SE
WHEREAS, the NC grade is in many ways redundant since students have other options available that allow them to avoid a low grade if a course is not going well, including: Pass/Fail, course repeat, and withdrawal as late as the tenth week of the course,
WHEREAS, the chief function of a system of grading is to assess the performance
of students based on merit, and the NC grade by its very nature imposes a less
severe evaluation than a grade of D,
WHEREAS, a UAH GPA computed using NC grades is
an inaccurate and unfair representation of academic accomplishment,
WHEREAS, the NC grade devalues the D grade since students who “earn” a D have a grade that will harm their GPA while students who perform more poorly than D students receive an NC, which has no such impact,
WHEREAS, the NC grade sends the wrong message to students, seemingly protecting them from failing grades at the beginning of their college careers when they should be learning that lack of hard work has a consequence,
WHEREAS, the NC grade likely hurts retention in the long term since it fosters bad study habits and lack of discipline that will have consequences long after the freshman year,
WHEREAS, the NC grade also fosters retention of students who perhaps should not be retained,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the UAH faculty senate that:
The