Policy

Appeals Process
Students may appeal any academic decision, including admissions decisions, course grades, and results of comprehensive examinations. To appeal, students should first present their reasons for appealing to the original decision maker, i.e. faculty member, faculty committee, or administrator. If the student remains dissatisfied with the result of the appeal, s/he may appeal next to the Assistant Dean for Teacher Education (if enrolled in a teacher education program) or the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies (if enrolled in a graduate program) by submitting a School of Education Petition Form (PDF) to the Office of Student Services. In the petition the student states the decision or program policy s/he is petitioning and his/her reasons for doing so. The Assistant Dean or Associate Dean will respond directly or convene a faculty committee to review the appeal and make recommendations. The student will be notified by e-mail of the decision/response. If the student remains dissatisfied with the result of the appeal, s/he may appeal next to the Dean of the School of Education, and then to the Dean of the Graduate School (graduate students only). Students may also utilize the Boulder Campus Ombudsman in Willard Hall. For information, see http://www.colorado.edu/Ombuds/

School of Education Policy on Incomplete Grades

Incomplete grades are a contract between instructor and student to delay the posting of the final grade on the student’s transcript for up to one year.

• A student request the incomplete
• A student has satisfactorily completed a significant portion of the course, and
• A student has extenuating circumstances beyond her/his control that prevent the student from completing the course within the normal time frame.

If a student's situation does not conform to all of these criteria, the student is not eligible to receive an incomplete. Faculty may request documentation of the extenuating circumstances before agreeing to the assignment of an incomplete grade. Students who have not attended or who have not satisfactorily completed a significant portion of the course should not be given an incomplete grade. (In the case of non-attendance, the instructor should award the student the grade(s) s/he earned, usually an F.) 

There are two types of incomplete grades: an IF or an IW. An IW grade, if not completed, changes to a W when it expires and has no impact on the grade point average. An IF grade, if not completed, changes to an F when it expires and will impact the grade point average.

The instructor determines which grade to award (IF or IW). NOTE: The CU campus system is in the process of revising this policy and may eliminate the IW option during the 2008-2009 academic year. Please contact the Assistant Dean when responding to a student’s request for an incomplete grade to verify that both grade options are available.

If the faculty member agrees to award an incomplete grade, s/he must submit an Incomplete Grade Contract Form to the Office of Student Services. Having a formal written agreement documenting the work to be completed and the date by which the work is due is often critical to resolving disputes and allows the Assistant or Associate Dean to resolve incomplete grades if the original instructor is not available to do so. This form is used to document:

• the reason/grounds for the incomplete grade,
• the student’s grade on the work that has already been completed,
• and a description of the work that the student will need to submit and the deadline by which it must be submitted in order to complete the course.

The contract must be submitted to the Office of Student Services, to be kept in the student’s file for future reference, if needed.

The maximum amount of time a student can be allowed to complete an incomplete is one year from the term in which the course was taken. The instructor can set a shorter deadline for the completion of the work, but it is the instructor's responsibility to ensure that the plan for completing the course can be accomplished within the one year maximum. The instructor should establish a deadline that will allow him/her sufficient time to evaluate the student’s work and submit a Change of Record form to the Office of Student Services before grades are due in the semester the work is completed. If you have questions about the appropriateness of awarding an incomplete grade, you can discuss the situation with the Assistant or Associate Dean.

Incomplete grades should only be awarded when both the instructor and the student believe that the course work can and will be completed within one year. If that is not the case and the student has compelling extenuating circumstances, you can contact the Assistant or Associate Dean.

Once the student has fulfilled the terms of the Incomplete Grade Contract, the instructor must submit a Change of Record Form to the Office of Student Services.

Change of Record Form(s) are available in the Office of Student Services for instructors to pick up and complete for their students. Due to security reasons, staff will not release Change of Record Form(s) to students; instructors must pick them up or make special arrangements with the Office of Student Services. All completed Change of Record Form(s) should be submitted to the Office of Student Services.

Student E-mail Policy
E-mail is the official means of communication within CU-Boulder. Therefore, we will send communications to students in this format and will expect that those communications will be received and read in a timely fashion.  Information Technology Services (ITS) will assign an official university e-mail address to you. It is to this official address that the university will send e-mail communications.

A student may have e-mail electronically redirected to another e-mail address. If a student wishes to have e-mail redirected from his or her official address to another e-mail address (e.g., @aol.com, @hotmail.com, or an address on a departmental server), he/she may do so, but at his or her own risk. The university will not be responsible for handling of e-mail by outside vendors or by departmental servers. Having e-mail redirected does not absolve a student from the responsibilities associated with communication sent to his or her official e-mail address.

Students are expected to check their official e-mail address on a frequent and consistent basis in order to stay current with university communications. The campus recommends checking e-mail once a week at a minimum, in recognition that certain communications may be time-critical.  The School of Education recommends checking your e-mail account two to three times each week, including while on breaks.

Faculty may determine how e-mail will be used in their classes. It is highly recommended that if faculty have e-mail requirements and expectations, they specify these requirements in their course syllabus. Faculty may expect that students’ official e-mail addresses are being accessed, and faculty may use e-mail for their courses accordingly.

In general, e-mail is not appropriate for transmitting sensitive or confidential information unless its use for such purposes is matched by an appropriate level of security.

Handbooks
Additional information regarding program policies and requirements may be found in student handbooks.

Undergraduate/Post-BA Advising Handbook (PDF)
Master's Plus Advising Handbook (PDF)
Graduate Handbook (PDF)
School of Education Petition Form Petition Form (PDF)
Incomplete Grade Contract Form Incomplete Grade Agreement Form (PDF)