Final Grades

Final grades for each semester are due the first Monday after Finals. (For field and summer sessions, grades are due the first Monday after the last day of classes.) All grades must be submitted by 4:00 PM that Monday afternoon. Students will be able to view their final grades on Trailhead at 10:00 AM that Thursday (summer grades are available Wednesday). Refer to the academic calendar for specific dates.

To view final grades through Trailhead, follow these steps:

1. Log into Trailhead
2. Select ‘Student’ in the left sidebar
3. Next, click on ‘Student Self-Service’
4. Select ‘View Grades’
5. Choose the ‘Final Grades’ option

As long as there are no holds on your student account, you may view your final grades. If there are any grades missing, this is because the grade has not been submitted. Please contact your instructor with any questions regarding missing grades or an incorrect grade. Transcripts are typically available 24-48 hours after final grades can be viewed in Trailhead.

Grade Change

Effective fall 2019, the Registrar’s Office no longer accepts Grade Change forms. All official grade changes must be submitted online by faculty through Trailhead.

Grade changes may occur if there was an error in reporting the original grade, instructor deems a change is needed based on course work or final exams, or a student receives an INC (Incomplete) and completes all the course work to earn a final grade.

Faculty should refer to the Faculty Grading page on how to submit a grade change. Once a grade change has been submitted, it will generally be processed within 1-2 business days. Students can view their updated grade/s and GPA information through Trailhead.

INC (Incomplete)

An INC (Incomplete) is a temporary grade which may be given at the instructor’s discretion when reasons beyond the student’s control prevents completion of course requirements by the end of the academic term. An INC is restricted only to cases in which the student satisfactorily completed a significant amount of the course work, including attendance and participation. The complete policy can be found in the catalog.

If you believe these circumstances are applicable, please discuss with your instructor and submit the Incomplete Request form found here: https://www.mines.edu/registrar/incomplete-grade-request/.

CASA is available to assist students with questions regarding the form: casa@mines.edu.

Students who are granted an ‘INC’ grade should NOT re-enroll in the course in another term. The ‘INC’ will revert to an ‘F’ in those instances.

If an instructor grants an INC they must work with the student to complete the remainder of the work. Instructors may grant up to one year for work to be submitted. In most cases, the time limit may be less, to complete outstanding coursework. Once work has been completed, the student should communicate this to the instructor, the instructor then submits the final earned grade. If the student does not complete the required work or if the instructor forgets to submit the final earned grade, the ‘INC’ will be converted to an ‘F’ grade after one year.

Grade Appeal Process

Mines faculty have the responsibility, and sole authority for, assigning grades. As instructors, this responsibility includes clearly stating the instructional objectives of a course, defining how grades will be assigned in a way that is consistent with these objectives, and then assigning grades. It is the student’s responsibility to understand the grading criteria and then maintain the standards of academic performance established for each course in which he or she is enrolled.

If a student believes he or she has been unfairly graded, the student may appeal this decision first to the instructor of the course, and if the appeal is denied, to the Academic Standards Committee of the Faculty Senate. The Academic Standards Committee is the faculty body authorized to review and modify course grades, in appropriate circumstances. Any decision made by the Academic Standards Committee is final. In evaluating a grade appeal, the Academic Standards Committee will place the burden of proof on the student. For a grade to be revised by the Academic Standards Committee, the student must demonstrate that the grading decision was unfair by documenting that one or more of the following conditions applied:

1. The grading decision was based on something other than course performance, unless the grade was a result of penalty for academic dishonesty.
2. The grading decision was based on standards that were unreasonably different from those applied to other students in the same section of that course.
3. The grading decision was based on standards that differed substantially and unreasonably from those previously articulated by the instructor.

