Grades
are to be determined solely on the basis of the academic performance of
each student according to preestablished criteria determined by the
course instructor and consistent with university, college, and
departmental policies.
The criteria for evaluating
academic performance are to be consistent with a course's goals and
objectives which have been approved by the appropriate academic
authority before the course is scheduled. Before the end of the first
full week of classes, the instructor is to state to the students, the
criteria for evaluating as well as the methods for grading student
performance (examinations, papers, reports, etc.).
The
instructor in each course shall decide what criteria and methods for
evaluating students are to be applied in the specific course. These
decisions of the instructor, however, must be compatible with any
evaluation policies previously accepted by the faculty of a department
or college with respect to particular courses, especially those courses
offered in sequence where students are allowed to progress through the
sequence based upon their level of performance in the previous course.
The
methods of conducting a course are determined by the instructor within
the limitations set by the general classification of a course as
lecture-discussion, seminar, laboratory, etc. An instructor may vary
the teaching methodology to meet particular circumstances of a course
(type or number of students enrolled, concentrated calendar as in
summer session, etc.) or the instructor's own desire to innovate or
experiment with different approaches. Any method selected must be
compatible with the predetermined goals and objectives of the course.
While teaching methodology may be changed after a course has begun,
grading methodology should be changed only after consultation, in
advance, with the students in the course.
The actual
evaluation and grading of academic performance is subject to the
professional judgment of each instructor. Considerable personal
discretion is required in these judgments: a justifiable margin of
difference can exist between the evaluations made by two or more
professional persons of the same academic performance.
Students
are entitled to compare their work in a course with the criteria
applied in deciding the final grade for the course. Accordingly, the
course instructor is required to make available for return to students
major papers and projects upon their request until the end of the
following semester. Examinations are to be available for students to
see until the end of the following semester. For pedagogic reasons, an
instructor is expected to review with the student the relative success
of the student's accomplishments. The instructor is not expected to
debate the grading.