedure for Reporting Grades by Instructors

Faculty legislation requires that final grades be reported to the University Registrar’s Office within 72 hours after the examination is given. Grades are submitted in the ConnectCarolina Faculty Center Center Grade Roster.

Regular Grades

Instructors report final grades on the official ConnectCarolina Grade Roster.
Every registered student must have an appropriate grade designation (no blanks).
If a student did not show up for the final examination or has not been attending classes, a grade of AB or FA must be assigned.
Instructors should report a grade of F for a student present at the examination but who fails to hand in their examination paper. Instructors are requested to note that the student was present but failed to turn in their paper.
For undergraduate students who elect to take a class under the Pass-Fail option, the instructor must assign the regular appropriate letter grade.
- Instructors are not informed of which students have elected the Pass-Fail option.
- Letter grades of C or better are converted to a PS grade and passing grades below a C are converted to a LP grade.

Temporary Grades

IN – Instructors should assign an IN where the student took the final examination but did not complete some other course requirement.
- The student could pass the course if the assignment was completed.
- The IN is not computed in an undergraduate student’s GPA.
- For undergraduate students, an IN is changed automatically to an F* (administratively assigned grade)if the grade is not cleared by the last day of final exams for the next fall or spring semester.
- For graduate students, an IN will revert to an F* (administratively assigned grade) if the grade is not cleared within one year from the original examination.
AB – Must be given to a student who did not take an exam regardless of the reason but might have passed the course had they done so.
- The AB is not computed as an F grade in an undergraduate student’s GPA.
- For undergraduate students, an AB grade is changed automatically to an F* (administratively assigned grade) if the grade is not cleared by the last day of final exams for the next fall or spring semester.
- For graduate students, an AB will revert to an F* (administratively assigned grade) if the grade is not cleared within one year from the original examination.
Instructors report the replacement of a temporary grade with a permanent grade in ConnectCarolina. Temporary grades of IN (Incomplete) and AB (Absent from Final Examination) are recorded as a part of the official record but are not reflected on a student’s external official transcript after conversion to a permanent grade.
SP The grade of SP may be used in the first course of a departmental Undergraduate Honors Program.
- The Honors Program runs through two semesters and a final grade is not reported until completion of the second course.
- When the final grade is reported for an Honors Program, any previously assigned grade of SP must be changed to the appropriate permanent letter grade.

Assigning Grades in Courses Numbered Higher than 399

Grades assigned in courses numbered above 399 (starting in Fall 2006 or above 099 prior to Fall 2006) depend upon the individual student level. Students with undergraduate levels should be assigned grades using the undergraduate grading system. Students with graduate or professional levels should be assigned grades using the appropriate graduate or professional grading system.

Undergraduate Academic Levels (receive undergraduate grades)

- - FR– First Year Undergraduate
  - SO – Sophomore
  - JR – Junior
  - SR – Senior
  - FYR – Fifth Year (Pharmacy) – last admitted in 1995
  - SPU – Special Undergraduate Non-degree
  - II – Inter-institutional
  - SDS – Special Degree Seeking and Off-Campus Nursing Program
  - FX* – Foreign Exchange

Graduate & Professional Levels (receive graduate or professional grades)

- - GD – Grad Doctoral
  - GM – Grad Masters
  - GPM – Grad Post Masters
  - GMD – Grad Masters then Doctoral
  - GPD – Grad Post Doctoral
  - SPG – Special Graduate Non-degree
  - 1st – First Year MBA or Professional
  - 2nd – Second Year MBA or Professional
  - 3rd – Third Year Professional
  - 4th – Fourth Year Professional
  - II – Inter-Institutional
  - FX – Foreign Exchange
  - SPP – Professional Non-degree
  - SDS – Currently used for Off-Campus Professional Pharmacy Program

Grade Changes

The grades of H, HP, P, LP, L, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, PS, F, FA, and F*, are considered to be permanent grades and once reported the instructor’s Grade Roster may not be changed, except under the following conditions.

For a grade change to be considered, it must be based upon one or more of the following grounds and upon allegation that the ground or grounds cited influenced the grade assignment to the student’s detriment:

Arithmetic or clerical error
Arbitrariness, possibly including discrimination or harassment based upon the race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of the student.
Personal Malice
Honor Court sanction
Harassment
Discrimination

The University’s Policy on Prohibited Harassment and Discrimination prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of an individual’s race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Appendix B of this Policy provides specific information for students who believe that they have been discriminated against or harassed on the basis of one or more of these protected classifications.

Students who want additional information regarding the University’s process for investigating allegations of discrimination or harassment should contact the Equal Opportunity/ADA Office for assistance:

Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office
214 W.Cameron Ave.
Campus Box 9160
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
Telephone: (919) 966-3576
Email: eoc@unc.edu

Any administrator or supervisor, including a department chair, associate dean or other administrator, who receives a student’s complaint about prohibited harassment or discrimination must notify the Equal Opportunity/ADA Office within five (5) calendar days of receiving the complaint.

If a student raises a claim of prohibited harassment or discrimination during an academic appeal, an investigation of the student’s claim must be performed under the direction of the Equal Opportunity/ADA Office. The school or department must await the results of the harassment or discrimination investigation before deciding the student’s academic appeal.

A grade appeal must be made no later than the last day of classes for the next succeeding fall or spring semester.

Grade Appeals Correcting a Clerical or Arithmetical Error
- An instructor who has reported an incorrect grade for a student because of an error in calculating the grade or in submitting it to the grade roster, may change the grade to one of the other letter grades, provided this change is made no later than the last day of classes of the next succeeding fall or spring semester.
- This report must contain a statement to the effect that the grade change is due to clerical, arithmetical or transposition error and must contain the written approval of the department chair concerned.
- For Graduate Students, please see paragraph c below.
Grade Appeals for Undergraduate and Post Baccalaureate Professional Students
- Any student who protests a course grade shall first attempt to resolve this disagreement with the instructor concerned.
- An instructor may change a permanent grade only when a clerical or arithmetical error is involved. (See paragraph a above)
- Failing to reach a satisfactory resolution, the student may appeal the grade in accordance with the procedures outlined below.
  - Such appeal must be made no later than the last day of classes of the next succeeding fall or spring semester.
  - Students should present the appeal in writing to the dean of their school.
  - The dean will refer the appeal to the administrative board of his/her school and the chair of the department concerned.
- The department chair will appoint a committee to consider the appeal and will make a recommendation to the administrative board based on the committee’s findings.
  - The administrative board will make the final decision and no change of grade will be made except as a result of the decision by the board.
  - The chair will report such decision to change the grade to the University Registrar’s Office.
- Grade Appeals for Graduate Students
  - Before filing any appeal of a course grade, the student should first address his or her concerns to the instructor who assigned the grade.
  - Should the instructor detect an arithmetic or clerical error that negatively influenced the grade assignment, a grade change form should be executed reflecting the corrected grade.
- An instructor may not initiate a change of a course grade as a result of reevaluating the quality of the student’s performance or as a result of additional work performed by the student.
- If, after consultation with the instructor, a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached, the student may appeal the grade to the instructor’s chair or dean.
- Such an appeal should be lodged by the student in writing with the instructor’s chair or dean, with a copy to be provided by the student to the instructor, and should cite the evidence by which the student judges:
  - That an impermissible element existed in the instructor’s evaluation of the student’s coursework and
  - that it influenced the grade assignment to the detriment of the student
- Appeals should be submitted no later than the last day of classes of the next succeeding regular semester.

The specific process for grade appeals for Graduate Students can be found in The Graduate School Handbook

UPM #24 – The Grading System