What is an Incomplete and When is it Appropriate?

A grade of "I" (Incomplete) represents an agreement between an instructor and a student to extend the deadline for coursework completion. Incompletes shall be granted when the instructor determines that the student meets all the following criteria. The student:

• has been making satisfactory progress on coursework as determined by the criteria in the syllabus;
• has been active in the course;
• is unable to complete a portion of the course requirements due to extenuating circumstances beyond their control that occurred after the last day to drop a class (End of Week 7 of Fall/Winter/Spring terms; variable dates for summer courses);
• is able to independently complete the remaining requirements without attending additional classes beyond the term or receiving additional instruction; and
• requests an Incomplete by the published deadline

If additional class attendance or instruction is required to complete course requirements, the instructor shall not issue an Incomplete.

Lack of engagement, poor performance, or a desire to repeat the course are unacceptable reasons for issuance of the “I” mark.

Instructors shall provide to the student access to course materials necessary to complete the missing work. Access to the Canvas site for the course can be requested here (click option to “Grant student access for Incomplete”) if needed.

Incomplete grades can only be granted by instructors and instructors are under no obligation to grant students an incomplete grade if in their judgment the criteria stated above are not met.

An Incomplete shall not be recorded by the instructor unless a contract between the instructor and student has been completed and filed appropriately.

General Process for Incompletes (See bottom of this page for example of what instructor receives when a student requests an Incomplete)

• Incompletes are initiated by the student
• Student contacts instructor and requests Incomplete by 5pm on the last day of finals week.
• If the instructor agrees that the student meets the criteria, the instructor and the student complete a contract outlining how the Incomplete can be resolved, the deadline for resolving the incomplete, and the default grade should the student not complete the agreed upon work. The default grade is the grade the student would receive according to the syllabus grade guidelines with no credit for the missing work.
• This form is filed.
• The missing work indicated on the form must be completed by the earlier of:
  • Grading deadline of the term the student applied to graduate, or
  • Deadline stated on the Incomplete Request Form *can be extended at the discretion of the instructor, or
  • The day grades are due one academic year later

For students with Incomplete contracts, the instructor will record the “grade” in Duckweb that indicates an Incomplete has been agreed to. Currently, that is an “I”. The instructor will also record, in Duckweb and/or the contract form, the grade the student would have received in the course if they received no credit for the missing work. This becomes the default grade that replaces the incomplete mark should the student not complete the work outlined in the contract by the appropriate deadline (either the grading deadline of the term the student applied to graduate or the day grades are due one academic year later).

If the student completes the work defined in the contract by the agreed upon date, the instructor calculates and updates the grade via the grade change process.

This policy applies to all undergraduate and graduate courses.

Approved By: University Senate        Date: 04/15/2022

Motion Number: US21/22-22

Revision History: Revision approved 04/15/2022. Previous policy approval date is unknown.

Original Source: https://senate.uoregon.edu/senate-motions/us2122-22-revised-incomplete-policy

Previous Version: See archived policy

Resources: Registrar – Incomplete Policy

Instructor Initiated Option

In the event that an instructor and student have agreed that an incomplete is warranted but the student could not or did not submit the request form in time, instructors can submit an incomplete request through the link below.

LINK TO FORM:  https://secureservices.uoregon.edu/registrar/instructor-incomplete

Instructors will need to have ready:

CRN

Student 95#

Student Name

Student UO Email address

Ready to list “incomplete” work that will be accepted

Due date for incomplete work

Department contact for Incomplete Contracts (who keeps the contracts for the department/school/college they work in)

Email address for who can be contacted if the instructor is not available when the student completes their incomplete work.

Example Email to Instructor When Student Requests an Incomplete

"STUDENT NAME, whom you instruct in OGEO 188: OS: Global Educ Oregon, Fall 2022 term, has requested a grade of incomplete. The full request is included below for your consideration.

In order to respond to this request and notify everyone, please do the following:

1. If your unit has its own internal approval process for incompletes, please follow that before submitting the incomplete form.
2. Reply to this email. Be sure to CC your department email address and the student's email address: STUDENT@uoregon.edu
3. Include your responses to the following prompts. Be explicit in the event that unexpected circumstances prevent you from processing the change of grade yourself.
4. Send the email.

To be completed by instructor

If you deny the request, state that the request is denied and list the criteria that is not met.

If you grant the request, include the following:

1. The student must complete the following work:
2. Deadline for the work to be completed (no later than the day grades are due one academic year later OR grading deadline of the term student applies to graduate, whichever is sooner):
3. Grade student will receive if they do not complete work by the above deadline:

This default grade should reflect the grade the student would earn if they received no credit for the missing work, as per the grading guidelines in the course syllabus.

4. In the event the instructor of the course is no longer with the institution or is on leave and thus cannot grade the submitted work, list the person who will be responsible for resolving the incomplete:

Request Grade of Incomplete

Student Information

UO ID#

951XXXXXX

Full Name

STUDENT NAME

Email

STUDENT@uoregon.edu

Phone Number

541346XXXX

Course Information

Course Number

OGEO 188

Course Title

OS: Global Educ Oregon

Instructor Last Name

INSTRUCTOR NAME

CRN

16825

Term

Fall 2022

Reason

Family emergency. Please forward 'instructor' email to STUDENT@uoregon.edu

Plan to graduate

No

Students may request an incomplete if they:

1. Are active in the course through the deadline to withdraw from the course, and
2. Have been making satisfactory progress on coursework as outlined in the syllabus, and
3. Are able to independently complete remaining requirements without attending additional classes or receiving additional instruction beyond the end of the current term, and
4. Had an extenuating circumstance beyond their control that occurred after the last day to drop a course, and
5. Request an incomplete prior to 5pm on the Friday of Finals week.

For more information, refer to the incomplete policy.

I confirm all five criteria are met. * 

Date submitted

2022-12-05 09:29:43