Incomplete Grades

Faculty are encouraged to review the policy on the use of the Incomplete grade in the GT Catalog.

catalog.gatech.edu/rules/5

Faculty are advised that Incomplete grades should not be granted lightly. It may not be in the student's best interest to carry Incomplete grades into the next term. Faculty should consider the following factors very carefully before agreeing to assign an Incomplete grade.

Acceptable reasons for assigning an "I" would include, but not be limited to, the following:

  • Personal illness of the student
  • Personal/family emergency (death in family, serious illness in family, birth of child, etc.)
  • Technical issues such as loss of research data, laptop failure, etc.
  • Interruptions to internet access
  • Disruptive situations in the area where the student and/or their family is located
  • Disruptive employment situations

If the faculty member feels that it is appropriate/needed, they can ask the student to provide documentation of the extenuating circumstances to the Dean of Students office. Depending on the faculty member's awareness of the student's circumstances and level of comfort with the reasons the student is giving for needing an Incomplete, the Dean of Students involvement may be advisable. Medical documentation should be provided to the Dean of Students office to limit the proliferation of HIPAA-protected information.

The Dean of Students office may already be aware of the student and their circumstances and may already have information or documentation that would be sufficient to support an Incomplete grade.

  • If not, the Dean of Students office would gather information from the student about the circumstances and then determine what kind of documentation would be needed.
  • Faculty should contact the Dean of Students office with related questions.

The IJ grade is used to denote an incomplete grade due to pending Office of Student Integrity investigations. It cannot be assigned by the faculty member in the grading system.

Other factors that should be considered and general guidance:

  • The reason for the "I" grade should be non-academic in nature.
  • The student must have been doing satisfactory work (i.e., passing the course) up to the point where the "I" grade is requested.
  • In general, Incomplete grades should be granted ONLY after at least 70% of the term and at least 70% of the course assignments have been completed.
  • The amount of work needed to resolve the incomplete should be reasonable for the student to complete in the next term (e.g., a final exam or final paper). If the student is missing so much work that a passing grade could not have been assigned, a grade of "F" should be assigned.
  • A student with an "I" grade in a course is not permitted to sit in on or register for the course again to resolve the "I" grade.
  • The faculty member and the student must discuss and agree upon how the student will access course materials to make up the "I" grade when the request for the Incomplete is made.
  • The instructor may also consider the type of assignments that were missed such as group presentations, group projects, laboratories, or other examples where it would be difficult to recreate the work or conditions for the work to be completed.
  • An incomplete should not be granted so that a student can re-take a test, quiz, or exam to improve their grade.
  • Discussions about a possible Incomplete grade for a student should not occur until late enough in the term when it can be determined that the student is passing and that they have successfully completed enough of the class to have a reasonable chance of making it up by the deadline.
  • When completing a grade correction form to remove the "I" grade, the instructor is required to identify the non-academic reason that the "I" was given, not what the student was required to do to make up the work.
  • Once a final grade is assigned to a course, it cannot be converted to an "I" (Incomplete) grade. An "I" grade must be assigned as part of the final grading process.
  • When a grade of "I" ("Incomplete") is assigned in a course, the "I" grade must be removed and the grade change reported by the end of the student's next academic term in residence or, if the student has not been enrolled, by the end of the academic term one calendar year from the date the incomplete was assigned.
  • This deadline for the student to finish an Incomplete is strictly enforced. At the end of every semester, the Registrar's Office runs the "I to F" process. After an Incomplete has been converted to an "F" grade it will not be changed back to an Incomplete. At that point, the grade for the course is an "F."
  • Students who receive a grade of "I" (Incomplete) should consult the Student Rules & Regulations VII of the Catalog regarding the length of time allowed to resolve the Incomplete.
    • An extension of the time needed to make up the missing assignments is possible but should be done only under extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control. School/College policies may vary. This is at the instructor's discretion, and they should consult with their School/College office before granting an extension of time to make up the Incomplete grade.
    • Acceptable reasons for allowing an extension of the deadline for resolving an Incomplete grade prior to its reversion to an F include:
      • The instructor is not available during the semester in which the make-up assignments are due.
      • The student is participating in a co-op or internship, is not actively enrolled in coursework for that semester, and is therefore unable to focus on resolving the Incomplete grade.
      • The instructor, for whatever reason, cannot continue working with the student on resolving the Incomplete grade and the School must assign a different instructor to work with the student.
      • The student continues to experience the illness or extenuating circumstances that warranted the Incomplete grade initially or if new extenuating circumstances occur. Updated documentation must be submitted to the Dean of Students Office.
    • If the issues continue beyond a calendar year a discussion with the student's academic advisor around a Petition to the Faculty to withdraw from the course should occur.
    • The reasonable time frame of an extension for making up an Incomplete grade is dictated by the professor, based on the assignments that are missing. The student must comply with it or be assigned the grade they have earned.
    • When the extension of the due date is approved, an exact date must be provided to the Registrar's Office such as "12-1-2022." This date is entered into an extension field in the SIS (Banner) which is what prevents the conversion of the Incomplete to a grade of F if not completed by the due date. The extension date must be reported directly to the Registrar's Office and can be entered only by authorized Registrar's Office staff.