Chemistry Handbook

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)

Before our lecture/lab split (CHM 115 to CHM 125/CHM 126 and CHM 116 to CHM 127/CHM128), the old combined course (CHM 116) had a prerequisite of CHM 115 (instead of CHM 125 and CHM 126).  There are still a large number of students who took CHM 115 (before the split) and now wish to take CHM 127/128.  This is particularly prevalent for students who wish to wish to take CHM 127/128 as a repeat of CHM 116 (sometimes years later).  Because they took CHM 115, they need a pre-requisite waiver.  The professional advisors have asked is we could have CHM 115 added to the pre-requisite for CHM 127 and CHM 128, something like this: 

CHM 127:  Prerequisites: (CHM 125, CHM 126) or CHM 115, (MTH 122 or MTH 124 or MTH 125 or equivalent by placement or exam), and CHM 128 (may be taken concurrently).

CHM 128:  Prerequisites: (CHM 125, CHM 126) or CHM 115, and CHM 127 (CHM 127 may be taken concurrently).

I looked into this and discovered that any change in pre-reqs requires a curriculum change proposal.  This is not worth the effort, as the number of legacy students who took CHM 115 over the coming years will drop rapidly.

(DAL 7/2026)

Update:  now that we have moved to CHM 234, CHM 115 is an automatic pre-requiste, so this question is moot (DAL 7/2026)

CHM 115 to CHM 230 exceptions

There are certain situations that we regularly allow students to jump from CHM 115 to CHM 230 without CHM 109 or CHM 116. Waivers are typically delivered with a warning that the student would be better taking CHM 109 as they are missing certain topics such as equilibria, acid-base etc.  

It is very important to make sure the student and advisor understand that a pre-requisite waiver does not allow the student to get CHM 109 credit on their transcript.  This is particularly important if a degree program or graduate program requires CHM 109.  For instance, Nursing requires CHM 109 for admittance, unless it is for the second-degree program--in the latter case, they only require CHM 230.

Pre-Nursing students  After some conversations with a pre-Nursing advisor (Mike Stoll), we agreed that we would allow CHM 115 as a pre-req for CHM 230 if the student earned a B- or higher in CHM 115. 

OSH majors  After some conversations with OSH professor Dave Huizen, we agreed that we would allow CHM 115 as a pre-req for CHM 230 if the student earned a C or higher in CHM 115.  Dave noted that he might recommend exceptions if he knew the student had made good academic progress in recent semesters.

Biomedical Engineers  We have a long-standing agreement with BME that their students can jump from CHM 115 to CHM 230.  As far as I know, the only requirement is that they pass 115. (DAL 6/2024)