Incomplete Grades
- Katherine Worboys Izsak
- Anthony Ross
An incomplete is a mark that an instructor may award to a student whose work in a course has been qualitatively satisfactory, but who is unable to complete some portion of the work required because of illness or other circumstance beyond the student's control. While the iSchool values understanding and flexibility, it is ultimately the instructor’s choice to award an Incomplete or not. There are no circumstances that require instructors to do so. The student is responsible for making arrangements with individual faculty members to complete the remaining work. Incomplete contracts typically ask that work be completed by the end of the semester following the one in which the student received the “I”; however, it is possible to set a completion date as far as one year from the date of request.
Undergraduate Students
To award the mark of “I” to an undergraduate student, instructors must fill out a contract specifying the work remaining to be completed. It must be signed by the instructor and the student and maintained by the Undergraduate Student Services Office (infosci@umd.edu). The student is responsible for providing a copy of the contract to the Student Services Office for their program. The form can be downloaded below and must be submitted to the iSchool Academic Programs undergraduate advising staff (ischooladvisors@umd.edu).
Graduate Students
To award the mark of “I” to a graduate student, instructors must fill out a contract, as well. The contract should specify the work remaining to be completed, the date by which the work must be completed, and the grade that the student will earn if the remaining work is not completed (otherwise known as the Default grade). It must be signed by the instructor and the student, and sent to iSchool Academic Programs (ischoolfacquery@umd.edu). The form can be downloaded at https://ischool.umd.edu/files/intranet/IncompleteContract_0.pdf.