Grades and Grading

Grading System

The University of Maine uses a letter-grade system ranging from A to F. Faculty members have the option of adding + (no A+) and - grades to the basic letter grades. There is no University-wide grading scale. Each instructor determines the points or percentage associated with each letter grade and provides this information in the course syllabus.

The qualitative value of the five basic letter grades is defined as follows:

A = Excellent work.
B = Good work.
C = Satisfactory work.
D = Poor work that does not adequately prepare students for more advanced work in the discipline. Grades of D contribute to total credit hours earned but may, or may not satisfy course prerequisites and/or graduation requirements for majors, minors or other academic programs.
F = Failure. No credit is earned for a failed course.

The grades A-F have the following numerical values used in calculating a student’s Grade Point Average (GPA):

A = 4.00	B = 3.00	C = 2.00	D = 1.00
A- = 3.67	B- = 2.67	C- = 1.67	D- = 0.67
B+ =3.33	C+ = 2.33	D+ = 1.33	F = 0.00

The University uses a variety of grades on transcripts to designate special circumstances. These include:

Grade	GPA Impact	Description
AU	N/A	Assigned only for courses taken under the audit option. No credit is earned.
DG	N/A	Deferred grade. Used only for courses that extend beyond a single semester.
I	N/A	Incomplete. See the Incomplete policy below for additional details.
L	Same as F	Failure for lack of participation. Indicates a student participated in less than 50% of the class but did not formally withdraw. No credit is earned
TH	N/A	Final grade deferred. Used only for the Honors thesis (HON 499).
W	N/A	Indicates that the student officially withdrew from the course.

N/A=not applicable

Grade	Description
F*	Course failed on the pass/fail grading option. No credit is earned and the GPA is not affected.
LP	Course passed on the pass/fail grading option with a D+, D, or D-. Credit is earned, but the GPA is not affected.
P	Course passed on the pass/fail grading option with a C- or above. Credit is earned, but the GPA is not affected.

Incomplete Grades

The instructor, in consultation with the student, postpones the assignment of a final grade to allow the student to complete work not turned in before the end of the semester. Instructors assign the incomplete “I” grade only when A) circumstances beyond the student’s control prevented the completion of assigned work on time, and B) when the student has completed more than 50% of the class. When the “I” grade is assigned, the instructor must complete an Incomplete Contract (viewable in MaineStreet) to inform the student of the time-specific work to be completed and the time allotted to submit the incomplete work. If the incomplete work is not submitted within 160 days from the end of the semester (or by the defined date from the Contract), the grade will automatically default to an “F” grade regardless of what the grade noted on the Contract was for the work actually completed. The instructor may agree to extend the time allotted to complete the work by filing an Extension Form for Undergraduate Incomplete Grades. Students receiving an “I” grade are not allowed to re-register for the same course until the incomplete has been made up or converted to an “F” grade. A student receiving an “I” grade may not make up missed work by sitting-in on the course the next time it is taught.

Incomplete Grade and Graduation

A student is allowed to graduate with an Incomplete grade (I) on the academic transcript only if all of the following conditions are met:

The course was taken no more than one academic year preceding graduation.
The student has at least 120 credits of graded work.
All college, department, and general education requirements have been satisfied.
The incomplete when counted as an “F” grade does not reduce the accumulative grade point average below 2.0

If an incomplete grade is resolved within 45 days from the end of the term of graduation (See Verification of Degree and Conferral Timelines policy), the grade change will be processed normally and the GPA will be updated prior to the degree being conferred. If the incomplete is resolved after the degree has been conferred, the grade(s) will be noted at the end of the transcript and will not affect the GPA.

Grading Option

Students select one of three grading options for each course at the time of registration.

Grade option. This is the option normally selected. It results in a grade (A-F) upon completion of the course. Courses in the major and courses meeting general education requirements must be taken using this optio
Pass/Fail option. Students may take a limited number of courses Pass/Fail. Students who pass the course receive the P or LP grade and degree credit. Students who fail the course receive the F* grade and no degree credit. Grades of P, LP and F* do not affect the student’s grade point average. Some required courses in the major, such as first-year seminar courses, may only be offered with the pass/fail grading option. The following restrictions apply to other courses the student may choose to take with the Pass/Fail option:

Students must have sophomore standing or higher and have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 to choose to register for a course Pass/Fail.
No more than one course per semester may be taken on the student-elected Pass/Fail grading basis.
The Pass/Fail option is not allowed for courses used to fulfill program requirements for the major, for the minor, for the college, or for Core Curriculum, unless the course is only offered with a Pass/Fail grading option.
Students normally select the Pass/Fail option when enrolling in the course, but have until the end of the add/drop period to change to the Pass/Fail option or back to the Grade option.

