Student Records

 Student Records

University Registrar: Fran Hopkin
Location: Taggart Student Center 246
Phone: (435) 797-1116
FAX: (435) 797-1110
E-mail: registrar@usu.edu
WWW: www.usu.edu/registrar

Academic Record Adjustment and Request for Refund

The purposes of the Request for Refund / Academic Record Adjustment are two-fold:

1. The Request for Academic Record Adjustment is for the student to request changes on his/her academic transcript (credit adjustment, course addition, or withdrawal with ‘W’ notation). 
2. The Request for Refund gives the student an opportunity to request tuition and fee refunds outside of normal refund deadlines.

Both requests must be accompanied by documentation proving extenuating circumstances out of the student’s control. Adjustments may result in financial aid reimbursement or revocation. The purpose of the academic record adjustment is not to change a letter grade. To change a letter grade, see the Change of Grade policy in the General Catalog.

Academic Record Adjustment/Request for a Refund

Students requesting an academic record adjustment or a refund must submit an Academic Record Adjustment and Refund Petition through Service Now. Petitions are only reviewed if there is an extenuating circumstance. An extenuating circumstance is a non-academic emergency outside of your control that occurred during the semester for which you are petitioning and affected your ability to attend or fully participate in your classes. As a student, you are responsible to be aware of and comply with all USU registration dates and deadlines. Examples include:

1. Incapacitating illness or medical procedure of a student or a student’s *immediate family member for the **minimum duration of time.
2. Death of an *immediate family member.
3. Changes in work schedule, as required by current employer, which directly conflict with the student’s course schedule. This does not include new employment.
4. Jury duty or Subpoena preventing a student from attending or participating in class(es) for the **minimum duration of time.
5. Active military duty.
6. Other circumstances deemed extenuating by the Registrar or his/her designate(s).

*Immediate family (including step-relatives) for this policy is defined as a student’s spouse, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, foster child, parents, parents-in-law, brother, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandparents, grandparents-in-law, grandchildren, or domestic partner.

**Minimum duration of time for extenuating circumstance which would prevent the student from attending or participating in class(es) for a minimum period of two weeks of a 14 to 16 week course (normal semester) or one week of a course less than 14 weeks (shorter semester).

A maximum of two semesters may be adjusted per degree. No adjustments will be made after a degree has been awarded. Requests must be submitted within two years of the semester for which there is a desired adjustment. If a refund is being requested for a graded or incomplete course, the student must also request an academic record adjustment to request that the course grade be changed to withdrawal status ‘W’. If in this situation the academic record adjustment is denied, the refund will also be denied. The cost for an academic record adjustment is a $20, non-refundable processing fee. The payment of the fee does not guarantee approval. Students who wish to appeal the decision of the review committee are allowed one appeal; additional documentation will be required. 

Academic Renewal 

Undergraduate students who have been admitted to Utah State University after an interruption in their collegiate education of at least one year may petition to have certain credits that are older than five years removed from the calculation of the GPA and credits earned. The renewal procedure allows the student’s academic records to be reviewed for the purpose of eliminating from grade point average computation all grades of D+ or below that were entered on the academic transcript five or more calendar years prior to the request, including transfer credit on the USU transcript. However, upon request, selected grades of D+ or below may remain on the student’s record. Petition forms are available in the Office of the Registrar and online. A $25 processing fee will be assessed.

Guidelines:

• Academic renewal does not apply to graduate students nor to students pursuing a second undergraduate degree. Once a certificate, associate, or bachelor degree is awarded by Utah State University or received from a transfer institution, any course(s) completed prior to the completion of that certificate or associate degree will not qualify for academic renewal. However, courses completed after receiving a certificate or associate degree, but before completion of a bachelor degree, are eligible for renewal if all other requirements are met.
• Academic renewal may be applied only once and is irreversible.
• An absence of one or more years must have elapsed between the last enrollment at an institution of higher education and applying for academic renewal. (Note: Students must be currently enrolled at USU to apply for academic renewal.) Only credits older than five years and taken prior to the one-year gap in attendance may be considered for academic renewal.
• Before application for renewal, the student must have completed a minimum of 12 semester credits with at least a 2.50 GPA at Utah State University.
• Academic renewal applies only to courses having grades of D+ or below and taken prior to the one-year gap. All such courses will remain unaltered on the transcript with the appropriate notation added to the transcript to indicate academic renewal. Courses designated in the petition will not count for computation of GPA for earned credits, nor for satisfying any graduation requirements. Courses with a grade of C- (or P) or better will be carried forward.
• Students may apply for this renewal after they have met the guidelines listed above. They are strongly encouraged to meet with their academic advisor prior to submitting their request.

