Evaluating Academic Performance

The UC Santa Cruz evaluation system consists of two major components: the assignment of a final grade in the course, and an accompanying evaluation of your performance. Grades are submitted for every course; evaluations are optional, and are completed at the discretion of the instructor.

Evaluations

In each course for which you receive a grade of D or better (or P), you may receive an evaluation of your academic performance. Faculty may also write an evaluation for a course in which you receive an F, NP, or W, but the evaluation does not appear on an official transcript. An evaluation may:

• describe the strengths and weaknesses of your performance in the various areas of class activity (discussions, laboratory work, term papers, examinations);
• assess your general understanding of the course content;
• recognize additional or particularly outstanding work.

Evaluations may be used at UCSC in academic advising, reviewing scholarship applications, and awarding College Honors, Honors in the major, and in selecting nominees for Phi Beta Kappa. Evaluations are a permanent part of your academic record. All students may request transcripts either with or without evaluations. An evaluation for your senior comprehensive examination or senior thesis also becomes part of your academic record.

You can view evaluations on MyUCSC.

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Grades

For each course in which you enroll, you will receive a grade notation at the end of the term. If you complete the course, you will receive a final letter grade (A–F) unless you have elected the Pass/No Pass option for the course (see below). If you withdraw from the course, you will receive a W notation. Under certain circumstances, when you have not completed all the requirements for the course, you may receive an interim grade of Incomplete (I) or In Progress (IP). Your official transcript contains a list of all of your courses and the grades that you receive.

All grades, except I and IP, are final when submitted by the insructor. No change of grade may be made on the basis of re-examination or the completion of addtional coursework with the exception of I and IP grades.

Letter Grades

The final letter grades for courses at UCSC are A (excellent), B (good), C (fair), D (poor), F (fail). The grades of A and B may be modified by a plus (+) or minus (-). The grade C may be modified by a plus (but not by a minus).

You will not earn any credit toward graduation for a course in which you receive a final grade of F. Courses in which you receive a grade of D earn credit toward graduation, but cannot be used to satisfy a major requirement or a general education requirement, and cannot satisfy a prerequisite for another  course. The courses in which you receive final letter grades (and only those) are used to calculate your grade point average (GPA). See the section on Grade Point Averages for details.

There are a few courses that are offered only for Pass/No Pass grading. This limitation is noted in the Schedule of Classes and the UCSC General Catalog. The final grades in these courses are not used in calculating your GPA.

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Pass/No Pass Option

If you enroll in a course to be graded on a Pass/No Pass basis, your final grade will be either P (Pass) or NP (No Pass). Under this grading option, you will receive a final grade of P for work that is clearly passing, i.e., which would earn a letter grade of C or better. For work below this level (i.e., equivalent to D or F), you will receive a grade of NP. Courses which are graded NP earn no credit toward graduation. The grades P and NP both appear on your official transcript, but are not calculated in your GPA.

The P/NP grading option must be selected when you are enrolling in a course. You may change your grading option before the grade option deadline, listed in the Academic Calendar. You cannot change your grading option after that date. See the box below for limits on the Pass/No Pass option.

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Withdrawal from a Course

Regardless of the grading option you have chosen, you may formally withdraw from a class by filing a petition to Request a W (Withdraw) grade notation at your college office. The completed petition must be filed by the end of the sixth week of instruction (see the Academic and Administrative Calendar at reg.ucsc.edu/calendar for deadlines). The grade notation of W will appear on your official transcript, but it is not included in your GPA calculation. Academic Senate Regulations 6.1.4 and 9.1.3 contain the general policies about W grade notations.

Incomplete Grade Notation

You must make arrangements with the course instructor before the end of the quarter to request an Incomplete. At an instructor’s discretion, an I grade notation may be assigned for work which is of passing quality but incomplete. If it becomes apparent that you will not be able to finish the final course work before the last day of the quarter, let the instructor know as soon as possible.

Because an I grade carries no credit, you should talk with your college adviser about the possible consequences on your academic standing. Students already in academic difficulty could jeopardize their standing by taking an Incomplete.

