[sprocter@iup.edu]

Currently my institution denotes an R (research in progress) for dissertation and thesis credit until the student completes their dissertation or thesis, at which time the R grade is changed to the final grade of P (pass). I want to know how your institution grades dissertation and thesis credit. Every term/semester or in the same way as our current practice? Thanks!

[brandall@oakland.edu]

We use SP (Satisfactory Progress) or NP (No Progress) until the very final semester, in which a grade of S is given. SP and NP are permanent final grades. This institution used to do what you describe, but it was causing problems for students on federal financial aid b/c they had so many credits that weren’t final grades. At my previous institution, thesis and dissertation grades were S and U every semester. The department I was a faculty member in used thesis and dissertation contracts, where, every semester, we would set expectations with our students as to what progress was expected, and not meeting those goals resulted in a U. This was so that there was a clear basis for the grade.

[dobbins@rowan.edu]

We ran across this issue recently. We had been using three different designations across our campus: letter grade; pass/fail; IP (in progress); and S/U (satisfactory/unsatisfactory). With our registrar, we are developing a plan to make a uniform system based on XP and CP (with CP changing to a letter grade at the end– and XP triggering a performance improvement plan shared with the Graduate Dean’s office). Our early discussion with our advisory council about this indicated that they DID NOT want such a bi-modal set of options (i.e. either doing well, CP, or go straight to XP where the credits do not count). We are now developing further with the potential for a CP with PIP, etc. Once we have something established and posted to our website, then I can send the link.

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