Policies

Student Privacy and Confidentiality of Student Records

The University has a legal obligation to protect the privacy of students and the confidentiality of student records. Faculty members who have teaching and advising responsibilities are authorized to access student records information. Otherwise, no information about a student’s academic performance can be released without the student’s written permission.

Note: The public posting of grades (on office, class, or department bulletin boards or on the web) using students’ names or ID numbers is prohibited under federal law. Because Axess is secure, it is the best way to report grades to students. Axess is in compliance with federal privacy laws.

You may obtain more information about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act from the Registrar's Office Student Record Privacy page or the Department of Education web site.

Entering Grades via Axess

All grades must be submitted online via Axess by the published deadlines (see the "Notices" box while logged into Axess). See the Recording and Submitting Grades section of this web site for instructions.

Faculty members may opt to designate a proxy to enter grades on their behalf. Faculty may designate more than one proxy for a course. They may also designate a single proxy for all their courses for a given term. Proxy designation must be done via the Axess for each term. See Designating a Grading Proxy for more information.

University policy dictates that a designated proxy must have a SUNet ID and must not be a student enrolled in the class to be graded. Individual schools may have individual internal policies regarding grading proxies.

Incomplete Grades

The 'I' grade is restricted to cases in which the student has satisfactorily completed a substantial part of the coursework. 'I' grades must be changed to a permanent notation or grade within one year (i.e., prior to the first day of the fifth quarter which follows the course, including Summer Quarter). An earlier time limit may be set by the instructor. If the 'I' remains uncleared at the end of one year, it is changed automatically by the Registrar’s Office to an 'NP' or 'NC' as appropriate for the grading option selected.

Grading TGR 801 or 802 Courses

Students working on projects, theses, or dissertations enroll in their department’s 801 or 802 courses for a number of successive quarters. To indicate that a student is making satisfactory progress on their project, thesis, or dissertation, a grade of 'N' should be assigned. A grade of 'S' is recorded during the final quarter when the project, thesis, or dissertation has been completed and accepted by the department.

The 'N-' grade indicates unsatisfactory progress in a continuing course. The first 'N-' grade constitutes a warning. The advisor, department chair, and student should discuss the deficiencies and agree on the steps to correct them. A second 'N-' will normally cause the department to deny the student further registration until a written plan for the completion of the degree requirements has been submitted by the student and accepted by the department. Subsequent 'N-' grades are grounds for dismissal from the program.