Academic Regulations
Academic Integrity
As a core part of its mission, the University of Arkansas provides students with the opportunity to further their educational goals through programs of study and research in an environment that promotes freedom of inquiry and academic responsibility. Accomplishing this mission is only possible when intellectual honesty and individual integrity prevail. Each University of Arkansas student is required to be familiar with and abide by the university’s Academic Integrity Policy at honesty.uark.edu. Students with questions about how these policies apply to a particular course or assignment should immediately contact their instructor.
Attendance Policy for Students
Attendance and Engagement: Education at the university level requires students’ active involvement in the learning process. Therefore, students have the responsibility to attend classes and to actively engage in all learning assignments or opportunities provided in their classes. Students should treat class attendance as mandatory. Instructors have the responsibility to provide a written policy on student attendance that is tied to course objectives and included in a course syllabus.
Excusable Absences: There may be times, however, when illness, family crises, or university sponsored activities require a student to be absent from class. In these situations, the student is responsible for making timely arrangements with the instructor to make up work missed. The make-up work should be completed in a timeframe that has been arranged with the instructor. Such arrangements should be made in writing and prior to the absence, when possible.
Examples of absences that should be considered excusable include those resulting from: 1) student illness, 2) serious illness or death of a member of the student’s immediate family or other family crisis, 3) University sponsored activities for which the student’s attendance is required by virtue of scholarship or leadership/participation responsibilities, 4) religious observances (see Religious Observances policy tab), 5) jury duty or subpoena for a court appearance, and 6) military duty. The instructor has the right to require that the student provide appropriate documentation for any absence for which the student wishes to be excused.
Religious Observances
When students seek to be excused from class for religious reasons, they are expected to provide their instructors with a schedule of religious holidays that they intend to observe, in writing, before the completion of the first week of classes. The Semester Calendar on the Office of the Registrar’s website will inform students of the university calendar of events, including class meeting and final examination dates, so that before they enroll they can take into account their calendar of religious observances. Scheduling should be done with recognition of religious observances where possible. However, faculty members are expected to allow students to make up work scheduled for dates during which they observe the holidays of their religion.
Final Examination Policy
Each faculty member is required to give final examinations at times specified in the final examination schedule. (Comprehensive examinations are not the only ones which qualify as “final exams.” Generally, exams should not be given during the last class period.) Whenever circumstances make necessary a deviation from the announced schedule, clearance for such deviation must be obtained from the appropriate dean and the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
During finals week, students are required to sit for no more than two final exams in a single calendar day period. Students with three or more finals in a single calendar day period have the right to an alternative exam date(s) for each exam exceeding two. They must submit a formal request for an alternative date in writing, along with an official copy of their class schedule for verification purposes, to the professors of those classes involved to see if one will voluntarily move the exam. If voluntary accommodation is not achieved, instructors of classes with lower enrollments for the final exam will have to accommodate individual students affected before classes with higher enrollments. This process is the same when there is a final exam scheduling conflict (two or more final exams scheduled on the same date and at the same time).
Requests must be submitted on or before the last day to drop a full semester class or classes with a mark of "W." Professors will provide the student with an alternative exam date and time no later than one week after the last day to drop a full semester class or classes with a mark of "W." All rescheduled final exams are to take place during the university designated final exam dates and times. If a student has an objection to the alternative exam date/time, she or he may appeal to the instructor’s department chair.
It is the policy of the university to minimize student participation in extracurricular activities during the final examination period. No meetings, social activities, athletic events, or other extracurricular activities that require student participation will be scheduled on Reading Day or during the final examination period. Any exceptions to this policy must receive prior approval from the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Grades And Marks
Final grades for courses are “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” and “F” (except for courses taken in the Fay Jones School of Architecture).
| Grade/Mark | Given For | Grade Points |
|---|---|---|
| A | Outstanding achievement | 4 |
| B | Good achievement | 3 |
| C | Average achievement | 2 |
| D | Poor but passing work | 1 |
| F | Failure, unsatisfactory work | 0 |
| XF | Failure, academic dishonesty | 0 |
| I | Incomplete course requirements | N/A |
| AU | Audit, officially registered | N/A |
| CR | Credit without grade points | N/A |
| R | Registered, no credit | N/A |
| S | Satisfactory work in courses w/o credit | N/A |
| W | Withdrawal | N/A |
| P | Passing with C- or better | N/A |
| PD | Passing with a D | N/A |
| NC | No Credit | N/A |
No credit is earned for courses in which a grade of “F” is recorded. A final grade of “F” shall be assigned to a student who is failing on the basis of work completed and who has not completed all requirements. The instructor may change an “F” so assigned to a passing grade if warranted by satisfactory completion of all requirements. Students who fail to present an acceptable reason for not having completed all course requirements including the final examination will receive the grade they would have received had they failed such requirements. In the case of an “XF” grade given for reasons of academic dishonesty, upon graduation or completion of the period of suspension, the student may request that the “X” be removed from the transcript by submitting a written request to the Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
A mark of “I” may be assigned when a legitimate circumstance has prevented the student from completing all course requirements and the work completed at the time of assigning the “I” is of passing quality. It is the discretion of the instructor that determines what qualifies as a legitimate circumstance. It is recommended that the instructor, prior to the assignment of an “I” mark, document the legitimate circumstance and conditions for completing course requirements. An “I” so assigned may be changed to a grade provided all course requirements have been completed within 12 months after the end of the term in which the “I” was assigned. If the instructor does not report the grade within the 12-month period, the “I” shall be changed to an “F.” When a mark of “I” is changed to a final grade, the grade points and academic standing are appropriately adjusted on the student’s official academic records.
