Grade Mode

All courses are letter graded (A, B, C, etc.) unless otherwise denoted in the catalog description. Typical courses that allow Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grading are field experience, practicum, internship, workshop, college teaching, individual investigation, thesis and dissertation. A course may be graded with letters or S/U, not both.

An In-Progress (IP) mark is allowed only for courses for which there is an expectation that students may need more time beyond the term to complete all requirements to earn a final grade. Typical examples are research, practicum, internship, project, clinical education, individual investigation, thesis and dissertation. An IP mark should be used judicially as it is expected that students should complete their courses by the term’s end for a timely completion of their degree The IP mark is not to be used in place of an Incomplete (IN) mark, and rationale must be given for assigning an IP grade mode to a course.

Faculty assign a grade mode to courses through the course approval process. The grade mode for a course does not change from section to section. Kent State grade modes that can be attached to courses (and their Banner codes) are listed below:

Standard Letter (A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, F, NF, SF)
Standard Letter or In-Progress (IP)
Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U)
Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) or In-Progress (IP)
Complete (CP) / Not Complete (NC) *

*Used only for the university’s co-op course

The Audit (AU) mark and Pass/Fail (Y/Z) grades are not listed above as they are self-selected by students for a course, not pre-determined by faculty.

Kent State’s grading policies and procedures can be found in the University Catalog