To remove an Incomplete from a course, you must file a Petition for Removal of Incomplete and complete the course work no later than the last day of the following quarter. The instructor may require an earlier date. (See Removal of an Incomplete Grade Notation, below.) You need not be registered to file a Petition for Removal of Incomplete. Once you have completed the course work and the instructor has submitted the paperwork, the grade change will appear permanently on your academic record.

If the course work and Petition for Removal of Incomplete are not completed by the specified deadline, or the instructor fails to submit a final grade, that course is treated as an F (Fail) or NP (No Pass), which will appear on your official transcript. A lapsed Incomplete is also noted on your internal record, which is used for academic advising.

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Academic Senate Regulation 9.1.6 contains the general policy on Incomplete notations.

In Progress for Multiple-Term Courses

The IP (In Progress) grade notation is restricted to certain multiple-term courses that extend over two or three quarters of an academic year. These courses are specifically described in the UCSC General Catalog. The grade option you select in the first quarter of the multiple term course applies to all quarters of the sequence. You receive the same notation for each course upon completion of the two- or three-quarter sequence; the final grade is applied to all quarters.

If you are unable to complete a multiple-term course sequence, arrange with the instructor of the course to receive credit for the quarter(s) of work completed. The instructor must report the notation to the Office of the Registrar.

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Grade Notification

Grades

Grades are due from faculty approximately five calendar days after the end of the term. Access your grades via the MyUCSC.

If a course in which you believe you were enrolled is not listed and does not appear on any printed grade notice, you were not officially enrolled. See your academic adviser as soon as possible to discuss your options.

Evaluations

Beginning fall 2010, undergraduate evaluations are provided at the option of the faculty. In each course for which you receive a grade of D or better (or P), an evaluation of your academic performance may be submitted.

Comprehensive Examination and Thesis Grades

Comprehensive examinations and senior theses are graded Honors, Pass, or Fail. When you are awarded Pass or Honors for your comprehensive examination or senior thesis, the notation is posted to your academic record after you complete graduation requirements. The faculty who administer the examination or advise on the senior thesis will write an evaluation of your performance. This evaluation becomes a part of your official academic record. See Declaring Majors and Minors for further information.

A student who does not pass the comprehensive examination may be permitted to repeat it once. Examinations or theses of students receiving Honors or Fail are read by at least two readers.

Academic Senate Regulation 9.3.1 contains the general policy on grading of comprehensive examinations.

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Honors

Dean’s List Honors

Students will be considered for quarterly Dean’s Honors if they have earned a minimum of 15 units that quarter, of which at least 10 are graded, with a term grade point average equal to or higher than that required for University Honors at graduation in their group* for the current academic year. The notation “Dean’s Honors” will appear on the transcript.

Honors at Graduation

Honors at graduation are awarded by the University and by the separate Majors and Colleges based upon a review of their graduates’ academic records. In general, these honors are limited to 15% of the graduating class. University Honors are based upon the cumulative UC Grade Point Average. Faculty review for Major and College honors may involve additional criteria.

University Honors

To be considered for University Honors at graduation, students must have completed 70 or more units at the University of California and have attained within their group [see note] a UC GPA that places them in the rankings as follows: Summa Cum Laude, top 2 percent; Magna Cum Laude, next 3 percent; Cum Laude, next 10 percent. Each year the Registrar will calculate the GPA thresholds required for these levels of University Honors, based on the GPAs of recent graduates. The notation University Honors, Summa Cum Laude or Magna Cum Laude will appear on the diploma and transcript, as appropriate.

Note: GPA thresholds for Baskin School of Engineering majors are calculated separately from those of majors in all other divisions.

Honors in the Major

At graduation, the department sponsoring a student’s major program may confer Honors or Highest Honors in the major. This notation appears on the transcript as well as on the diploma. In general, no more than 15 percent of the graduating class in a major will be awarded Honors at graduation.

College Honors

Colleges review their graduating students for academic achievement and according to criteria set by the college faculty reviewers. This notation appears on the transcript as well as on the diploma. In general, no more than 15% of the graduating class of a college will be awarded Honors at graduation.

Deadlines

To be considered for honors in the major or college honors, students must apply to graduate by the Registrar’s deadline.

Any Student who has a reportable disciplinary sanction for a violation of academic integrity policies may be ineligible for any honors designation, at the discretion of the agency that awards the designation.