A mark of “AU” (Audit) is given to a student who officially registers in a course for audit purposes (see Registration for Audit).
A mark of “CR” (Credit) is given for a course (for example, practice teaching, certain seminars, certain honors colloquia, and courses where credit is earned by examination) for which the university allows credit toward a degree, but for which no grade points are earned.
A mark of "R" (Registered) is given to a student who is registered in a course for no credit or grade points. This is typically used at the undergraduate level for Study Abroad or other situations where a placeholder mark is needed.
A mark of “S” (Satisfactory) is assigned in courses such as special problems and research when a final grade is inappropriate. The mark “S” is not assigned to courses or work for which credit is given (and thus no grade points are earned for such work). If credit is awarded upon the completion of such work, a grade or mark may be assigned at that time, and, if a grade is assigned, grade points will be earned.
A mark of “W” (Withdrawal) will be given for courses from which students withdraw after the first 10 days of the semester and before the drop deadline of the semester.
A mark of “P” (Passing) is given to a student who officially registers in a course for Pass/Fail credit according to university policy (see Pass Fail policy). A “P” grade counts as credit hours but does not affect the grade-point average.
A mark of “PD” (Passing with a D) is given to a student only when allowed as an option by university policy during extenuating circumstances, such as the COVID-19 crisis in spring and summer 2020. A “PD” grade counts as credit hours but does not affect the grade-point average.
A mark of “NC” (No Credit) is given to a student in situations where registration in the course allows for this grade and only when allowed as an option by university policy during extenuating circumstances, such as the COVID-19 crisis in spring and summer 2020. An “NC” grade does not count as credit hours nor does it affect the grade-point average.
“I,” “AU,” “CR,” "R," “S,” and “W” marks will not be counted in the grade-point average. Grades of plus and minus are assigned grade-point values in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. The grade-point average is computed by dividing the total number of grade points by the total number of credit hours attempted in courses for which grades (rather than marks) are given. Students who utilized grade renewal or grade forgiveness in retaking courses (prior to fall Semester 1986 and after fall 1996) have only the last grade used in computing grade-point averages.
Undergraduate Grade Exclusion Policy
Under the Grade Exclusion Policy, undergraduate students may improve their University of Arkansas (UA) undergraduate cumulative grade-point average (GPA) by requesting that the university exclude up to 9 credit hours in courses taken at the UA in which a grade of “D” or “F” was received. The excluded courses will no longer be used to compute the UA GPA. Students must file a petition with the Office of the Registrar to use grade exclusion indicating which course(s) they choose to grade exclude. The petition must be completed and approved prior to graduation. Undergraduate students who return to the UA for an additional degree(s) may use grade exclusion only for courses taken after their most recent undergraduate UA degree was awarded. Other stipulations are:
- Undergraduate students may select up to 9 hours of any combination of UA courses with posted grades of “D” or “F” to be excluded from their cumulative grade point average calculation.
- Excluded courses cannot be used to satisfy degree requirements. Credit hours earned for a “D” grade in an excluded course will no longer count towards the student’s degree.
- Grade exclusions must be posted before the undergraduate degree has been conferred.
- The course and grade that is being excluded will remain on the student’s transcript with a notation indicating that the UA Grade Exclusion Policy has been applied.
- Grade exclusion cannot be removed or applied to another course once it has been posted.
- Grade exclusion for courses in which academic misconduct has been committed is allowable only in accordance with the university’s academic integrity policy.
- Grade exclusion may result in a recalculation of a student’s academic standing, but it does not retroactively result in a refund of tuition or fees, nor does it change a student’s semester academic honors for previous semesters.
- Excluded courses and hours will continue to be counted in calculations of satisfactory progress for financial aid eligibility.
- Students considering grade exclusion should be aware that many graduate schools, professional schools, employers or other institutions, in considering admission or employment, recalculate the GPA and include all courses attempted. This means that if the cumulative GPA has been raised because of grade exclusion, then the recalculated GPA will be lower.
- The Grade Exclusion Policy begins with the Fall 2020 semester, but may apply to courses taken before this term as long as the student has not earned an undergraduate degree from the UA or as long as the courses subject to exclusion were taken after the last UA undergraduate degree was awarded.
- Grade forgiveness hours will be combined with grade exclusion hours when considering the credit hour limit under this policy. Therefore, any hours previously approved for grade forgiveness prior to fall 2020 will count toward the maximum 9-hour credit limit for grade exclusion. Thus, a student who has used 3 hours of grade forgiveness may use up to 6 hours of grade exclusion.