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Grades

Final grades for the semester are available to students through the Student Information System (SIS). Follow View My Grades from the Student Menu. From this location, undergraduate students can also review their academic standing, and cumulative or term GPA.

Grade reports/report cards are not mailed at the end of the term. If students need a hardcopy of their grades, they have several options:

  • Print a copy of the SIS screen displaying their semester grades.
  • Print an unofficial transcript from SIS.
  • If an official record of their entire academic history is required, students can order a transcript by completing an online transcript request form.
  • Students who require a record of just the current term's grades, should contact the Registrar's Office to request a report.
Accordion

Faculty Grading

Grades are due 48 hours after a scheduled final exam. If no final exam is given, grades must be submitted on the first day grades are due according to the schedule that is published each semester. If you have students who attended your course, but whose names do not appear on the roster, please send us a memo or email with the student's name, course name and CRN and grade. We will research the student's registrations to see if the grade can be assigned to the student.

Web Grading Instructions
  • Go to http://sis.rpi.edu and log in.
  • Enter your User I.D. (Rensselaer ID Number)and PIN (Personal ID Number). If you forget your PIN, try the "Forgot PIN?" button.
  • On the Main Menu, select Instructors & Advisors Menu.
  • Once you are in the Instructors & Advisors Menu, select Submit Final Grades
  • Select current term and Submit that term
  • Select the first course you wish to grade
  • Submit the CRN - Brings you back to the Instructors & Advisors Menu
  • Select Submit Final Grades
  • Enter each grade from the drop down menu
  • Print them if you want a copy for you or your departmental office
  • When you are done, click Submit - you will see a message at the top of the screen that the grade has saved successfully
  • Click CRN Selection at the bottom of the page
  • Choose the next course you wish to grade and submit CRN - which brings you back to the Instructors & Advisor Menu
  • Select Submit Your Final Grades. Repeat same sequence as above until you have graded all of your courses.
No Shows on the Web Roster

If the student EVER attended, based on work completed, you are urged to assign a grade (e.g. F grade). If the student NEVER attended or stopped attending, in the Not Attending Column, enter the approximate percentage of the term that the student DID attend classes. For example, if a student NEVER attended, enter no grade for that student and in the Not Attending Column, enter 00. If a student attended for about half the term, enter 50; for a student who attended all term long, but didn't show for the Final Exam, enter 100. DO NOT USE A % SIGN in the Not Attending Column as this is a NUMERIC field. We will research the student's record and assign the appropriate administrative grade or adjust the student's registration.

Posting Grades

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1977 (P.L./39-380) specifically prohibits the posting of student grades by name or ID. Students can see their grades on SIS within 24 hours of your submitting them on-line

Thesis and Project grades

Master and Doctoral Thesis/Project registrations are now graded every term, either S (Satisfactory progress) or U (Unsatisfactory progress). The S or U grade reflects a single term's research progress. Please note that students who do not make satisfactory progress and are assigned a U grade will still earn the thesis credit hours for the term and the U grade won't need to be changed when the thesis/project is completed and turned in to the Office of Graduate Education.

Incomplete Grades and Incomplete Grade AuthorizationForms

If you agree to assign an Incomplete (I) grade to a student, you do so in SIS, just as you do when entering your other grades for the course.

NOTE: You must also complete an Incomplete Authorization Form with the student and submit this form to the Registrar. Incomplete Grade Authorization Forms are not issued to students. Instructors may get them from their departmental office or use the Incomplete Grade Authorization Form available from the Instructor menu in SIS (Login Required).

Grades Rolling

The Registrar will "roll" grades to students' records every night. On the Web Grade Roster, you will see those grades noted in the Rolled Column. Once a grade has been "rolled" to a student's academic history, you can only change the grade on a Change of Grade form (available through the Instructor menu in SIS) submitted to the Registrar. You cannot change rolled grades on the web.

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Final Exam Schedule and Conflicts

 

*Please check the schedule below for the exact date and time of your final exam, listed according to EDT. If you have a time conflict or need accommodation due to a time zone difference, please contact your instructor. Make-up exams will be given in accordance with the conflict resolution procedure listed below.

 Faculty are strongly encouraged to be flexible in offering alternate exam times for students facing time conflicts and time zone issues. Please also be mindful that not all students have access to reliable internet so an alternate assessment should be provided in that case.

Final Exam By Date
Please check for changes prior to your exam. Changes are indicated by Bold Type .

Final Exam By Subject 
Please check for changes prior to your exam. Changes are indicated by Bold Type .

Students who have conflicts between two or more exams given at the same time will resolve the matter of who will give the make-up exam in the following manner:

  1. The lower level course has precedence over an upper level course. For example, if a student has a conflict between a 2000 and a 4000 level course, the instructor of the 4000 level course must give a make-up exam.
  2. If both courses are the same level, the student should approach each instructor to determine if one of the instructors will give a make-up exam.
  3. If both instructors refuse to give a make-up exam when requested under the circumstances of item #2, the student should see the department scheduler. It will be that scheduler's responsibility to call his/her counterpart in the other department to determine who should give the make-up exam.
  4. If the two schedulers cannot reach a compromise, the scheduler originally approached by the student should call the Associate Dean of his/her school and ask the Dean to flip a coin and the loser of the toss will have to give a make-up exam.

