Evaluation Procedures, Grading and Appeals

At the beginning of each course, the instructor will announce the distribution of marking weight among term work and final examination, and the evaluation procedures to be used.

In grading, the faculty will not lose sight of the student as a whole person, but the emphasis in grading will be on academic achievement.

The grading system used at the University is the Alberta Common Grading Scale, also known as the Alpha 4.00 Grading Scale. Grades have the following meanings:

*See "Pass/Fail Courses" in the Course Description section (Pass/Fail Courses).

Because of the nature of the Alpha 4.00 system, there can be no uniform university-wide conversion scale. The relationship between raw scores and the resultant grade will depend on the nature of the course, and the instructor's assessment of the level of this class compared to similar classes that he/she has taught. An instructor may provide students with his/her own conversion scale that he/she has found useful as a guideline for distributing grades over the Alpha 4.00 scale.

Audit (AU)

A student may attend classes in a given course without receiving credit under the following conditions.

•Permission of the course instructor, or alternately the faculty dean, must be obtained and submitted to the Registration and Student Finance Office on the “Permission to Audit” form. Note that obtaining instructor permission does not guarantee registration in that course.

•Priority is given to students registered for credit. Should a course be full and have a waitlist, auditors will be removed and may be added to the course only at the add/drop deadline.

•A student may audit a course or course component that is by its nature practical or applied, except for applied music, but in such cases the audit fee shall be the same as the normal tuition fee. Instructors may also impose other conditions on student participation in practical or applied components for safety reasons.

•A student who audits a course must attend at least 80% of the class sessions of that course to receive the audit notation on a transcript unless specific, written alternative arrangements are arrived at between the instructor and the student.

•A grade of AU is assigned for successful completion of the audit requirements. "Audit notation denied" appears for students who have not completed requirements. AW is assigned for students who withdraw from an audited course.

•Audited courses will not be considered as meeting pre- or corequisites for any course or program at The King's University.

•A student may not audit any course which he or she has previously attempted for credit or audit.

The last day for changing a course from audit to credit is September 11, 2019, for the Fall term and January 15, 2020, for the Winter term. The last day to change from credit to audit is October 15, 2019, for the Fall term and February 15, 2020, for the Winter term. The last day to withdraw from an audited course is November 13, 2019 in the Fall and March 18, 2020 in the Winter.

Incomplete (I)

If a student has made prior arrangements to complete course work after the end of the term, a professor may award an "Incomplete". An incomplete cannot be given for missing an examination. The student has up to four weeks after the end of classes to make up incomplete work. If the work is not completed by that time, a grade of zero will be awarded for the incomplete work and calculated into the final grade for the course. Incomplete agreement forms are available in the Registration and Student Finance Office.

Withdrawal From Courses (W)

If a student decides not to complete a course after the seventh class day of each term he or she may withdraw from the course.

A student can withdraw from a course by withdrawing in the Registration and Student Finance Office in person or online using their OnLine Registry Services. A student wishing to withdraw completely from the University must fill out a "Notification of Withdrawal" form available in the Registration and Student Finance Office and surrender their student identification card.

The student's Statement of Results and transcript will note "W" for the withdrawn course. The "W" is not computed in the GPA and carries no academic penalty. The student should consult Obtaining a Refund in the "Fees" section of the calendar to determine if he or she qualifies for a refund. Normally full-time students will not be allowed to withdraw from Interdisciplinary Studies courses. If a student stops attending classes but does not complete a "Course Withdrawal" form, his or her statement of results and transcript will note a grade for the course based on the work done relative to the requirements of the course.

A medical withdrawal request may be made by the last day of classes in extraordinary cases in which serious illness prevents a student from continuing his or her classes or from withdrawing before the last day to withdraw specified in the academic schedule, and incompletes or other arrangements with the instructors are not possible. Medical withdrawals are normally for all courses in which the student is registered for the term.

Medical withdrawals after the withdrawal deadline that involve a pre-existing medical condition must present novel circumstances in order to be considered for late withdrawal. Under most situations, known pre-existing medical conditions do not warrant approval of a medical withdrawal.

Applicants will be required to complete the necessary supporting documentation (including the appropriate form) and submit them to the Registration and Student Finance Office. In order to return to studies in subsequent terms, an evaluation will be made by the Registrar, upon receipt of medical documentation stating that the student is cleared to resume studies.

Grade Appeal Process

The grading policies of the University are based on the assumption that normally the classroom instructor is best able to evaluate the performance of the student. However, the University has the responsibility of ensuring that proper grading practices and procedures are safeguarded, and the grade appeal process is a way of balancing responsibilities.

If a student believes that his or her grade for an assignment or test, or final mark for a course is not right, the student should speak to the course instructor within 30 days of receiving the grade or mark in question if possible, indicating what seems wrong.

If consultation with the instructor is not possible or fails to resolve the disagreement, the student may, within 30 days of consulting with the instructor, or within 30 days of receiving the grade if such consultation is not possible, present a written appeal to the Vice President Academic. The appeal should state the mark or grade in question, the grounds for the appeal and the remedy sought. Acceptable grounds are such things as a procedural error, failure to consider all relevant factors, an error in marking or computing a mark, bias or discrimination, etc.

If there appear to be sufficient grounds for the appeal, the Vice President Academic will consult with the instructor in question, and with the applicable Faculty Dean as required. In the case of an assignment or exam grade, the Vice President Academic may arrange for another qualified academic to re-grade the assignment. In the case of a final course mark, the Vice President Academic will review the mark distribution and computation with the instructor to see that proper procedures were used in assigning the mark.

If the procedure suggests that the student's grade or mark should be changed, the Vice President Academic will arrange for the change with the Registrar. Whether the appeal is upheld or denied, the Vice President Academic will inform the student and the instructor of the outcome, and the Vice President Academic's decision shall be final.