Chemistry Handbook

Current University policy states:

"Repeating a course more than once is allowed only with the approval of the student's academic advisor. In cases when the course is not in the student's academic advisor's unit, approval to repeat the course must be approved by the appropriate unit head of the department where the course is offered."

The Associate Chair of Student Affairs currently handles these requests when departmental approval is required.  Students often request a permit through MyBanner, but this cannot be handled through the permit system.  The student is directed to the Registration Repeat Limit Approval Form and once they have filled it out, they send it to the ACSA.  These are almost always approved, but we usually request a quick conversation to find out why the student struggled in the first two attempts, and to point them toward tutoring resources.  Once the ACSA signs it, it can be forwarded to the Registrar by email.   (DAL 6/2024)

The University has a fairly defined policy on when incompletes are appropriate, but in reality, we have a bit of flexibility.  If you are not sure if an incomplete is in order, please let me know and I will advise.  If you plan to grant an incomplete, there are 3 simple steps:

• Submit the incomplete via the following form:

           https://www.gvsu.edu/clas/cms-form-edit.htm?formId=D1D036E6-991B-FB81-99565C594BF8147E

           ******When it asks for Unit Head's email, enter [email protected]*******

• Give a grade of I for the final grade for the class.
• Discuss with the student when they would like to make up the material.  Ideally, this should be done fairly quickly, but it could hypothetically be at any time next semester.  Once the work is completed, you resolve the incomplete with a simple grade change form.   (DAL 6/2024)

University policy states that students should resolve their incompletes by the end of the next semester (excluding Spring/Summer).  The Dean's office will remind you of the need to resolve any outstanding incompletes.  There are a few things to consider:

• Despite the above guidelines, there is no enforcement mechanism about resolving an incomplete after one additional semester.  If you feel a student had a good reason to get a further extension, you have full authority to grant that.  I would recommend not letting it go beyond 3-4 semesters though.
• If a student does not respond to your inquiries about resolving their work, you can either give them more time and check again, or resolve to the "work not completed" grade agreed to when the I was granted.  A student cannot graduate with an I on their transcript, so even if they ignore your outreach, they will have to eventually. 
• Sometimes an instructor doesn't hear from a student, they resolve to an F, and then the student comes back and complains or offers an excuse.  If you choose to allow them to complete their work at that point, there is no problem to resolve the F back to a new grade--this is handled quite simply by carrying out a regular grade change.  (DAL 6/2024)