Credit, Grading, and Withdrawal Policies (A.02.05)

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Incomplete Grade Policy

A grade of Incomplete (“I”) may be given at the discretion of the instructor to students who are making satisfactory progress in a course but will not be able to complete course requirements by the end of the term. Incompletes are typically given for emergency situations which prevent the student from completing course requirements.  

  1. When assigning an Incomplete (“I”) grade and Contract 
    1. Instructors must provide students with an Incomplete Grade Contract that outlines the work to be accomplished before the “I” can be converted to a final grade and specifies a deadline date; the contract constitutes an agreement between instructors and students. A copy of the contract should be submitted by the instructor to the Registrar’s Office by the grading deadline of the semester. 
    2. The Registrar will verify the “I” grades that have been posted on the student’s record and verify that the incomplete contract has been received by the instructor. 
  2. Time Limit of “I” grade 
    1. A grade of “I” must be resolved by the student within the time limit outlined in the Incomplete Grade Contract. If additional time is warranted, the “I” may be extended for one regular (fall/spring) semester by changing the “I” grade to an Incomplete Extended (“IE”). The instructor must request the extension by submitting a completed grade change form grade deadline of the semester in which the “I” grade expires. The “I” and “IE” grades that have not been changed to letter grades by the end of the grade deadline of the next semester (fall/spring) will automatically become a grade of “F” or the grade specified in the incomplete contract. If an “IE” needs to be extended, a grade change form must be completed by the instructor and signed by the instructor and Dean. 
  3. Re-Registration 
    1. Students should not re-register for courses in which they have received grades of Incomplete. \
  4. Academic Standing 
    1. “I” and “IE” grades are not calculated in the GPA and do not affect a student’s academic standing. An “I” or “IE” that is changed to a letter grade or automatically converted to an “F” will affect a student’s academic standing at the end of the semester in which the grade change is completed. 
  5. Incomplete Grade Reminders to Faculty 
    1. The Registrar’s Office will send an email to faculty and students to remind them of outstanding “I” grades. The faculty will contact students to remind them of the contract that was signed and when the student should submit the required assignment(s). 

Withdrawals due to Absence from Class 

Frequent unexplained absences may result in a student being administratively withdrawn from the course or in a grade reduction or failing grade, at the discretion of the faculty member, in accordance with the faculty member’s attendance policy included on the course syllabus. Please note, however, that non–attendance does not automatically withdraw a student from a course or from the University. Students should follow the formal add/drop and withdrawal procedures of the University for any courses which they do not wish to attend. 

Withdrawal from the University

At any time prior to the last day of the semester, a student may officially withdraw from the University by completing the Withdrawal/Discontinue Statement Form from the Registrar’s Office. Financial aid recipients must also notify the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.

Students receiving veteran’s benefits must notify the Veteran Success Center.

As with dropping individual courses, failure of a student to withdraw officially within the specified period to withdrawal with a “W” can result in the awarding of “F” or "WF" grades for all courses. Petitions for any exceptions to these rules due to extenuating circumstances must be made in writing to the Academic Committee via the Academic Petition Form. Students are strongly encouraged to consult with their academic advisors, financial aid counselors, and student accounts counselors prior to any type of withdrawal. A student who has withdrawn from the University must contact the Admissions Office regarding readmission.

Medical Withdrawals

Students wishing to secure a medical withdrawal must submit a hard–copy doctor’s note on official letterhead indicating the diagnosis, length of time under the doctor’s care, and the doctor’s recommendation. The student must also submit a personal request to withdraw for medical reasons, either via a personal letter or email from their @stthom.edu account. All documentation must be submitted to the Registrar no later than the last day of classes for the applicable term.

Refunds will be considered on an individual basis for students who stopped attending classes before October 1 for the fall semester and March 1 for the spring semester.

Because the summer term has multiple sessions with different start/end dates, refunds for classes taken in those sessions will be at the discretion of the Registrar. Medical withdrawals may be made after these deadlines with a resulting grade of “W,” but no refunds will be granted.

The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid will follow federal guidelines in determining refund procedures for all federal programs. Institutional and State Aid that was applied to any tuition charge will be reviewed on a case by case basis and will be subject to reduction and/or cancellation prior to any tuition refund being issued.

