Credit Option Grading Policy
Because of the impact of moving all instruction online in response to COVID-19, Winston-Salem State University has implemented Policy 301.17 - Course Grading Policy for Spring 2020, Fall 2020, and Spring 2021.
Students will submit an opt-in request via Banner Rams Online no later than 5:00 p.m. on December 11, 2020 for graduating students and 5:00 p.m. on December 21, 2020 for all remaining students.
INSTRUCTIONS:- Students will log into Banner Rams Online account.
- Enter Secure Area. Click the Student Tab.
- Click the link “Credit Option Grading Request.”
- Students will select the fall 2020 term.
- Students should read carefully before proceeding. Students should work with their advisors to make decisions about converting letter grades to credit grades and consider the impact on admission to some majors and graduate school.
- A student should not submit a Credit Option (CO) grading request if a final grade is missing.
- Click the box in front of the course you would like to have a CO grade. You can select multiple courses.
- After making your selections, click the Submit button. You can only click the Submit button once.
- No action is necessary if you do not want to opt-in to CO grading.
- Since late opt-In requests will not be accepted, faculty should ensure that all final grades are posted by the Registrar’s deadline so that students can see their final grade before this deadline.
The Policy Explained
The university is allowing undergraduate students to retain the letter grade recorded by each instructor for each course or students may elect to receive a Credit Option (CO) grade for any course or all courses in which a grade of B+ to F was earned.
Faculty will assign letter grades using the current scale of A – F. After viewing their posted grades, students will be able to select to convert any course grade (B+ to F) to the CO grading system.
Students should work with their academic advisors to make decisions about converting letter grades to credit grades and consider the impact on admission to some majors and graduate schools.
The Credit Option grading system for students will be as follows:
- PCR Designation: Satisfactory. Replaces grades of B+ to C- in the regular grading system. Credit is granted for this course, and it will fulfill university and major requirements even in cases where a grade of “P” (passing) does not.
- DCR Designation: Credit Given but Not Satisfactory for Certain Requirements. Credit is granted for this course while noting that the student’s work would have earned them a “D-”, “D”, or “D+” letter grade had that option been chosen. DCR grades will apply to departmental requirements in the same way that “D-”, “D”, or “D+” grades apply in the A – F grading system. Students should refer to the University Catalog to determine whether courses earning “D-”, “D”, or “D+” grades will count for prerequisites—e.g., to move from or count toward a specific major requirement.
- NCR Designation: No Credit or Not Satisfactory. Replaces an “F” in the regular grading system. No credit is granted for this course.
Grades of PCR, DCR, and NCR will not be computed in a student’s GPA.
CO grades will not be used to impose financial aid sanctions as courses with CO grades will be treated essentially as transfer credit whereby the student gets credit for courses but not grades as long as they earn credit for the course. This does not apply to NCR courses.
NCR graded courses will count as attempted hours but carry no grade penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please review the Frequently Asked Questions and contact the Office of the Registrar at registrar@wssu.edu should you have additional questions or concerns.
Students may request to have grades converted to the new CO system on or after December 4, 2020.
- Non-graduating students will be able to request to have grades converted to the new CO system beginning December 4 and continuing until December 21.
- Graduating students will have until December 11 to request a conversion of a course or courses to the CO system. Once the degree has been conferred, students may not request changes.
There will not be a limit on the number of fall 2020 courses that a student may convert to the CO grading system.
- Students granted an incomplete (I) for fall 2020 courses will have until two weeks after the faculty member changes the grade to a letter grade to request a change of the grade to the CO option.
- Students who do not complete the requirements for the course within the one year allotted for incomplete grades to be addressed cannot request for the grade to be converted to the CO option.
- Grades of PCR, DCR, and NCR will not be computed in a student’s GPA.
- A grade of PCR or DCR indicates that the course was passed and will count as earned hours and will give the student credit for the course towards hours needed for graduation and for required courses in the major.
- DCR grades will apply to departmental requirements in the same way that “D-”, “D”, or “D+” grades apply in the A – F grading system. Students and advisors should refer to the University Catalog to determine whether courses earning “D-”, “D”, or “D+” grades will count for prerequisites—e.g., to move from or count toward a specific major requirement.
- If you get a DCR in a major course that is required for graduation but does not serve as a pre-requisite for another major course, you can use it to count towards the program requirement and graduation.
- If you get a DCR in a pre-major or major course that serves as pre-requisite for another course that requires a C- or higher grade, then you will need to retake the course for a higher grade but you still get the earned hours.
EXAMPLES:
- Intro to Sociology, Intro to Psychology, Intro to Art and Intro to Music may fulfill an Area of Knowledge, but are also prerequisites for a major:
- These are courses that a grade of DCR, if counted like a “D-”, “D”, or “D+”, would end up being detrimental to a student's progress if the student was a major in one of these programs, as the student would still need to take the course over per departmental pre-requisite grade requirements.
- In contrast, a grade of DCR in Intro to Geology, would not adversely affect progress as this course is not a pre-requisite for a major course or program.
- Mathematics and other science areas usually require a grade beyond a D in pre-requisite mathematics courses (e.g. MAT 1312 & MAT 1313 - Pre Cal 1 & 2, MAT 2317 - Calculus in particular)
- Some programs look at both courses completed and grades when making admissions decisions.
- Nursing, Exercise Science and Physical Therapy all require Anatomy and Physiology I & II. Some will accept the course if passed, but most are also looking at how well students did in courses for these competitive programs.
- Students’ degree audits and transcripts will show either PCR (Credit for Satisfactory Performance), DCR (Credit but Not Satisfactory Performance for Certain Requirements), or NCR (No Credit Earned) for the relevant courses.
- The following note will appear on the transcript explaining the CO system and why it was used in fall 2020:
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Faculty will not be able to identify students who have selected the new CO grading system until after they have submitted their final grades.
Students may use the grade earned in fall 2020, either a letter grade or a CO grade, to replace a grade for a course that was being repeated following the guidelines in the Grade Replacement Policy.