3. Audit option. Students registered to audit a course attend class meetings but usually do not take exams or complete formal assignments. No grade is assigned and no degree credit is earned for an audited course. Full tuition is charged for audited courses. The Audit option is appropriate only under special circumstances, and should only be used upon the advice of an academic advisor and with permission from the course instructor. Courses may be changed from the Grade or Pass/Fail option to the Audit option before the last day to add courses as specified in the Academic Calendar with the approval of an academic advisor, the course instructor, and the associate dean. A student cannot change from an Audit to the Grade option beyond the add period for that class. Early College students covered by Department of Education (DOE) funding may not enroll using the Audit option.

Deferred Grades for Honors Students

Students who are registered for Honors Thesis (HON 498/ 499) have the option to receive a defered grade (TH) while they are working on the Honors thesis. Students will not be allowed to graduate with a “TH” grade. Students who have not completed their thesis work in the time frame allowed to complete graduation requirements, will be contacted by the Honors College and will either apply for graduation at a later date or will be given a grade for the work that has been done and the student will graduate without Honors.

Grade Reports

Students may access their course grades using MaineStreet. Course grades are available as they are posted by instructors and processed following final examination period.

Considerable care is taken to ensure that all grades entered on a student’s permanent record are accurate. Any student who suspects an error in a grade should contact the course instructor without delay.

Appealing Grades

The University of Maine has formal procedures by which students may appeal the assignment of grades by an instructor, accusations of cheating or plagiarism, or certain aspects of classroom procedure. The details of these appeal processes can be found on the Office Of Student Records website: https://studentrecords.umaine.edu/policies/grades-and-grading/

Course Repeat Policy

A student may repeat a course regardless of the grade or grades previously earned in that course. Students will normally only be permitted to repeat a course twice, i.e. take the course for a maximum of three times, regardless of grade. There may be student financial aid implications for repeating a course more than once after the student has earned a passing grade. Federal regulations limit financial aid funds to paying for one repetition of a previously passed course, even if a higher grade is still needed to advance in the academic program and/or is required for a subsequent course.

Every time a student chooses to repeat a course, each of the following apply:

Full tuition is charged.
Any earned credits and grade points from the prior attempt are removed, even if the prior attempt was passed and/or if the most recent grade is lower.
Earned credits and grade points from the most recent course completion are applied toward credit counts and the cumulative GPA. Only values from this attempt are counted.
The grades for all attempts remain visible on the transcript.

There may be limitations on the number of times that specific courses may be repeated in specific programs. Students should contact their academic advisor, the associate dean of their college, or their program director to discuss whether they should repeat a course and consult with the Office of Student Financial Aid to see how many repetitions of a course are allowed. Courses taken at another institution may transfer in to meet a course requirement but will not replace the low grade of a course taken at the University of Maine in the calculation of GPA. More information on the transferring of courses can be found under the Transfer Credit section of the catalog.

Academic Integrity

Academic honesty is very important. It is dishonest to cheat on exams, to copy term papers, to submit papers written by another person, to submit papers generated by software or systems without the explicit approval of the instructor, to fake experimental results, or to copy or reword parts of books or articles into your own papers without appropriately citing the source. Students committing or aiding in any of these violations may be given failing grades for an assignment or for an entire course, at the discretion of the instructor. In addition to any academic action taken by an instructor, these violations are also subject to action under the University of Maine Student Conduct Code. The maximum possible sanction under the student conduct code is dismissal from the University. Please see the University of Maine System’s Academic Integrity Policy listed in the Board Policy Manual as Policy 314 (*Date Issued: September 1, 2020): https://www.maine.edu/board-of-trustees/policy-manual/section-314/

Attendance

The policy of the University is that students are responsible for attending all class meetings for courses for which they are registered, whether online or in-person. Each instructor determines the specific attendance and participation policy for the course and documents the policy in the course syllabus. Instructors may assign a lower letter grade for failure to adhere to the attendance policy. For fully asynchronous online courses and for asynchronous elements of hybrid courses, participation may be defined as the student’s virtual presence for, and participation in, discussions, activities, and related forms of electronic contact occurring in a course’s learning environment(s). Examples of course components include participation in on-line discussions, listening to podcasts, group writing sessions, whole class or one-on-one chat, and completion of assignments. The requirements for frequency and quality of a student’s participation in an online course are set by the course instructor and described in the course syllabus. Students sometimes miss classes because of ill health, family emergencies, or other reasons beyond their control. It is the student’s responsibility to notify instructors of the reasons for missing class and to make arrangements to make up missed work. In some cases, if absences are extensive, even for legitimate reasons, it may not be possible for the student to complete the course and they may be advised to withdraw.

Final Examinations

Final examinations are held in most courses at the end of each semester. Final examinations are held according to a published schedule and cannot be taken before the scheduled time. Students who are scheduled for more than three final examinations on the same day or have two exams scheduled at the same time are asked to work with their instructors to reschedule one of the final exams. If students have difficulty reaching a reasonable compromise with their instructors, the Office of Student Records will provide further assistance.