Medical withdrawals must be given for all courses in which the student is enrolled. No partial withdrawal will be allowed. Students who have secured a medical withdrawal may not return to the University without their doctor’s written approval.

Pass/Fail Option

The pass/fail option permits students to explore areas of the curriculum at an advanced level without inappropriate risk to their overall academic standing. The following regulations govern the pass/fail option for all academic courses.

    1. The option is open only to degree–seeking students with at least 60 credit hours earned toward the degree.
    2. The option is for free elective credit only and is not applicable to courses required in the core curriculum, the major program or a minor program.
    3. Only one course per semester may be taken on a pass/fail basis. The pass/fail option may be applied to a maximum of 14 credit hours, or 4 credit hours for each full year of residence, whichever is fewer. (A full year of residence is 30 credit hours.)
    4. The student must declare the pass/fail option at the time of registration with the approval of the academic advisor. Changes from or to the pass/fail option must be made by the Last Day to Add Classes deadline, also with the advisor’s approval.
    5. A grade of “P” (achievement of at least “C–” or 1.700 quality points) earns credit hours toward the degree butdoes not affect the GPA.Agrade of “F” (achievement less than “C–”) earns no credit hours and is computed into the GPA.
    6. The pass/fail option may not be used to repeat courses except those previously taken on a pass/fail basis.

Rescheduling Final Examinations

A student who is scheduled to take three or more final examinations in one day may petition the dean of the school in which he/she is enrolled to have the overload examination(s) rescheduled. The Dean’s Office will arrange the rescheduling with the faculty member.

Absence from Final Examinations

A student who is compelled by illness or other seriously adverse circumstances to be absent from a semester final examination will receive, at the discretion of the faculty member, the grade of “I” or “F.” A missed final examination resulting in an “I” grade will be made up after the semester has ended.

Repeating Courses

A student may repeat a course taken at the University if the original grade was lower than “B” (3.000). Course grades for both the original and the repeated attempts will appear on the student’s transcript; however, the grade of the repeated course replaces the original grade in the computation of the GPA, and the credit hours attempted will be counted only once. A transcript notation will indicate repeated courses.

A course taken at the University of St. Thomas may not ordinarily be repeated outside the University. A student may petition the Academic Committee to repeat a failed (or one with a grade below “B”) course at another college or university if compelling reasons prevent repeating the course at UST. If permission is granted, credit hours will transfer to the University, but the original grade of “F” and hours attempted will remain in the computation of the student’s GPA. To replace the original grade of “F” and hours attempted in the GPA computation, a course must be repeated at the University of St. Thomas.

The University of St. Thomas is not obliged to grant credit for any course repeated at another institution for which a student has not received the required approval.

A student who withdraws from the University of St. Thomas for one or more semesters, repeats courses at another school, and then returns to the University will not be allowed to use these courses to replace the courses previously taken at the University.

Final Semester Grades

Semester grades and cumulative statistics are available at the end of each semester on myStThom. Faculty members are not authorized to post final grades or release them to students by any other means. Students should review their grades carefully. A course grade may not be changed after one year following completion of the course.

Transfer of Credit for Registered Students

Students in freshman, sophomore and junior years who wish to seek permission to enroll at other accredited institutions in courses applicable to their University of St. Thomas degree, whether in summer sessions or regular semesters, must first complete a Transfer of Credit Approval Form (available online on the Registrar’s webpage). This form requires the signature of the student’s academic advisor and authorization by signature of the appropriate department chair for each course the student is requesting to take elsewhere. This authorization is at the discretion of the chair, and certain restrictions may apply, especially in the case of students who have already transferred credits into the University.

Authorization will not normally be granted when a course the student wishes to take elsewhere is being offered at the University in the same session or semester or is scheduled on a regular basis, as, for example, every fall and/or spring semester.

In addition to authorization by the appropriate department chair, students subject to the residence requirement (final 36 credit hours on campus) must petition and obtain the permission of the Academic Committee to take a course at another properly accredited institution. The Academic Petition Form is available on the myStThom student portal (UST Resources > Student Documents > Forms > Registrar).

Correspondence Courses for College Credit

Although the University of St. Thomas offers no college–level correspondence courses, a student in residence may take a maximum of nine undergraduate credit hours by correspondence from another accredited college or university when permission has been granted in advance by completion of the Transfer of Credit procedures outlined above.