Change of Grades

The instructor of record of a course has the responsibility for any grade reported. Once a grade has been submitted, it may be changed by the instructor of record who issued the original grade. In case the instructor is not available, the department head has authority to change the grade, provided the grade was assigned less than one year ago. This applies also to the grade of Incomplete (I). A change of grade after more than one year also requires the approval of the academic dean of the college in which the course is offered.

Credits Awarded for Courses

Traditional Courses

The standard for academic course credit, as identified by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges and followed by USU, is that one credit be awarded for three hours of student work per week during a 15-week semester. For traditional courses, this is interpreted as one 50-minute class period plus two hours of study per week for each credit. Note that one 50-minute period per week throughout a 15-week semester equals 12.5 contact hours per credit. This standard should be used in determining credits for courses which do not meet for 50-minute periods.

Remedial Courses

Courses numbered 0010-0990 will not satisfy baccalaureate requirements, are not transferable, are not calculated in a student’s grade point average, and do not count toward earned hours.

Final Grade Reports

Students may view their grades by logging into my.usu.edu (After logging in, click on Academic Status, then on View Grades.) Instructors should submit their final grades within four working days after the final examination.

GPA Hours and Quality Points

A GPA hour is defined as a credit which is used in calculating a student’s grade point average (GPA). All graded credits, except for those in which the Pass (P) or Incomplete (I) grade is received, qualify as GPA hours unless otherwise noted. Quality points are assigned to each letter grade earned, as follows:

Scholastic Marks, which do not qualify for GPA hours, are as follows:

A grade of an ‘I’, plus a companion grade, has no GPA hours or earned hours. It indicates that the student has up to one calendar year to finish the work. A grade of ‘W’, or ‘W’ plus a companion grade, carries no grade point value. It indicates that the student withdrew after 60 percent of the course had been completed. This is not an unofficial withdrawl.

Grade Point Average

When a student is graded, the quality points for the grade are multiplied by the GPA hours to derive the total quality points. The total quality points are then divided by the total GPA hours to determine the GPA. GPAs are truncated to the nearest hundredth of a grade point.

Grading and Grading Options

For work in graded courses, A shall denote exceptional performance, B above average performance, C satisfactory performance, D poor performance, and F failing performance. Letter grades may be modified by plus (+) or minus (-) symbols (no A+ or D-).

Ordinarily, a standard grade is given upon completion of a course, unless a grading option of “Audit” or “Pass/D+, D, F” is indicated at the time of registration, on the syllabus, or within prescribed deadlines.

Incomplete (I) Grade

Students are required to complete all courses for which they are registered by the end of the semester. In some cases, a student may be unable to complete all of the coursework because of extenuating circumstances. The term “extenuating” circumstances includes: (1) incapacitating illness which prevents a student from attending classes for a minimum period of two weeks, (2) a death in the immediate family, (3) financial responsibilities requiring a student to alter course schedule to secure employment, (4) change in work schedule as required by employer, (5) judicial obligations, or (6) other emergencies deemed appropriate by the instructor. The student may petition the instructor for time beyond the end of the semester to finish the work. If the instructor agrees, two grades will be given, an “I” and a letter grade for the course computed as if the missing work were zero. An Incomplete Grade Documentation Form must be filed by the instructor in the department or college office. Students may not be given an incomplete grade due to poor performance or in order to retain financial aid. An incomplete grade may be granted only if the student has completed the majority of the course and is passing the class at the time.

