Pass/Fail Option
Grade Reports
Students with 90 credits or more and with a 2.00 GPA or better may take one “Pass/Fail” elective course per year. Such courses may not be used to fulfill core, general studies, or degree major requirements, whether taken at Trinity or transferred from another institution. Students must declare the “Pass/ Fail” option before midterm by completing the appropriate form in the Registrar’s Office.
Grades will be reported to students quarterly and grade reports may be picked up from the Registrar’s Office. Grade reports will be mailed to students only if the student has provided the Registrar with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Parents of students will be mailed grade reports only if the student has provided the Registrar with a signed release or if the parent has presented the Registrar with evidence of the student’s current dependent status as defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. The requirement of a signed release from the student or proof of dependency status became mandatory with the passage of the federal law “Protection of the Rights and Privacy of Parents and Students” enacted August 21, 1975.
Incompletes An “Incomplete” (I) grade may be given only when the major portion of the course has been completed satisfactorily and some minor but essential requirement has not been completed for health or other reasons that the instructor considers academically justifiable. If an “Incomplete” is deemed appropriate by the instructor, the student must file an Incomplete Contract with the Registrar’s Office one week prior to the end of the quarter. The contract specifies the deadline by which the work will be completed, and what will happen to the grade in the event the deadline is not met. Independent Instructors may not grant students’ requests for the grade of “Incomplete.”
Dropping a Course Students dropping courses by mid-term will receive grades of “D/P” (dropped-passing) or “D/F” (dropped-failing). After mid-term, the grade for a dropped course will be “F.”
Repeating a Course Students who receive a grade of “C-“ or below in a course at Trinity are allowed to repeat that course. The grade earned when the course is repeated is the grade which will be placed in the permanent record and which will be used in computing the cumulative grade point average. The grade earned the first time will be changed to an “R/(original grade)” and taken out of the GPA calculation. Course credits will be counted only once toward a degree. The student must notify the Registrar of the repeat by filing a Notification of Repeated Course Form.
Academic Honesty Academic honesty is expected of all students at all times at Trinity Lutheran College. Academic dishonesty constitutes a serious violation of scholarship standards that can result in substantial penalties, including denial of credit in a course, as well as dismissal from the college. Any act that involves misrepresentation regarding the student’s academic work or that abridges the rights of other students to fair academic competition is forbidden (e.g., revealing contents of exams or quizzes). Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on assignments or exams, plagiarizing (misrepresenting another’s work, including software programs, as one’s own original creation), submitting the same (or substantially the same) paper in more than one course without prior consent of all instructors concerned, and depriving others of necessary academic sources. Students charged with academic dishonesty have the right to appeal any disciplinary action to the Academic Committee.
Academic Freedom Academic freedom and freedom of inquiry are rooted within our commitment to all truth as God’s truth. Therefore, we belong to a tradition that does not seek to suppress freedom of inquiry, but to pursue it as an essential component of our faith and our academic program. The college encourages students and faculty to examine data, to question assumptions, to be freely guided by evidence, and to be learners and scholars together in the pursuit of truth.
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