Grades and grading

Grading philosophy
Grading is used as a means to measure and indicate the student’s degree of mastery of a course’s objectives and content. The objectives and grading criteria are communicated to the student through the course syllabus.

Grade reports  

• Grades are issued at the end of each summer, winter, fall, and spring semesters and are entered into the student's permanent record at that time.
   
• Students may view their final grades on the CCBC Web site through the online self service information system.
   
• Students have the option of receiving, either by mail or in person, an unofficial paper copy of their grades upon request for no fee.

Midterm grades

• Students performing unsatisfactorily at midterm will be notified by the college. Students should speak with their instructors to determine their progress at midterm.
   
• Midterm grades are not a part of students’ academic record.
   
• No midterm grades are recorded for fast-track courses that meet in an abbreviated semester.

Grades and other indicators

Note: Letters R, AU, CE/PR, W and I are not grades. They are indicators used to identify a student’s status for record keeping purposes. No quality points are assigned to these indicators. Click on the indicators in the chart above for further detail. 

NON-GRADE INDICATOR EXPLANATIONS

R
The R designator represents a specific amount of content or progress in the development of skills. It is used for self-paced, developmental and other courses as agreed upon by CCBC faculty in the appropriate discipline.

AU
A student may register for any class as an audit. Course work and examinations are not required and no credit is awarded. The student is expected to attend classes regularly and pay the required fees and tuition. Students who do not meet attendance requirements of the instructor will receive a final grade of W. Some courses may limit the number of times an audit may occur. A student may elect to change his or her registration from credit to audit for any course during the first ten weeks of a regular semester or within the first two-thirds of winter, summer or late start classes. After the time limit a student is permitted to change from credit to audit only under extenuating circumstances with written approval of the appropriate academic dean responsible for the course. A student in a developmental, zero-credit course must obtain a signature by a dean of the subject area of the course in order to change to an audit after the end of the third week of a regular semester or a comparable time period for winter, summer, or late start classes.

W
The W grade is issued when a student withdraws from any course after the refund period; that is, during the first ten weeks of a regular semester or within the first two-thirds of winter, summer or late start classes. To withdraw from a course, the student must complete a Drop/Add/Withdrawal form, which is available in the Records and Registration office. After the published time limit has expired, a withdrawal may be granted only under extraordinary circumstances with written approval of the appropriate dean. Otherwise, if the withdrawal form is not completed by the deadline noted in the current credit class schedule, the student will receive an F grade.

I
An instructor may assign an incomplete grade for any class if the student has made satisfactory progress through most of the course but needs additional time to complete the remaining requirements due to a documented mitigating circumstance. It is the student’s responsibility to request an I grade before the final examination period. Student and instructor must agree on the precise conditions for completion of the course requirements. The course must be completed within 30 working days after the beginning of the next regular semester (fall or spring). If the course is not completed by that time, the grade will automatically change to an F or a U unless the instructor allows an extension. Students must complete a course and receive a grade before that course may fulfill a prerequisite for another course.

CE/PR
College Credit by Examination or Credit by Portfolio is designed to serve the student who – by past work, experience, self-study, and/or travel experience – has mastered subject matter generally equivalent in scope to courses offered at the college. The credit does not carry a letter grade, is not calculated into the Grade Point Average (GPA), and is included in the 45 credits that can be transferred to CCBC. No more than 15 credits can be earned through Credit by Examination or Credit by Portfolio.

FX
The FX grade will be given to students who fail as a result of insufficient attendance, as defined by individual faculty members. The grade would be calculated into the GPA as an F and would appear as an F on the student transcript; however, it will only be used internally to document failures due to nonattendance.