The student is required to complete the work by the time agreed upon (which may not be longer than 12 months). If no change of grade is submitted by the instructor within the prescribed period, the “I” will be removed and the letter grade originally submitted with the “I” will remain as the permanent grade for the course. Arrangements to complete the missing coursework are to be made directly with the instructor awarding the “I” grade and in accordance with departmental and other USU policies. In the absence of the original instructor, special circumstances must be handled by the department head. Documentation of the reasons for granting an “I” grade and required work to be completed in order to remove the “I” grade must be recorded on the Incomplete Grade Documentation Form, which must be filed with the departmental office. Resolution of the “I” grade does not involve a complete repeat of the course, only the completion of missing coursework. A student does not reregister for the course. All “I” grades must be changed to letter grades prior to graduation, regardless of whether or not the course is required for the degree. Dissertation, thesis, directed study, and independent study courses taken for graduate work are exempted from this policy.

A student who is on academic probation and receives an incomplete grade in one or more classes may register for classes in the subsequent semester, provided the grades received from his or her other classes are high enough to prevent the student from being placed on academic suspension. A student in this situation, prior to making up the incomplete grade, may enroll in only one subsequent semester. A Registrar’s Office hold will then be placed on the student’s record, preventing him or her from registering for a second additional semester. Additional registration holds may be placed on a student’s record by an academic advisor. The Registrar’s Office hold will not be removed until the incomplete grade is changed to a letter grade. If the resulting grade does not cause the student to be placed on academic suspension, the Registrar’s Office hold will be removed. Other registration holds, such as an advisor hold, will need to be removed by the office placing the hold.

Exceptions to the one subsequent semester limitation may be made (1) if receiving the grade that accompanies the incomplete grade (e.g., a student who receives an IF grade would receive an F if no additional work was   completed) would not cause the student to be placed on academic suspension for the semester in which the incomplete grade was originally received, or (2) by memo of justification from the course instructor who submitted the incomplete grade. Any exceptions must be requested through the Registrar’s Office.

Registrar’s Office Forms

Visit usu.edu/registrar/forms/ for a list of forms managed by the Registrar’s Office.

Repeating Courses

Students may repeat any course at USU for which they have previously registered. They may also retake a course originally taken at an institution where USU has an articulation agreement, if the agreement identifies a specific USU course as being equivalent to the one the student desires to replace. All other decisions dealing with retaking courses, including courses taken under the quarter system, will be determined by the department in which the course is offered.

The number of times a student can take the same class is not limited. However, the academic unit associated with the student’s major has the authority to determine consequences of exceeding two attempts (once plus one repeat) of the same class. These actions may include one or more of the following but are not limited to: placing an advising hold (which prevents registration) on a student’s record, requiring a meeting with an academic advisor, requiring dean approval for additional registrations of the class, and/or requiring a change of academic program.

This policy does not apply to courses repeatable for credit. When a course listed in the General Catalog is identified as repeatable, the course may be taken more than once for credit.

When a course not identified as repeatable for credit is repeated, the most recent grade and GPA hours are used to recalculate the student’s grade point average. (Note: For courses repeated between Summer 2011 and Spring 2017 the highest grade and GPA hours were used to recalculate the student’s grade point average.) The previous grade and GPA hours for the same course will remain on the student’s academic record, but will not be calculated in the grade point average or total GPA hours completed, and will be designated on the student’s transcript with an E (exclude).

Once a degree is posted, all grades for that degree are frozen and cannot be modified. The only exception may be when a student completes an associate degree and then continues on to pursue a bachelor’s degree.  In this case, if a course is repeated, the most recent grade will be used.

Temporary (T) Grade

Courses that are continued into a subsequent semester–such as thesis, dissertation, literature review, or study abroad courses–will be given a temporary status as indicated by a ‘T’ grade. All such courses must have the approval of the department offering the courses, the relevant college curriculum committee, and EPC. A letter grade must be given by the instructor at the time the required work is to be completed. All temporary (T) grades must be completed prior to graduation.

Transcripts

Transcripts can be ordered online from the National Student Clearinghouse.

Official transcripts may be obtained by submitting a signed request to the Registrar’s Office, in person at TSC 246; by mail to Utah State University, 1600 Old Main Hill, Logan UT 84322-1600; or via the Internet. To request an  official transcript online, students should log in to Access at usu.edu/myusu/ (After logging in, click on Student Records, then on Order Transcript.)

Transfer Credit

The grades which may be transferred and recorded for transfer students shall include A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, and F, as well as P (Pass). Only grades earned at USU will be used in calculating USU grade point averages. Decisions concerning academic standing, once the student is admitted to USU, will be based solely on USU grades.