Academic Policy
Grade Change Policy
The provisions in this policy apply to all IU Indianapolis, IU Columbus, and IU Fort Wayne students in all units, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, unless expressly identified as applying to undergraduates only, subject to two principles:- Units with graduate or professional programs may adopt or modify any provisions, including grade change deadlines, as appropriate to their programs, in consultation with the chief academic affairs officer and registrar of the campus administering the program.
- Nothing in this policy is intended to override accreditation standards that may require academic units to vary from its terms.
Reason for Policy
On occasion, a change of a final grade is warranted. This may be because there was an error in the calculation or assigning of the grade (grade correction), the student wishes to dispute the final grade (grade appeal), the student has extenuating circumstances that resulted in a failure to officially withdraw in a timely fashion (retroactive withdrawal), or a grade of “I” or “R” must be removed.
It is the responsibility of the student to contact the course instructor to discuss any change of grade. If the corrected grades period of the course has passed (see official academic calendar), the student should submit a grade appeal to change the course grade following the procedures established by the academic unit.
Undergraduate students may pursue other options such as Fresh Start through Academic Renewal or grade replacement to raise their GPA. Certain restrictions apply. Students must consult with their academic advisors to determine eligibility for those policies.
Policy Statement and Procedures
I. GRADE CHANGE CORRECTIONS
A grade may be changed if an incorrect grade was submitted by the instructor. Both the instructor and the principal administrator of the unit offering the course must approve the change. Corrections should be submitted by the end of the corrected grades period (see official academic calendar). Instructors should initiate this change through the eGrade Change workflow.
II. GRADE CHANGE APPEAL
For grade change requests after the corrected grades period, to dispute a final grade, or in situations where the instructor cannot be contacted, the student should submit an appeal of the course grade following the procedures established by awarding academic unit. The grade appeal process will follow the procedures of the unit in which the student earned the grade, not the major to which the student belongs.
Grade appeals must be submitted within one year from the end of the term in which the grade was entered. Academic units may choose to use a shorter time period than the campus limit.
III. WITHDRAWAL AFTER CONCLUSION OF THE COURSE DUE TO EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
Requests for withdrawal after course conclusion (retroactive withdrawal) are subject to the policies of the specific school offering the course and the school to which the student belongs. These grade change requests are for students who had serious extenuating circumstances that prohibited the student from officially withdrawing in a timely fashion.
Grade appeals for retroactive withdrawals must be submitted within 5 years from the end of the term in which the grade was entered. Units may choose to use a shorter time period than the campus limit. Units may make an exception to the five-year window only if an extremely serious and documented circumstance literally prevents the student from filing the petition during that time. Approved exceptions are extremely rare.
Schools will not consider requests for withdrawal when the student has completed the course.
COURSE EXPUNGEMENTS
The deletion of a graded course from the academic record at the request of an academic unit is done only when the university has made an error. The student’s failure to withdraw from a course, even if the student never attended the course, is not sufficient reason for the course to be deleted from the record. This also holds for grades of W, whether the result of a student-initiated withdrawal or an administrative withdrawal.
IV. REMOVAL OF I or R GRADES
An “I” (incomplete) should be changed to a letter grade by the instructor after all required work has been completed but may be changed to a “W” if the instructor determines that it is not feasible for the student to complete the required work or receive a letter grade.
If no final grade has been submitted within one year from the end of the term in which the course was taken, and the student has not been allowed to withdraw, the campus registrar shall change the “I” to an “F.” The instructor, in consultation with the dean, may authorize an extension of an “I” beyond this period for extenuating circumstances.
A grade of “R” (deferred) should be changed to a letter grade after all required work has been completed and a final grade submitted by the instructor.
A removal of “I” or “R” request may be submitted at any time.
AUTHORIZATIONS
Grade change requests should be initiated by the instructor of record through eGrade Change workflow. The principal administrator of the unit offering the course must approve the change.
A grade may also be changed if the change is authorized by the campus Provost or Chancellor, or the principal administrator of the unit offering the course, when the change has been recommended as a remedy for a student under policies governing academic fairness, grade appeals, personal misconduct, harassment, discrimination, or sexual misconduct.
PROCESS
- The student may appeal the grade following the process established by each school. All requests should begin with the instructor of If student is unable to resolve the issue during the corrected grades period, a grade appeal should be submitted.
- The Change of Grade Appeal should be returned to the Office of the Registrar. The Office of the Registrar facilitates the distribution of the form(s) to the appropriate academic unit(s) for their review and final action.
- The Change of Grade Appeal requires course information (course title, semester taken) as well as provides the student the chance to make a personal statement explaining why she or he believes the grade should be Note that individual schools may impose a deadline beyond which they will not consider request for changes of grade for a particular semester.
- Supporting documentation is required for all grade change Only persons with a need to know will see any confidential materials submitted by the student.
- Decisions on grade changes are made within the schools. Please allow three to four weeks for the review process and somewhat longer in the summer and during semester The academic unit will notify the student in writing with the decision.
- If approved, the instructor of record should initiate the change of grade through the eGrade Change workflow. Academic deans may grant administrative user ability to initiate grade change requests on behalf of faculty member of record and in alignment with any school policy.
- The academic unit is responsible for ensuring that all supporting documentation is retained in alignment with the campus Records Retention Schedule.
HISTORY
Approved by the IUPUI Faculty Council: December 5, 2002 Links updated: January 13, 2020
Revisions to align with updated university policy on Grades & Grading (ACA-66) – IFC Academic Affairs Committee, February 28, 2022
Revisions Approved by full IFC, May 3, 2022