Honors Societies

Many UC Santa Cruz students are members of departmental, professional, local, and national honor societies whose goals are to recognize and improve scholastic standing in an area of interest. Among these are: Phi Beta Kappa (the oldest national society that advances scholarship and recognizes excellence in the liberal arts and sciences); Tau Beta Pi (the Engineering honor society that recognizes students of distinguished scholarship, exemplary character, and dedication to service); and Psi Chi (which encourages, stimulates, and maintains excellence in scholarship, and advances the science of Psychology).

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UCSC Undergraduate Grading Policies

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Grade Point Averages

A summary grade point average (GPA) can be calculated from your course grades by dividing the number of credits attempted for a letter grade into the number of grade points earned for those credits. This calculation is described in more detail in the box below. Students are expected to maintain a GPA of at least 2.0, calculated from courses taken for a letter grade within the University of California system. (See the section on the UC Grade Point Average.)

UCSC Grade Point Average

Students are subject to different rules for the UCSC GPA depending on date of first enrollment.

Students Entering UCSC for the First Time in Fall 2001 or After

The Office of the Registrar calculates both a current UCSC GPA, based upon courses attempted in the current term, and a cumulative UCSC GPA, based upon all courses attempted at UCSC. Both UCSC GPAs are part of your official record and appear on your transcript. They are used in calculating your academic standing. (See the section on Academic Standing.)

Courses that you take at other institutions are not counted toward your UCSC GPA unless they become part of your official UCSC transcript. (For example, transfer work from community college is not included in your UCSC GPA, but courses that you take while on the UC Education Abroad Program are included in your UCSC transcript and hence in your UCSC GPA.)

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Students Who Entered UCSC Between Fall 1997 and Spring 2001 (inclusive)

You will have a cumulative UCSC GPA if, and only if, you have elected letter grades in at least two-thirds of your attempted credits. If you attempt more than one-third of your credits for P/NP grading, you cannot receive an official UCSC GPA. For example, if you elected letter grades for 10 of the 15 credits attempted for first term, a grade point average based upon the 10 graded credits would be printed on your transcript at the end of the fall quarter. But if you then decide in the winter quarter to elect P/NP grading for 10 of 15 credits, you will have changed the balance of letter-graded to P/NP credits to half and half. As a result, you would no longer have an official UCSC GPA at the end of the winter term. You should decide whether you wish to have a cumulative UCSC GPA and make your choice of grading options accordingly.

Students Who Entered UCSC Before Fall 1997

You cannot have an official UCSC GPA, regardless of how many courses you have taken for a letter grade.

No GPA appears on your transcript; however, you must still achieve a minimum 2.0 UC GPA in order to graduate.

UC Grade Point Average

A UC GPA is different from the UCSC GPA because it is based on all courses attempted for a letter grade at any campus of the University of California system. Your UC GPA is not displayed on your official transcript; it is available from the MyUCSC on your academic summary page.

All students, regardless of when they entered UCSC, must maintain a minimum UC GPA of 2.0 even if they do not have a UCSC GPA. If your UC GPA is lower than 2.0, you will be notified by the Office of the Registrar and your college that you have a UC grade point deficit. You must remove that deficit by earning letter grades above C in UC courses. Course work attempted for a letter grade at UCSC or at another UC campus can be used to improve a UC grade point average. This includes courses taken in the summer term. Consult your college academic preceptor for advice if you are informed that you have a UC grade point deficit. You cannot earn a degree from UC if you have a UC grade point deficit.

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Academic Standing and Minimum Progress [top of page]

Full-time undergraduate students at UCSC are expected to enroll in and earn a grade of C or better (or P) in an average of 15 credits per quarter, completing the 180 credits needed for graduation in four years. Students are allowed to enroll for a maximum of 15 quarters (9 for transfer students) or equivalent. (Also see the section for adjustments for part-time students.)

Your college will regularly check to ensure that you are making (at least) minimum progress toward completing your degree and, at the end of each term, will determine whether you are in good academic standing. If you do not pass enough credits with a grade of C or better (or P), you may be placed on academic probation. If your academic standing or progress falls below minimally acceptable levels, you may be disqualified from further enrollment in the university.

