Grading Policy

If you have a problem with your grade

The grader will grade all assignments other than the midterm and final. If you have a problem with a grade that the grader gave you - see the grader first. Only if you can't work out a solution with the grader, then come see me.

If you have a problem with your midterm grade or your final grade, send me email or come to my office to see me about it.

Missed Quiz, Test, or Exam

Any missed quiz, test, or exam, without my written pre-approval, will receive a grade of zero.
To get my approval to miss or reschedule an assignment or test, see me with written, verifiable documentation of your excuse at least one week before the assignment is due or test is scheduled. Typically, I will not give such approval unless the reasons are undeniably justifiable and the circumstances are immutable.
In case of unforseen emergency, provide me with written, verifiable documentation and I will decide on a case-by-case basis.
Sleeping late does not qualify as a valid excuse.
Granting an exception to one student is unfair to all the other students who played by the rules.

Hardcopy Homeworks

The hardcopy homeworks are collected at the beginning of class on the day they are due.
A hardcopy homework submitted after the first 5 minutes of class is considered late. A harcopy homework can be submitted by putting it in my mailbox at least half an hour before class.
I will accept late hardcopy homeworks up until the end of the day. You can put it in my mailbox or slip it under my office door (really until I come into work the next day). Late hardcopy homeworks are graded out of 50% instead of 100%.

Missed Deadline for Electronically Submitted Lab or Homework

A deadline is a deadline - missing it by a minute means you missed it.
Giving one student extra time is not fair to all the other students who worked hard to meet the deadline.
A 'slow system' or 'problems with the submit command' are your problems. If you wait until the last minute and there is a hiccup in the system, then that is your problem for cutting it too close.

Computing the Grade

Using the weights of the exams and assignments specified in the syllabus, and the table of numeric grades and letter grades below, you can calculate where you stand grade-wise at any time. There are no other considerations or values which enter into the calculation of your final grade.

Grading Scale

Numeric grades are not rounded up or down. The following table gives letter grade assignments to numeric ranges. If a numeric grade lands exactly on a boundary, you will receive the higher letter grade. Scores are not curved. If an unusually difficult test is given, I will add a constant value to everyone's grade and inform you at the time I return the papers in class. This usually does not happen.

93-100: A
90-93: A-
87-90: B+
83-87: B
80-83: B-
77-80: C+
73-77: C
70-73: C-
67-70: D+
60-67: D
00-60: E

Grades Are Non-Negotiable

Grades are non-negotiable. You get what you get. If you need a certain grade to graduate or keep some kind of status, then I suggest you work for it during the quarter. Don't come to me at the end of the quarter when it is apparent you are not going to make a grade that you 'need' and then ask for extra credit work, or an extension, or just a gift of a certain grade. Such gifts are not fair to the students who actually earned their grade. Any extensions or other considerations will only be given (if at all) on a class-wide basis. Extra credit work and extensions make more work for me (and, therefore, are not available).

Last update 5/6/10