3.3.2 Changing Grades

(last updated 02/25/22)

Senate Regulation 780 states “All grades except Incomplete are final when filed by the instructor of record in an end-of-term course report. However, the correction of a clerical or procedural error may be authorized as the Division directs. No change of grade may be made on the basis of reassessment of the quality of a student’s work. No term grade except Incomplete may be revised by re-examination.” Examples of a clerical or procedural error are numerical miscalculations by the instructor, misreading by the instructor, etc. In most cases, the distinction between an error and a ”reassessment of quality” is straightforward. Occasional cases falling in a gray area have created misunderstandings. Clearly, any review of a student’s work is a reassessment by the instructor. It is not reassessment per se that is prohibited, but rather reassessment of quality. This does not prohibit, for example, reassessment by the instructor that discovers an unread page of an examination or even a mis-graded question of fact. It does prohibit a reassessment by altered or adjusted standards. The rationale for this regulation is to protect the instructor and other students in a course from arguments over the academic standards of evaluation. Such standards are the sole responsibility of the instructor in charge of the course.

It is the responsibility of the Office of the Registrar to monitor compliance with SR 780. The Committee on Courses of Instruction advises the Office of the Registrar on policy and reviews particular cases where general policy fails. Requests for changes in grades must be accompanied by specific statements of the reasons for the change. In no other way can the Office of the Registrar and COCI monitor grade changes for compliance with SR 780 and for consistency among different instructors.