Grades and GPA

Return to: Academic Regulations & Enrollment   

• Academic Renewal
• Grade Appeals (See Grievance Procedure, Student )
• Grade Processing
• Grading Symbols and GPA Calculation
• Semester Honors

Academic Renewal

The Trustees of the California State University have established a program of academic renewal. Students having difficulty meeting graduation requirements due to a grade point deficiency may petition to have up to two semesters or three quarters of previous college work discounted from all considerations associated with requirements for the baccalaureate degree.

Academic renewal is intended only to facilitate graduation from Humboldt State; it does not apply to individuals who already possess a baccalaureate degree or who meet graduation requirements without the approval of a petition for academic renewal.

Students must meet all the conditions established by the Trustees to qualify for academic renewal. This policy can be applied only if a student has met all graduation requirements except GPA; AND

• present evidence in the petition that the coursework to be disregarded was, due to extenuating circumstances, substandard and not representative of the student’s present scholastic ability and level of performance.
• present evidence that if the petition is denied, the student will have to enroll in additional coursework involving one or more additional terms to qualify for the degree. Include the specific coursework or requirements involved.
• five years must have elapsed since the term or terms to be disregarded. Terms taken at any institution may be disregarded.
• since completing the term(s) to be disregarded, the student must have completed at least one of the following in regard to Humboldt State coursework:

15 semester units with at least a 3.0 GPA
30 semester units with at least a 2.5 GPA
45 semester units with at least a 2.0 GPA

• AND the student’s grade point average remains below 2.0 for the major, Humboldt State, or overall.

Students who believe they are eligible should complete a Petition for Exception to University Policy web-form through the Office of the Registrar.

Grade Processing

Grades may be viewed in Student Center. Grades for fall semester are available in January; spring grades are available at the end of May; summer grades are available in mid-August. Grades are not sent by mail or email.

Grading Symbols and GPA Calculation

A - Outstanding achievement

B - Very good, commendable achievement

C - Satisfactory achievement

D - Minimum performance

F - Failure without credit

AU - Audit grade does not earn academic or degree credit. This grade refers to the student’s status as an auditor. See “Auditing a Course” under Academic Regulations in this catalog for further details.

CR, Credit - satisfactory achievement of course requirements. Does not affect GPA calculation.

I, Incomplete - indicates that a portion of required coursework has not been completed and evaluated in the prescribed time period due to unforeseen, but fully justified reasons, and that there is still a possibility of earning credit. It is the responsibility of the student to bring pertinent information to the attention of the instructor and to determine, from the instructor, the remaining course requirements which must be satisfied to remove the Incomplete. The instructor of the course will complete an Authorized Incomplete form, available online via the Faculty Center. Students accept the Incomplete Contract in their Student Center. The date by which the course is to be completed will be stated; however, no more than one year from the time the class ended will be allowed to complete the requirements (except due to special circumstances as approved by instructor and submission of an Extension of the One-Year Time Limit for Removal of an Incomplete Grade). Either the instructor will change the Incomplete to an appropriate grade or it will administratively be changed to either a letter grade of F (Failure) and will be included in the student’s grade point average or to a grade of NC (No Credit) depending on the grade mode of the course. An extension of the one-year time limit (maximum of one additional year) may be granted by petition for circumstances beyond a student’s control. The petition must be submitted by no later than the last Friday of classes during the semester the incomplete is set to expire. [Once a final grade is assigned to the course, students are NOT eligible for an extension; a student has the option of repeating the course, subject to the limits of the repeat policy.]

NC, No Credit indicates unsatisfactory achievement of course requirements. This grade is not used in grade point calculation; however, some universities and many graduate and professional schools interpret an NC grade as F.

RD, Report Delayed is assigned by the Registrar and indicates that due to circumstances beyond the control of the student, a grade has not been reported to the Office of the Registrar.

RP, Report in Progress is used in conjunction with thesis project and other courses where work assigned extends beyond one academic term. The RP indicates that work is in progress but that assignment of a final grade must await completion of additional work. RP is not included in the student’s grade point average. Work is to be completed in one year except for master’s thesis courses. Master’s thesis courses with an RP grade must be completed within seven years from the end of the term in which it was assigned. If an undergraduate student does not complete the coursework within one year, the RP grade will be administratively changed to a grade of F (Failure) and will be included in the student’s grade point average or to a grade of NC (No Credit) depending on the grade mode of the course. If a graduate student does not complete the coursework within seven years, the RP grade will be administratively changed to a grade of F (Failure) and will be included in the student’s grade point average or to a grade of NC (No Credit) depending on the grade mode of the course.

W, Withdrawal - an authorized drop of the class within the allowed deadline. The symbol W indicates the student was permitted to drop the course after the second week of instruction with the approval of the instructor and department chair. It carries no connotation of quality of student performance and is not used in calculating grade point average.

Note: If a student withdraws completely from Humboldt, an instructor has the right to override a W with an F or NC, depending on the grade mode of the course. Effective fall 2009, students will only be permitted to withdraw from 18 semester units after the fourth week of instruction for a serious and compelling reason.

WU, Withdrawal Unauthorized indicates that an enrolled student did not withdraw from the course and also failed to complete course requirements. It is used when, in the opinion of the instructor, completed assignments and/or course activities were insufficient to make normal evaluation of the academic performance possible. For purposes of grade point average this symbol is equivalent to an F and is included in grade point average.

The # symbol following a grade on the student’s transcript or in the Degree Audit Report for Students (DARS) indicates courses that do not earn academic or degree credit.

Semester Honors

Dean’s List

An undergraduate student who completes at least 12 graded (A-F) units with a minimum term grade point average of 3.50 is designated on the Dean’s List. This designation appears on the student’s academic transcript.

Presidential Scholar

An undergraduate student who completes at least 12 letter graded units with a minimum term grade point average of 3.85 is designated a Presidential Scholar. This designation appears on the student’s academic transcript.