To appeal a grade, the student should proceed as follows:

1. The student should prepare an appeal of the grade received in the course. This appeal must define the basis for the appeal and must present all relevant evidence supporting the student’s case.
2. After preparing the appeal, the student should deliver this appeal to the course instructor and attempt to resolve the issue directly with the instructor. Written grade appeals must be delivered to the instructor no later than 10 business days after the start of the regular (fall or spring) semester immediately following the semester in which the contested grade was received. In the event that the course instructor is unavailable because of leave, illness, sabbatical, retirement, or resignation from the university, the course coordinator (first) or the Department Head/Division Director (second) shall represent the instructor.
3. If after discussion with the instructor, the student is still dissatisfied, he or she can proceed with the appeal by emailing a copy of the appeal and a copy of a summary of the instructor/student meetings held in connection with the previous step to the Academic Standards Committee. All information must be submitted to the committee no later than 25 business days after the start of the semester immediately following the semester in which the contested grade was received.
4. On the basis of all information deemed pertinent to the grade appeal, the Academic Standards Committee will determine whether the grade should be revised. The decision rendered will be either:
   1. the original grading decision is upheld, or
   2. sufficient evidence exists to indicate a grade has been assigned unfairly.

In the latter case, the Academic Standards Committee will assign the student a new grade for the course. The Committee’s decision is final. The decision and supporting documentation will be delivered to the Faculty Senate, the office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the student, the instructor, and the instructor’s Department Head/Division Director no later than 25 business days following the Faculty Senate’s receipt of the grade appeal.

The schedule, but not the process, outlined above may be modified upon mutual agreement of the student, the course instructor, and the Academic Standards Committee.

Satisfactory Progress Policy

A graduate student may receive a grade of Satisfactory Progress (PRG) in either one of three possible situations:

1. As a passing grade given in a course that is graded pass-fail
2. As a grade for a course extending more than one semester or
3. As a grade indicating completion of research credit hours.

When applied to pass-fail courses, the Satisfactory Progress grade, PRG, indicates successful completion of the requirements of the course. A grade of Unsatisfactory Progress, PRU, as applied to pass-fail courses, indicates the student failed to meet the requirements for successful completion the course. The PRG and PRU grades have no point value toward a student’s GPA. As described in the Unsatisfactory Academic Performance portion of the bulletin, programs may determine that a PRU received in a course indicates unsatisfactory progress toward degree completion and trigger academic disciplinary proceedings.

For students completing independent study or seminar courses extending over multiple semesters, the progress grade has no point value. In such cases, the student receives a grade of PRG, which indicates that the work is not yet completed. For multi-semester independent study courses, upon completion of course requirements, final grades are assigned to all semesters in which the student enrolled in the course, replacing previous PRG grades as appropriate. In seminar courses which may not be repeated for credit, even if continuous enrollment is required by the degree program, the PRG grade remains with a final grade being assigned to last semester of attendance only.

For all multi-semester courses, independent study, and seminar, students must register for the same course in each regular (Fall or Spring) semester of attendance until such time as a final grade is assigned.

When applied to research credits, the Satisfactory Progress grade, PRG, also has no point value toward a student’s GPA, but indicates satisfactory progress toward completion of the research component of a student’s thesis-based degree program. In this situation, a grade of PRU, Unsatisfactory Progress, may be given, and if given, indicates that a student has not made satisfactory progress toward the research component of a thesis-based degree program. In this case, receipt of a grade of PRU may trigger academic disciplinary proceedings as described in the Unsatisfactory Academic Performance of the bulletin.

Unless a faculty member submits a change of grade forms to the Registrar, grades of PRU delivered for unsatisfactory research performance, are not changed to PRG upon the successful completion of a student’s degree program.

A student who twice fails a required course at Colorado School of Mines and is not subject to academic suspension will automatically be placed on “special hold” status with the Registrar, regardless of the student’s cumulative or semester GPA. The student must meet with the subject advisor and receive written permission to remove the hold before being allowed to register.

In the case of three or more Fs in the same course, the student must meet with the faculty Readmissions Committee and receive permission to remove the hold before being allowed to register.

Transfer credit from another school will not be accepted for a twice-failed course.

For further information on Academic Suspension, please see GPA Calculation and Academic Standing.

For further information regarding the Readmissions Committee, please see the Readmission page.

GPA Calculation

Grade Point Average, or GPA, is used to determine Academic Standing as well as any undergraduate honors or Dean’s List designations that a student receives at Colorado School of Mines. The system for expressing the quality of a student’s work is based on quality points and quality hours. The numerical value associated with the specific grades are:

The number of quality points earned in any course is the number of semester hours assigned to that course multiplied by the numerical value of the grade received. The quality hours earned are the number of semester hours in which grades are awarded. These are also known as GPA hours.

