The form that graduate students use to request a grade substitution is located at:
https://registrar.gatech.edu/info/grade-substitution-form
It must first be reviewed and signed by the academic advisor. It is then sent to the Office of the Dean of Students where records are reviewed to ascertain if the grade were a result of an academic integrity violation. If the student is eligible, the form is then sent to the Registrar’s Office for processing and for updating the record in Banner.
Questions and Answers
1. Can the policy be applied retroactively?
No. This new policy is effective as of the Summer 2022 term. It applies to courses taken for the first time in Summer 2022 and subsequent terms. The effective date is not subject to petition. There will be no exceptions to courses taken in a term prior to Summer 2022.
2. Are requests for graduate grade substitution reviewed for academic integrity violations?
Yes. When the form, after signed by the student and the academic advisor, is sent to the Dean of Students Office, the student record is reviewed to determine if the grade was the result of an academic dishonesty case. If the student received the grade as a result of an academic dishonesty violation, grade substitution is not allowed.
3. Will both grades remain on the transcript?
Yes. Both instances of the course, and the grades, will remain on the transcript. There is a notation in the student information system that makes it clear when a grade has been removed from the GPA calculation due to application of the grade substitution policy.
4. Can a grade substitution that has been applied be retracted if a student takes a course a third time or a fourth time and gets a better grade?
No. Once a grade substitution is requested and applied, it cannot be retracted. The student must understand that one they have used their one application of the policy, there are no more opportunities to replace a grade in the GPA.
5. Can a student take a course the first time (receive a C, D, or F), retake it and get a lower grade, and use the previous grade to replace the lower grade? For example, the student receives a C the first time the course is taken, then retakes the course and gets an F; can the C be used to replace the F?
The student could use the C to replace the F in this example.
6. Could a student retake a course more than once (because they received a C, D, or F multiple times), and use the highest grade to replace any one of the lower grades? For example, the student receives an F, then on the first retake earns a D, then on the second retake earns a B; can they replace the original grade with the B?
Yes. When the student submits the Graduate Grade Substitution form, it will require them to identify which ONE of the previous grades is being replaced.
It is important to remain mindful that there is only one application of this policy.
7. Will there be an indicator on their transcript that the course was a Grade Substitution so we can ensure a student does not attempt to complete the process twice or is this something only the Registrar would capture?
Yes, there is a notation on the internal advisor transcript and on the official transcript that a grade was substituted in the GPA.
8. Who tracks academic misconduct since advisors typically are not aware of OSI cases?
The Dean of Students Office. This process is the same for undergraduate student grade substitution requests.
9. To clarify, once the student takes the course again, and wishes to use that grade to replace the previous grade, they have to apply before the withdrawal deadline of their next registered term?
Yes, the student must apply in the next registered term before the withdrawal deadline.
10. What if a student retakes the course more than once? What is the deadline to apply for Graduate Grade Substitution in that case?
The student must apply for the grade substitution in the next registered term after they have repeated the course for the last time. In other words, they have decided that they will make no further attempts at the class and will chose which prior grade is to be replaced and make application by the next registered term.
11. Can a student who graduates with a Master’s degree, leaves Tech, then returns at some later time to pursue a PhD use the Graduate Grade Substitution policy during the PhD program if they already used it for the previous degree?
No. A student can use the Graduate Grade Substitution only once during their graduate career at Tech.