Capstone Completion Criteria
Students must submit all assessments and fulfill all requirements of the capstone course and earn a minimum of 80% for the final overall grade. Students who do not turn in all required components and/or earn less than an 80% will be required to retake the course in the next term.
Grade Appeal
“Arbitrary and capricious grading” is defined in the following manner:
- A grade assigned on some basis other than performance in the course.
- A grade assigned through significant deviation from criteria stated in the course syllabus, assessment rubrics or articulated by the faculty member.
- A grade assigned by resorting to standards significantly different from those applied to other students in the course.
- A grade assigned as a result of vindictiveness or discrimination.
Students at ACE have the right to appeal a final course grade they allege to be the result of arbitrary or capricious grading. To do so, the student utilizes the appeal form available in the MyACE Portal. Students should, provide a written rationale and documentation for the grade dispute after following the prescribed steps outlined in the Student Handbook. The deadline for appealing a final grade is week 2 of the term immediately following the term of the final course grade being appealed.
Grade Record Change
A faculty member or department chair can initiate an official grade change after official grades are posted due to computational or technical errors. Grades may also be changed from an “I” to an earned grade.
Grading
The College uses the following individual letter and numeric grading system. Grade point averages are computed on the following scale with points computed for each hour of credit attempted:
- 90 - 100% A - 4 points
- 80 - 89% B - 3 points
- 70 - 79% C - 2 points
- 60 - 69% D - 1 point
- 0 - 59% F - 0 points
The following symbols may also appear on the student’s transcript. These grades do not bear grade points and are not used in computing the grade point average (GPA)*:
- CR = Credit
- I = Incomplete
- TR = Transfer Credit
- P = Pass
- NP = No Pass
- W = Withdrawn
Important notes about grades:
- The credits attempted for courses with W grades are used in the calculation for cumulative GPA.
- Courses with a grade of “F” or “D” will not be counted toward degree conferral and must be repeated as listed in the Degree Conferral Policy
- All courses attempted will appear on the transcript. For courses that are repeated, only the highest grade will be used in the calculation of the cumulative GPA.
- Each student has secured access to a personal online portal account where they can access their grades within one week of the course end date. Students can also access their degree progress audit through their online portal account, which demonstrates their progress through their academic program.
Capstone Completion Policy: Students must fulfill all requirements of the Capstone course and earn a minimum final course grade of 80%. Students who earn less than 80% will be required to retake the course in the next term.
Field-Based Experiences, including internships, student teaching, and practicums, require a minimum of 80% for each submission. All submissions must be completed to receive a passing score or the course must be retaken in the next term.
Incomplete Grade
A student may need an extension of time to complete course requirements due to unanticipated circumstances arising near the end of the term. Incompletes are issued only in cases of extenuating circumstances, such as severe illness or life-impacting events. Incompletes are not issued in cases in which the student is simply unable to complete his/her work within the specified term.
Students are limited to two incomplete grade requests during their program of study.
The student must submit the incomplete Grade Contract and provide any requested documentation to be reviewed by the course instructor prior to the end of the term. However, the student must have completed at least half of the course work to be eligible. Final approval of an Incomplete Grade Contract resides with academic leadership in the applicable department. The grade received at the end-of-term for incomplete work due is the grade earned.
Incomplete grades are not available in the following courses: Capstone courses, M.Ed. in Educational Leadership Internship/Practicum courses, all ASMT (Assessment) courses, Doctoral Concept Paper course, Doctoral Boot Camp courses, and all Doctoral Dissertation Chapter courses.
Internship/Practicum Course Grade
To successfully pass the Internship Experience for Educational Leadership/Practicum Experience for Educational Leadership (Texas) course, students must successfully complete all course requirements. These include the submission of:
- Internship/practicum activity compositions detailing a minimum of 120 hours (160 hours for Texas) of field work evaluated at a minimum of 80% on the internship activity grading rubric and aligned with applicable national or state standards,
- all required forms, and
- the culminating projects
A student who does not submit one or more of the required forms cannot pass the internship/practicum course and will earn the grade of a 59% (F) in the course.
Late Assignment
Bachelor and Master Level Classes
Students may submit work past the due date with late penalties, or without penalty in cases of extenuating circumstances. Extenuating circumstances are defined as circumstances that are related to an emergency which can be clearly documented, including, but not limited to, a death in the family, medical emergency/illness requiring medical attention for the student or family member, or related urgent issues beyond the student’s control. Technology issues are not considered extenuating circumstances unless they are the result of a natural disaster. Additionally, the college defines the time period that could impact the submission as an event that occurred no more than two (2) days prior to the deadline.
Students may submit an assignment after the due date but will receive an additional 10% deduction each day the assignment is late. No work will be accepted after the Wednesday immediately following the assignment due date with the exception of extenuating circumstances as defined below.
Students who experience extenuating circumstances should follow these steps:
- Contact the faculty member immediately to notify them of the situation and within the time period listed in the statement of the policy.
- Provide documentation of the extenuating circumstance as defined in the statement of this policy.
- Collaborate with the faculty member, if the work is approved, on the new deadlines and understand any point deductions.
For Students Requesting Extensions Due to Extenuating Circumstances Only: Extenuating circumstances are limited to any emergency which can be clearly documented, including, but not limited to, a death in the family, medical emergency/illness requiring medical attention for the student or family member, or related urgent issues beyond the student’s control. The documentation must show the event resulting in the late submission occurred no more than two (2) days prior to the deadline. Students must submit all documentation within 48 hours after the original assignment deadline.
Doctoral Level Classes
Late work of any kind is not accepted at the doctoral level unless an extension has been granted due to a documented extenuating circumstance within a time period that impacted the submission.
Extenuating circumstances are defined as circumstances that are related to an emergency which can be clearly documented, including, but not limited to, a death in the family, medical emergency/illness requiring medical attention for the student or family member, or related urgent issues beyond the student’s control. Technology issues are not considered extenuating circumstances unless they are the result of a natural disaster.
Additionally, the college defines the time period that could impact the submission as an event that occurred no more than two (2) days prior to the deadline.
Students who experience extenuating circumstances should follow these steps:
- Contact the faculty member immediately to notify them of the situation and within the time period listed in the statement of the policy.
- Provide documentation of the extenuating circumstance as defined in the statement of this policy.
- Collaborate with the faculty member, if the work is approved, on the new deadlines and understand any point deductions.
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