To calculate GPA, the total quality points that a student has received must be divided by the total GPA hours. For example, if a student has completed a total of 80 GPA or semester hours, and has 275 quality points for the grades he or she has earned, that student’s cumulative GPA will be 3.438. (275 divided by 80 = 3.438) Grades of W, WI, INC, PRG, PRU, or NC are not counted in GPA hours and do not receive quality points. The Colorado School of Mines GPA is calculated by truncating the numbers, not by rounding them. For example, a GPA calculation of 3.999999999 is exactly 3.999 truncated and NOT rounded to 4.000.

OFFICIAL GPA IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON TRANSCRIPTS.

Academic Standing

Academic Standing is calculated based on a student’s cumulative, or total, GPA. A student is considered to be in Good Academic Standing when they are enrolled in class/es and are not on either academic or disciplinary probation.

A 2.0 Cumulative grade point average and Last Semester grade point average are expected of all students, regardless of quality hours earned or attempted. A student on probation who fails to meet the last semester grade point requirement and the cumulative grade point average of 2.0 will be placed on suspension. A student who meets the last semester grade point minimum of 2.0 but fails to achieve the required cumulative grade point average of 2.0 will remain on academic probation. More information on probation and suspension restrictions can be found in the catalog.

Students must maintain a cumulative GPA above 2.0 in order to graduate from Colorado School of Mines.

Students who consistently maintain a high GPA are eligible to receive honors and Dean’s List designations. To be placed on the academic honor roll, a student must complete at least 14 semester hours with a GPA between 3.0 and 3.499, have no grade below a “C,” and no incomplete grade. Those students satisfying the above criteria with a semester GPA of 3.5 or above are placed on Dean’s List. Students are notified by the Dean of Students of the receipt of these honors. The Dean’s List notation appears on the student’s transcript.

Academic Standing

To be in good academic standing, graduate students must:

• maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and
• not earn any PRU (unsatisfactory progress) grades

Graduate students who do not meet these standards will be placed on academic probation. To view a detailed chart, please go to the Academic Standing Rules chart.

Probation (1st semester):

• Student will be notified by a letter from the Graduate Dean and will need to meet with advisor to address issues
• Students transcripts will note academic probation
  • Student has one semester to rectify issue, or academic probation notation will remain on transcripts for all future semesters.

Discretionary Dismissal (2nd semester):

• Student will be notified by a letter from the Graduate Dean and
• Student will have 10 business days from notification to submit a remedial plan that has been approved by both the advisor and department head. Along with the remedial plan, students facing discretionary dismissal for GPA issues must submit a GPA calculator, demonstrating that it is possible to bring the cumulative GPA to a 3.0 or higher within 2 semesters.
  • If an approved remedial plan is submitted, it will be reviewed by Graduate Dean and
    • If approved by Graduate Dean, the student will be notified of conditions to improve.
    • If not approved by Graduate Dean, the student will be dismissed.
  • If a remedial plan is not submitted, either because the student did not submit a plan or because the student’s advisor and/or department head will not approve the plan, the student will be dismissed.
• Academic probation notation will remain on transcripts for all future semesters.

Mandatory Dismissal (Last semester):

• Students not meeting the terms of the remedial plan will be dismissed.
• Other reasons for mandatory dismissal (departments must notify Graduate Dean in writing for any of the following reasons):
  • Failure to successfully defend the thesis after two attempts
  • Failure to be admitted into candidacy
• Students being dismissed are given the opportunity to:
  • Submit a Withdrawal from Graduate School form to avoid having the dismissal notation on transcripts.
  • Submit a Dismissal Appeal form for extenuating circumstances only. Students must submit along with Dismissal Appeal form, documents regarding extenuating circumstances and the GPA Calculator.
    • If an appeal is denied, the dismissal notation will remain on the student’s transcripts.
    • If an appeal is approved, the student will be given more time to rectify the situation (terms detailed in appeal approval).
      • If the student is unable to rectify the situation under the terms of the appeal, the student will face mandatory dismissal again.

Students who have been dismissed may re-apply for admission, but:

• The previous GPA remains on the transcripts.
• If re-admitted into the same degree program, the student will only have one semester to rectify the situation (earn a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and/or not earn any PRU grades), or face mandatory dismissal again.