Determining Your Academic Standing

Policy Applying to Students Entering UCSC Fall 2001 and After

Your academic standing is calculated at the end of each term based upon your current and cumulative UCSC GPA. If both your current and cumulative UCSC GPAs are 2.0 or greater, then you are in good academic standing. If either your current or cumulative GPA is less than 2.0, then you are on academic probation. In that event, you should consult with your college academic preceptor about what you need to do to return to good standing. If your current UCSC GPA falls below 1.5 in any term, or if you are already on academic probation and your cumulative UCSC GPA falls below 2.0, then you are subject to disqualification from further enrollment in the university. See the section on What Happens When You Are in Academic Trouble.

Policy Applying to Students Who Entered UCSC Before Fall 2001

Your academic standing is determined by your academic progress, a comparison of the number of credits for which you have earned a grade of C or better (or P) to the number of full-time quarters you have been at UCSC. Courses in which you earn a grade of D, F, or NP do not count toward academic progress (nor do courses from which you officially withdraw or in which you receive an Incomplete grade notation). At the end of each term, your college will determine your academic standing by measuring your current progress and your cumulative progress.

• Current Progress. Your current progress is determined by checking Chart 1 for the number of credits in which you earn a grade of C or better (or P). If you have passed fewer than 30 credits in your most recent three full-time quarters, you are below minimum progress and will be reviewed for disqualification. If you have passed between 30 and 34 credits in that period, your standing based upon your current progress is Academic Probation.
• Cumulative Progress. Your cumulative progress is determined by comparing against Chart 2 the number of full-time quarters you have been at UCSC with the total number of credits that you have earned at UCSC with a grade of C or better (or P). For example, if at the end of your fourth full-time quarter you have not passed at least 40 credits, then you are below minimum progress and will be reviewed for disqualification.

Your academic standing is determined by whichever measure is lower. That is, in order to be in good academic standing, you must be in good academic standing on both the current progress chart and the cumulative progress chart. If you are below minimum progress on either the current progress chart or the cumulative progress chart, you will be reviewed for disqualification.

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Minimum Progress for All Undergraduates [top of page]

An undergraduate student who is not making minimum progress toward a degree is subject to disqualification from further enrollment. As a full-time undergraduate student, you are considered to be making minimum progress toward the degree if you have satisfied both of the following conditions:

(1) You have passed (with a grade of D or better or P) at least 36 credits for each academic year of full-time enrollment;

(2) You have earned an average of 12 credits or more for each additional quarter of full-time enrollment;

(3) You have earned four-fifths of credits attempted in part-time enrollment.

In determining satisfaction of minimum progress, transfer credits that you earned before admission to UCSC are not considered. Any transfer or Summer Session credit that you earn after admission to UCSC may be considered when satisfying minimum progress after it has been transferred and posted to your official academic record.

Part-Time Students

Part-time students are held to the same minimum progress standards as full-time students by treating each 15 credits attempted as the equivalent of one full-time term. Consult with your college academic adviser for assistance in this calculation if you have questions about the calculation of your academic progress.

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Repeating Courses

Courses graded P (Pass) or C or better may not be repeated for credit. A few courses are labeled “May Be Repeated for Credit” in the UCSC General Catalog. These are courses in which the course content varies from quarter to quarter. Grades are recorded for each quarter these courses are taken. Undergraduates may repeat courses in which they earn a D, F, W, or NP. Courses with a grade of D or F may be repeated only for a letter grade and may not be repeated on a Pass/No Pass basis. Courses with a grade of NP may be repeated on the same basis or for a letter grade.

Degree credit for a repeated course is given only once. Hence, if you repeat a course in which you originally earned a D grade (and therefore degree credit), you will not receive any additional degree credit. If you repeat and pass a course in which you originally earned an F or NP, you will receive credit for the course. Your official transcript will record both the original course and the repeated course and the grades you got for each. (See Repeats for additional information.)

The grade you receive when you repeat a course for a letter grade is included in your GPA. However, for the first 15 credits of repeated work, the grade that you originally received will be removed from the calculation of your GPA. Hence, repeating a course in which you got a D or an F (and getting a better grade) is an effective way of improving your GPA and perhaps your academic standing as well. If you exceed the 15 credits of repeated work, your

GPA will include both the original grade and the grade that you earned on the repetition.

