Introduction.
First and foremost, it is up to the instructor’s discretion on whether to assign an incomplete (INC) grade. If you are interested in assigning an INC grade, please read below for guidance.
This document offers some background information on what an incomplete (INC) grade is at Baruch College, strategies for assigning and managing INC grades, and some examples of coming up with a plan or agreement with a student who may receive an INC grade.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ENG 2100: Since ENG 2100 is a pre-requisite for ENG 2150, students who receive and still have an unresolved INC grade will be dropped from ENG 2150 prior to the start of the next semester (e.g., if a student gets an INC grade in ENG 2100 in Fall 2022 and they have not resolved their INC grade over winter break, they will be dropped from ENG 2150 in Spring 2023 prior to the start of that semester—whenever the registrar checks grade statuses for pre-requisites, this will take place). Therefore, faculty should rarely assign INC grades for students in ENG 2100. If you do assign them in case of emergency (student is ill and can’t finish the last paper, for example), they should resolve them quickly because the Registrar can drop the student from ENG 2150 at some point during winter break (or summer break, if taking ENG 2100 in spring).
INC Grade Baruch Definition and Policy.
An INC grade is:
Given only when the student has earned an average term grade of 50 percent or better for work already completed, but the term’s work is incomplete and the instructor agrees that the reason for the lateness is valid. Completed assignments must be handed in to the instructor so that the grade can be resolved by the end of the final examination period of the subsequent semester, or it becomes a grade of FIN, the equivalent of F.
See the linked guidance here, and especially note the following:
The grade of incomplete (INC) should be awarded only if the student has earned an average term grade of 50 percent or better for work already completed, has requested an INC, and has advanced a reason for it that the instructor agrees is valid. INC should not be given if the student simply does not show up for the final exam or does not hand in significant work without explanation: [they] should receive the grade that [they] have earned based on the work submitted (i.e., if the final exam or paper or project is worth 30% of the grade, the highest grade possible would be the equivalent of 70%). Grades can later be changed (including from F to INC) via the change of grade form, providing that a reasonable explanation is given.
Steps for Assigning and Managing an INC Grade.
1. Confirming Student Qualifies for INC Grade.
First, make sure the student qualifies for an INC grade:
- Has the student earned an average term grade of 50 percent or better for work already completed? If no, they do not qualify for an INC grade and must be assigned a different grade.
- Has the student requested an INC grade? You must be in communication with the student and cannot assign an INC grade without that. Technically, they must request the grade. Since the student may not know it is an option, and if you think the student could be a good candidate for an INC grade, you can communicate the grade option to the student if you believe they would qualify for it. At that point, the student would still have to request the INC grade option.
- Has the student provided a reason that the instructor agrees is valid for them to receive an INC grade? It is always up to the instructor’s discretion whether to offer an INC grade or not. After accounting for the qualifying term grade average required and confirming that the student is requesting an INC grade, it is up to the instructor’s judgment of the student and their circumstances to allow them to take an INC grade. Department administrators (i.e., Chair, Deputy Chairs, Great Works Director, First-Year Writing Director, First-Year Writing Associate Director, ELL Director) are happy to consult with any instructors if they are unsure how to navigate this decision.
2. Determining Your Availability and Ability to Evaluate Work and Assign Grade.
Before you assign the INC grade, you should think about your own availability and ability to evaluate work and assign a new grade for the student. For instance, if you know that you cannot evaluate work, communicate with the student, or fulfill other tasks associated with helping the student make up their work over a summer or winter break, that should impact the parameters surrounding any agreement you have with the student (see #3 below). In that case, you would have to be clear with the student that you will be unavailable over breaks and that you will only evaluate work during the following semester.
Alternatively, you could work with department administrators (i.e., Chair, Deputy Chairs, Great Works Director, First-Year Writing Director, First-Year Writing Associate Director, ELL Director) for them or someone else to fill in for you while you are unavailable (e.g., the First-Year Writing Director evaluates work over the summer according to a rubric you have created, the ELL Director is the first point of contact over winter break). Any alternative where a department administrator is involved would mean close coordination with that department administrator first, to make sure they are both aware and able to assist you.
3. Document Agreement: Accounting of Assignments Owed, Deadlines for Makeup Work, and an Overall Plan.
You should meet with the student—preferably before the semester in which they are taking the INC ends—to map out a plan. This plan should ideally include:
- an accounting of all work that must be completed
- the series of deadlines in which the student will have to turn in that work
- how the work will be submitted to the instructor
- contact information for submitting work and/or to ask questions
- and/or any other requirements that could assist in making this process work best for all parties (e.g., scheduling check-in meetings or emails, an agreement on how best to communicate about questions over breaks).
You may want to create a more formal agreement form to use with your student. See this link for an example from Medgar Evers College. The meeting should conclude with your agreement with the student in writing so you both can refer to it.
Note about makeup assignments: If you feel the amount of work owed could be consolidated in a way that would benefit the student’s learning, that may be advisable. In other words, you have flexibility to individualize assignments.
For instance, if a student missed a few homework assignments in the middle of the semester, and you think it would be more productive to think across those assignments rather than to individually make up each one, that is okay to do. One example could look something like this: a student missed 5 200-word reading response posts and you consolidate those posts into something like “cite at least 3 of the 5 readings from your missed reading response posts in an essay where you respond to the following question in 500-750 words.”
Another example could be if they missed a first and second draft of a paper, you could have them only complete one draft and a “revision plan” that outlines what they might do in a revision of their first draft. The rationale behind these alternative assignments is that the student is working from a different set of circumstances from when the work was first assigned and it might be both more beneficial and realistic to utilize some alternative assignments.
If you use alternative assignments, it should be clear in the agreement how much the alternative assignment is worth in terms of their grade. For instance, if one assignment replaces three assignments, it should be made clear that the one assignment is worth the same amount of points as those three assignments.
Using alternative assignments is not required or expected to be done but is offered as a possibility should you want to explore it.
4. Share the Agreement and Plan.
Once you and the student come to an agreement (see #3), share your agreement in writing in a follow up email to the student (with Office Assistant Jason Arty cc’ed, [email protected]).
5. Someone is Available to the Student.
During the remainder of the semester, the summer/winter break, and the following semester in which the student will have to complete all work as outlined in the agreement, the faculty member and/or a department administrator must be available to the student for any submitted work or for any reasonable questions about assignments they must complete. While not required, it is also recommended to the faculty member to contact the student occasionally to check in on how they are doing and whether they have questions to help keep the student on track. If the instructor is not available for long periods of time, they must coordinate with a department administrator who can assist as needed. If part of the agreement with a department administrator is for the administrator to evaluate and grade work, then they MUST have some sort of rubric or series of guidelines that the instructor develops that the administrator can use to grade.
6. OPTIONAL: Amending the Agreement.
As the plan is executed, it could be that the student or instructor recognizes an issue. If so, the student and instructor should meet or email to determine any amendments. They should create a new agreement, ideally in writing (for example, in an email).
7. Calculating and Submitting Grade.
Once all the agreed-on work is submitted , the instructor should grade the work according to a grading policy on their syllabus (unless some other sort of system was developed in the agreement for making up work). If late work penalties are applied, please adhere to your late work policy and nothing more punitive than that.
This should be done in a reasonable fashion like grading any work for any class. Remember that this all has to be completed before the end of the final examination period of the semester following the designation of the INC grade (e.g., if INC grade was for a class in Spring 2022, then the new grade needs to be entered before end of the final exam period of Fall 2022 or the student receives a FIN grade which is equivalent to an F). To submit the new grade, use the grade change form found here: Baruch College – Grade Change App (cuny.edu)