Incomplete (I) Grades

An “I” grade, or an incomplete grade indicates a substantial portion of the course work has been satisfactorily—but not entirely—completed as of the end of the semester. Instructors may, for example, award an I if you document a personal hardship or extenuating circumstances rendering you unable to complete the coursework according to the time limits established for the course.

• You may receive an I when the completed portion of your work is of passing quality. In this case, the instructor may assign a specific date (up to one year) by which all unfinished work must be completed. Upon submission of the completed work, the instructor will assign a new grade to replace the incomplete status code.
• Note that by agreeing to assign an I or incomplete grade, the instructor is not required to give you one year to finish the work and may, in fact, set a shorter date as deemed appropriate.
• If you have not satisfactorily completed the work by the date established by the instructor, the instructor will assign the appropriate grade for your work.
• If the work has not been completed and a grade assigned within one year from the end of the semester in which the I grade was awarded, the Office of the Registrar will automatically change the grade to an F.
• Both you and the faculty member will receive notification that this change is pending and should take steps immediately to resolve the I grade.

In some cases, instructors may recommend or require that you attend another term of the course (or a portion thereof)  to remove the incomplete grade. In this case, you will not re-enroll in the course, but must make arrangements with the original instructor and/or any new instructor to sit in on the course or portion of the course as required.

• At the end of the term, the original instructor will file a removal of incomplete grade form with the Office of the Registrar.
• If the subsequent work was completed with another instructor, the second instructor will provide the appropriate information to the original instructor who is responsible for assigning the grade.
• If the original instructor is unavailable or no longer with the university, you must contact the head of the division which offered the course for assistance.
• If you are required to attend the course in a subsequent term, sitting in on the course or otherwise making up the I or incomplete grade does not count as part of your full-time or part-time load for financial aid or loan deferment purposes.

In some cases after receiving an I grade, you may choose to withdraw from the course, an action that requires both the instructor’s signature and the department head’s signature on a removal of incomplete grade form.

In rare cases, at the end of the initial one-year period, you may ask the instructor to extend the I grade for an additional fixed period of time. If the instructor agrees, he or she should submit a grade of IX on the removal of incomplete grade form. This action will block the automatic change to F after one year.

Removal of incomplete grade forms are available in Student Central. These forms are to be completed by faculty and/or department heads only.