If you have more than two exams in one day...

Any student with more than two final exams in one day can request that a conflict exam for the third exam be given on a different day and would follow the conflict resolution instructions listed above.

**Per the Provost’s memo, classes and final exams may not be scheduled during the designated reading days each semester.**

Accordion

Grading System

Grading Implementation Schedule
+/- Grading Implementation Schedule: Course levels:
Prior to Fall 2005: +/- Grading not implemented 1000 - 2999 Undergraduate
Fall 2005: 1000 and 6000 level courses 4000 - 5999 Undergraduate and graduate
Fall 2006: 2000 level courses 6000 and above - Graduate
Fall 2007: 4000 and 5000 level courses  
Grades
Grade Contributes to
quality hours
Quality points
earned prior to
fall 2005
Quality points
effective
fall 2005
Contributes to
earned hours
Grade interpretation
A Yes 4.00 4.00 Yes Excellent
A- Yes NA 3.67 Yes Excellent
B+ Yes NA 3.33 Yes Good
B Yes 3.00 3.00 Yes Good
B- Yes NA 2.67 Yes Good
C+ Yes NA 2.33 Yes Average
C Yes 2.00 2.00 Yes Average
C- Yes NA 1.67 Yes Average
D+ Yes NA 1.33 Yes Passed (not available to graduate students)
D Yes 1.00 1.00 Yes Passed (not available to graduate students)
F Yes 0 0 No Failed
I Yes 0 0 No Incomplete (Incomplete course work)
W No 0 0 No Withdrawn
AU No 0 0 No Audit
P No 0 0 Yes Passed a Pass/No Credit course
U* No 0 0 Yes* Unsatisfactory
IP No 0 0 No In Progress (multiple-term course)
S No 0 0 Yes Satisfactory
Z No 0 0 No Grade Unknown -- grade due, but not submitted
NE** No 0 0 No ** Not examined -- missed final exam)
FA Yes 0 0 No Failed due to administrative reasons
NC No 0 0 No Failed a Pass/No Credit course
WI Yes 0 0 No Failed (did not complete a course that was previously graded as incomplete)
GPA Calculation

Every time a student passes a course, they receive both a designated number of credit hours and a number of quality points, which are calculated by multiplying the course credit hours and the numerical equivalent of the letter grade received. To determine the grade point average, divide the total number of earned quality points for all courses by the total number of credit hours scheduled.

A sample GPA calculation appears below. (Note that grade point averages are not rounded, but are truncated after two decimal places when displayed.

Course Credit hours Grade Quality points
MATH 1010 4 B 12 (4 hours x 3)
CHEM 1100 4 A 16 (4 hours x 4)
ENGR 1300 1 D 1 (1 hour x 1)
PSYC 1200 4 B 12 (4 hours x 3)

GPA = 41 quality points divided by 13 credit hours = 3.15

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Incomplete Grades (I)

Incomplete (I) grade stipulations

  1. The I (incomplete course work) is given when, due to illness or other circumstances such as personal emergency beyond the student's control, a student has been unable to complete the required course work. The I grade is normally given only after the contract form (Incomplete I Grade Authorization) has been completed and signed by both the instructor and the student, and received by the Registrar.
  2. The I grade is given only in instances of truly incomplete course work, such as laboratory exercises, course project, term paper, etc. Under no circumstances may the I be given for the following situations:
    • Absence from a final examination.
    • Student on class list who has never attended class.
    • Student who wishes to do additional post-semester work in order to improve a grade.
    • Student who wishes to repeat the course as auditor, retaking examinations, etc., in order to improve a grade.
  3. The I grade must be completed within one semester. If facilities (i.e., laboratory) are required to complete the outstanding work but are not available during the next semester, then one year is the maximum time limit.
  4. Effective Fall 1999: If the agreements made in the I grade contract are not faithfully observed, or if the I grade is not cleared in the time specified in the contract, the grade automatically becomes the grade noted below. (See Item 5.)
  5. Note: the grade I is considered a penalty grade in the calculation of the term QPA. The grade of "I", until it is changed, is calculated as if it were the grade of "F".
  6. The Incomplete Form is located in the Instuctor menu of SIS.
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Repeating a Course

Undergraduates

If you repeat the identical course as an undergraduate at Rensselaer, both grades will appear on your student record and transcript. However, keep in mind that:

  • The grade received in the repeated course is always the one used in computing your GPA.
    Note! If a student repeats a course that they previously passed, and fails the course, the failure takes precedence and the student has not completed the course requirements for graduation purposes.
  • The course credit will count only once.
  • Independent Study courses, courses taken on a P/NC basis, or courses taken at another institution cannot be used to replace the original course grade.
  • Repeating a course for which a "WI" grade was originally received will not replace that grade in determining the GPA.

The recalculation of GPAs to account for repeated courses occurs at the end of the semester after all grades for all students have been processed.

Graduates

If a graduate student repeats a course, both grades are entered on the record. However, course credit will count only once and, although both grades appear on the transcript,the grade received in the repeated course is always the one used in computing the GPA. The grade for a repeated course for which the student receives a grade of “W” or taken at another institution cannot be used in place of the original course grade in calculating the GPA.