Repetition of a course more than once requires approval of your college.

Each course you repeat will be coded on your transcript to indicate that your cumulative grade point average has been adjusted in accordance with UCSC academic policies on repeated courses.

Academic Senate Regulations A9.1.8, 9.4.1.E, and 10.1.2 contain the general policies about repeating courses.

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Questioning Grades and Evaluations

Your grade and evaluation for a course are based upon the instructor’s assessment of your academic performance in the course. If you have questions about how your grade or evaluation is related to the work that you did for a course, you should feel free to discuss the course requirements, criteria for evaluation, and your performance with the instructor of the course. A conversation like this will generally resolve your questions and sometimes reveals that a clerical error or other mistake was made in assessing your work. In the case of the latter, the instructor is able to revise the grade or evaluation.

Formally Disputing a Grade or Evaluation

If after discussing your assessment with the instructor you are convinced that your grade or evaluation was based upon non-academic criteria (such as ethnicity, political views, religion, age, sex, financial status, or national origin), or capricious or arbitrary application of academic criteria in a manner not reflective of student performance in relation to course requirements, you may officially dispute the grade or evaluation and file a grievance following the procedure described below. You may only file a grievance based upon evidence that the instructor disregarded your academic performance in giving the evaluation or grade. You may not file a grievance merely because you disagree with an instructor’s assessment of your work.

The procedure and deadlines for undergraduate students to file a grievance for an assessment is outlined in senate regulations available on the web at http://senate.ucsc.edu/manual/santacruz-division-manual/part-three-appendices/appendix-c/index.html.

You must contact the instructor within one regular academic quarter of the issuance of the grade or evaluation to see if the issue can be resolved. A formal appeal must be filed within six months for summer, fall, and winter quarter courses or within nine months for spring quarter courses of the date on which the disputed grade or evaluation was made part of the student's permanent record by the Registrar.

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Final Examinations [top of page]

Final examinations are given during the examination-week period at the time announced in the Schedule of Classes, usually in the same room used for class meetings during the quarter. Final examinations are required in all undergraduate courses unless the department or other agency sponsoring the course has obtained permission from the Committee on Educational Policy to evaluate students in another manner. No change in the time or date of a final examination may occur unless the course sponsoring agency has obtained the approval of the Committee on Educational Policy. When finals are administered, they must be completed at the scheduled examination time and may not require more than the scheduled three-hour time block. If a take-home examination is not assigned until the week designated for final examinations, it cannot require more than three hours to complete.

Many students prefer enrolling in courses so as to avoid more than two final examinations on the same day. Instructors may bar students from taking the examination if they arrive late. If a student misses an examination due to an unavoidable emergency, the instructor may agree to give an Incomplete grade and schedule a makeup examination provided that the student’s work is passing up to that point. Travel plans for vacation are not an emergency, and should not be made without checking the final examination schedule. When a final examination is one of the regular requirements in a course, no one taking the course may be individually exempted from it.

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Closed Week

No examinations or tests other than laboratory examinations or individual makeup examinations may be given during the last week of instruction.

Examination Retention

An instructor may release to individual students the original final examinations (or copies). Otherwise, the instructor will retain final examination materials at least until the end of the next regular term. During that time students will be allowed to review their examinations.

Religious Observance

Given the diversity of religious practice within the campus community, academic and administrative units are encouraged to make reasonable accommodation when the schedule of a required campus event conflicts with an individual’s religious creed. It is the official policy of the University of California, Santa Cruz, to accommodate, without penalty, requests for alternate examination times in cases where the scheduled time for the examination violates a student’s religious creed.

Requests for accommodation for religious observance must be made directly to the faculty member in charge of the course within the first two weeks of the term or as soon as possible after an examination date is announced. Instructors are expected to make reasonable accommodation for such requests. Students who are unable to reach a satisfactory arrangement with an instructor should consult the head of the unit sponsoring the course or the campus ombudsman.

Accommodations for Disability

Students with registered disabilities that require examination modifications will be accommodated in compliance with state and federal laws. Reasonable accommodations will be made based on recommendations from the Disability Resource Center.

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20 January 2012