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Grading Guidelines for Faculty

Each semester’s work is an entity and grades are to be assigned for work completed during the semester. Only the instructor of the course has the responsibility and authority to judge the quality of a student’s work and assess the appropriate grade. No one can overrule instructors and require them to go against their judgment of the work. A grade must not be arbitrary or capricious or influenced by illegal discriminatory considerations. It must not contain a punitive element for an offense against academic integrity if the student has been found innocent by a duly constituted board. For additional information, see faculty legislation on Grading Policies. 

Final Exams and Other End-of-Semester Exercises

Each semester's work is an entity and grades are to be assigned for work completed during the normal period of the semester. Final grades are entered in the grade roster in Faculty Center. Instructions and procedures can be found here.

Refer to the Key Academic Dates for more information.

Grading Policies

Letter Grades:

The official University grading system is composed of letter grades with pluses and minuses. Passing grades range from A+ to D-; F is failing. 

S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) Grades: 

The purpose of the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) system is to encourage students to venture into courses outside their main areas of familiarity without great risk to academic record.

  • S means satisfactory, as defined by performance that would be graded C- or higher, and U means unsatisfactory, as defined by performance that would be graded below C-.
  • Cornell does not issue grades on a Pass/Fail basis; the S/U threshold for successfully completing and earning credit for a course is a minimum grade of C-.
  • Grades of S and U are not given grade point values or considered in computing grade point averages.
  • Student earn credit toward the fulfillment of graduation requirements for course grades of S, but not for course grades of U.
  • Students must select their grading option by the end of the drop-deadline of the semester. No exceptions to this deadline are permitted.
  • Within the 120 credits required for the degree, a minimum of 100 letter credits must be earned

More information can be found in the Grading Guidelines section of the courses of study.

 

The grade of incomplete is appropriate only when two basic conditions are met (1) the student has substantial equity at a passing level in the course with respect to work completed. (2)The student has been prevented by circumstances beyond the student’s control, such as illness or family emergency, from completing all of the course requirements on time. While it is the student's responsibility to initiate a request for a grade of incomplete, reasons for requesting one must be approved by the instructor. The instructor will establish specific make-up requirements and deadlines for completion.

CALS students should not re-enroll in a course where they have received an incomplete (INC). Instead, coursework should be completed under the direction of the course instructor. Generally, deadlines are two successive semesters, but instructors may require shorter deadlines.  Two successive semesters are the default deadline if a deadline is not entered. If the coursework is not completed within the designated time period, the outcome will either update the Incomplete (INC) to a failure (F) or unsatisfactory (U/UX) grade or the grade provided on the OLGAA form based on completed work. 

No additional work can be completed once a CALS student has conferred their degree. 

Note: A student may not graduate with an Incomplete (INC) on the transcript.

The incomplete form must be completed in OLGAA. The instructor will be asked for the following information:

  • Reason for issuing an incomplete (INC)
  • Work that remains for the student to complete
  • Tentative grade for the coursework completed to date
  • Deadline for completion of the remaining work
  • The outcome if the student fails to complete the required work (either change to F/U or provide a grade based on completed work).

More information can be found in the Grading Guidelines section of the courses of study.

Undergraduates student may not audit courses.

  • All academic work must be submitted by the last day of academic activity in the current term to avoid an incomplete.  Although the grading deadline to submit final grades may be after the end of the term, all student academic work for grades must be submitted to instructors by the last date of academic activity to avoid an INC grade and to avoid any adjustments to the student's last date of academic activity.
  • Grades are protected by FERPA and university policy. Grades should never be posted or made public. If grade rosters, reports and other confidential material must be distributed within the University, use Secure File Transfer.
  • Please assign everyone on the grade roster a grade.  
  • The Grade Roster status should never be changed. If the grade roster is changed to "Ready for Review" the grade roster will be locked. Please email cals-studentservices [at] cornell.edu to have the Grade Roster unlocked.
  • Grades are entered into the grade roster in Faculty Center for each student individually, or multiple grades may be uploaded from a spreadsheet.
  • When assigning a grade of INC (incomplete) or F (failing) grade, you must also complete the online reporting form in OLGAA found here by the grading deadline (see above). Choose the "Failing and Incomp" tab at the top of the page to search for an individual student or filter (using "more options") to find your class roster and complete the appropriate form.

To avoid the influencing of grades by improper consideration or student pressure, a grade, once given, may only be changed if an error in the original grade is confirmed by the instructor.  The instructor should be willing to review the basis of an assigned grade with an inquiring student and correct the grade if an error is found. As a matter of equity, grades must not be changed after the end of a semester on the basis of a student’s subsequent completion of additional work. Upon graduation, all courses and grades on a student’s transcript are frozen and may not be altered.  (See the Faculty Handbook 6.1 Instruction/Grade Changes) If necessary, refer students to the CALS Office of Student Services (cals-studentservices [at] cornell.edu). Official grades can be changed by using OLGAA, the On-Line Grade Adjustment Application.