How do Incomplete Grades work? A primer from Records & Registration

At the end of every semester, the Office of Records & Registration receives many questions about awarding incomplete grades, so we wanted to share this information to help students and faculty understand how this tool is used on our campus.

An incomplete grade is granted only at the instructor’s discretion and only in accord with College policies. It is up to students to initiate the process by requesting an incomplete grade.

When can an incomplete grade be requested? All four of these conditions must be true:

• IF the student has successfully completed at least 75% of the coursework,
• AND the student has a personal emergency preventing the completion of the remaining work,
• AND the faculty member agrees that an incomplete is appropriate,
• AND the faculty member has not yet submitted a final course grade.

If all these conditions are true and the student and faculty member agree that an incomplete grade is appropriate, then the student must make the request online through my.newpaltz.edu. Faculty members cannot make incomplete grade requests on students’ behalf.

Once a student submits an incomplete grade request, the option to award an incomplete will appear on the faculty member’s grading roster.

For the fall 2020 semester, all grades, including incomplete grades, must be submitted on the grade roster no later than Dec. 18. Faculty will need to select the “I” option for students who have been approved for an incomplete grade.

More information about the policy and procedure can be found on the Records & Registration website.

For more information about important dates and deadlines related to course grading, please see the Academic Calendar.