We have an unusual system for granting incompletes. We cannot grant an
incomplete during the final exam period. Those can only be granted by an
Associate Dean. There are both pluses and minuses there. On the plus side, I
don't have to decide if the student's problem is severe enough to warrant
the incomplete. On the minus side, I might not even know that the student
has been granted an incomplete until the end of the period. In this system
we would never be tempted by a request for some additional work to rescue a
grade. We may grant incompletes for work not completed before the exam
period. I follow the same policy as Rick in that case. That is students who
have legitimate excuses for not being able to complete some work by the end
of the semester get an incomplete. These are very rare. It is not fair to
other students in a class to allow a few students to complete additional
work after the semester has ended in order to make up for work they did not
do or completed poorly during the semester.
The W question is a little more interesting for me. We have a W policy that
is similar to SIUE in that students may withdraw from a course until very
late in a semester. However, that W stays on the transcript even when the
student takes the course a second time. If a student chooses to withdraw
from a course after that date the transcript records the grade as an F. I am
comfortable with this policy because the withdrawal becomes a part of the
transcript.
Dennis
Dennis M. Goff
Dept. of Psychology
Randolph-Macon Woman's College
Lynchburg VA
Stephen W Tuholski wrote -
I only give an Incomplete when the student has a valid medical or personal
emergency excuse... I don't make them do extra work, only the work they
would have done if they were in class (the exams and paper assignments are
different, but of equal difficulty). Students who look for a C because
they think they may not pass the class do not have any success w/ me.
On a fairly related note... at SIUE, students are allowed to drop a class
(wo/ instructor's permission) up until the 12th week of the semester. I
find this ludicrous. When they drop, they get a "W" which is subsequently
erased when they retake the class. What are the group's thoughts on this
policy? Are similar policies in place at your colleges or
universities? Personally, i see this as another way of pandering to
students, and it really irritates me.
