New Rules on Incompletes for my courses

The “new” rules for my courses are simply those that have been in the University catalog for some time. The “new” simply means that I will be following them more strictly than in the past.

Given that my courses have an independent study option which gives the student an opportunity to use the semester/holiday break or various breaks during the summer to work on the course, may I suggest another strategy for taking my courses. I post the syllabuses for my spring course by early October and the syllabuses for my summer and fall courses by early March. Students who wish to take one of my spring courses as an independent study course can get the books and begin their work immediately following the end of the fall semester. For the summer and fall courses, work on them could begin immediately following the end of the spring term. Students who will be attending the class lectures can still get an early start by reading some of the assigned books in advance and possibly even doing the outline for a couple of their papers.

The rules regarding grades of “I” in the UH catalogs are stated as follows:
   * The grade of I (incomplete) is a conditional and temporary grade given when students are passing a course but, for reasons beyond their control, have not completed a relatively small part of all requirements. Students are responsible for informing the instructor immediately of the reasons for not submitting an assignment on time or not taking an examination. The grade of I must be changed by fulfilling the course requirements within one year of the date awarded, or it will be changed automatically to an F (or to a U in S/U graded courses). The grade of I may not be changed to a grade of W, but may only be changed to another letter grade.
Students should understand that the only way to have an I (incomplete) changed to a passing grade is to fulfill the specific course requirements by the appropriate date. Students should not re-register for courses in which they previously received an "I" grade. Students must contact the instructor of the course in which the student received an "I" grade to make arrangements to complete the course requirements. If the instructor requires the student to participate in all or part of the same class in another semester, the student should not re-register for the course. After the course work is completed, the instructor will submit a change-of grade form to change the "I" grade to the grade earned. The student should understand that both grades, the original "I" and the earned grade, will appear on the transcript.

Therefore, grades of I are only allowed if a student has a small amount of work to complete and, due to extenuating circumstances, are unable to do so by the time grades are due for that semester.  The university is starting to apply these rules strictly.  So, I am going to have  to stop giving grades of I in my courses across the board.  All students must have their papers turned in during the course of the semester and grades must be submitted on the official grade sheet.  If a student has a valid reason for an incomplete (they are hospitalized at the end of the semester, for example) and need a small extension…that is fine…but this will now be the exception.

Notice, also, that an Incomplete CAN NOT be changed to a W.  The provost’s office no longer allows this longstanding rule to be broken.  So, when receiving an Incomplete, it must be clear to the student will eventually be assigned a grade for this course.  If the work is not completed within one year, the grade will be an F.
In addition, some students who are given no choice but to receive an I in your course have been kept off of the Dean’s list, even if they have turned in all of their work to you for that semester and have made straight As in all other courses….so this practice has other implications that you may not have considered.

THIS POLICY WILL START BEING APPLIED BEGINNING WITH THE SPRING SEMESTER OF 2007.  Keep in mind that the amount of paperwork generated by this practice is enormous, so I would really like to see very few of these come through for this (fall) semester if possible.

Due to changes in state funding for students (enrollment caps) and other practical issues we will be MUCH stricter regarding these grading policies in the very near future



Thomas R. DeGregori, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Houston
Department of Economics
204 McElhinney Hall
Houston, Texas 77204-5019
Ph. 001 - 1 - 713 743-3838
Fax 001 - 1 - 713 743-3798
Email trdegreg@uh.edu
Web homepage http://www.uh.edu/~trdegreg