An “I” grade, or an incomplete grade indicates a substantial portion of the course work has been satisfactorily—but not entirely—completed as of the end of the semester. Instructors may, for example, award an I if you document a personal hardship or extenuating circumstances rendering you unable to complete the coursework according to the time limits established for the course. An incomplete contract must be filled out and signed by the student and instructor and submitted to the Office of Registrar Services.
- You may receive an I when the completed portion of your work is of passing quality. In this case, the instructor may assign a specific date (up to one year) by which all unfinished work must be completed. Upon submission of the completed work, the instructor will assign a new grade to replace the incomplete status code.
- Note that by agreeing to assign an I or incomplete grade, the instructor is not required to give you one year to finish the work and may, in fact, set a shorter date as deemed appropriate.
- If you have not satisfactorily completed the work by the date established by the instructor on the incomplete contract, the instructor will assign the appropriate grade for your work.
- If the work has not been completed and a grade assigned within one year from the end of the semester in which the I grade was awarded, the Office of Registrar Services will automatically change the grade to an F.
- Both you and the faculty member will receive notification that this change is pending and should take steps immediately to resolve the I grade.
In some cases, instructors may recommend or require that you attend another term of the course (or a portion thereof) to remove the incomplete grade. In this case, you will not re-enroll in the course, but must make arrangements with the original instructor and/or any new instructor to sit in on the course or portion of the course as required.
- At the end of the term, the original instructor will file a removal of incomplete grade form with the Office of Registrar Services.
- If the subsequent work was completed with another instructor, the second instructor will provide the appropriate information to the original instructor who is responsible for assigning the grade.
- If the original instructor is unavailable or no longer with the university, you must contact the head of the division which offered the course for assistance.
- If you are required to attend the course in a subsequent term, sitting in on the course or otherwise making up the I or incomplete grade does not count as part of your full-time or part-time load for financial aid or loan deferment purposes.
In some cases after receiving an I grade, you may choose to withdraw from the course, an action that requires both the instructor’s signature and the department head’s signature on a removal of incomplete grade form.
Any I or incomplete grade on your record at time of degree will be "frozen." This assumes the course was not needed to complete the degree. Frozen incompletes are not subject to the automatic conversion to F after one year and will remain as incomplete on your record.
In rare cases, at the end of the initial one-year period, you may ask the instructor to extend the I grade for an additional fixed period of time. If the instructor agrees, he or she should submit a grade of IX on the removal of incomplete grade form. This action will block the automatic change to F after one year.
