Student Retention
Faculty play an integral role in promoting student retention. Please take attendance especially in the first two weeks of a semester. If a student disappears with out dropping reach out to advisement@utahtech.edu. Also please turn in official midterm grades. Knowing exactly where they are grade wise can assist students in putting in more effort or changing study tactics that are not working. Support services and academic advisors use midterm grades to determine what students to reach out to.
Administrative drops
The purpose of an administrative drop is to make space in the class available for other students, help the University meet federal guidelines regarding financial aid and help the student being dropped avoid unintended financial obligation or financial aid consequences. If a student attends class even once in the first two weeks of the semester, the instructor should not administratively drop the student, even if he or she never attends class again. (See Student Policy 502 )
Students who fail to attend the first scheduled class meeting and do not contact the instructor regarding the absence prior to the first scheduled class meeting may be administratively dropped by the instructor.
Students who fail to attend any class meetings (online or in a classroom) during the first two weeks of class MUST be administratively dropped from the course. The final deadline for submitting administrative drops is the end of the third week of the semester.
To administratively drop students from a class, instructors should:
1. Verify that the student has never attended class. This requires the faculty member to consistently take attendance during the first two weeks of class.
2. Instructors can submit an administrative drop online through Starfish, which can be accessed through MyUT (Banner) > Faculty Services tab. Alternatively, the department secretary can assist with the administrative drop or drops can be sent to the Registrar’s Office at records@utahtech.edu . To facilitate the administrative drop, the Registrar’s Office will need the course and section number (or CRN), as well as the student’s name and UT ID number (available through MyUT).
Waitlists
Waitlist allows a student who wants to register for a class that is full (closed) to be placed in a first-come, first-served queue. When a spot becomes available in the class the first student on the list receives notification through their Student Email. The student has 24 hours to register for the class or it will be made available to the next student on the list.
Waitlist expires the last business day of first week of the semester. Students may be added to a full class with an ADD card signed by the instructor beginning the second week of the semester. Students submit Add cards to the Registrar’s Office.
Grades
Midterm Grades:
Midterm grades are required. The deadline for submitting midterm grades is listed in each semester’s academic calendar. Instructors must submit midterm grades for each student in all classes. The grade assigned is not a prediction of what the student’s final grade is likely to be; it is an estimate of the student’s current standing at that time. An exact A-F grade is not required. Faculty may choose to enter an “S” for any student whose grade would be A-C, and/or an “X” for any student with a grade below “C”. Midterm grades are an important part of the University’s retention efforts.
Final Grades:
Final grades are due at 5:00 p.m. on the second business day after the last final exam session in a semester. Grades are released to students on an individual basis. A student who has completed the course evaluations for all courses can view grades 24 hours after the faculty member submitted them. If a student does not complete all course evaluations, grades will not be made available until 10 days after the date grades were due.
“F” Grades (Fail): For each student who receives a failing grade (F) in a course, the last date the student attended a class must be entered on the final grade roll. Not all faculty take attendance every class period, so what is frequently entered is the last date that student participated in an assignment or exam in that course. If the student took the final exam, then the last class period of the semester is entered. This information is necessary to comply with federal guidelines regarding financial aid, since the financial aid status of students who stop attending class (a frequent reason a student might fail a course) changes depending on their last participation date.
“I” Grades (Incomplete):
Incomplete grades are only given to students when the following criteria have been met:
1. The student, having completed a substantial portion of the required work, is unable to complete the class work for a legitimate and usually unexpected reason (such as illness or accident). If the student has not completed a substantial portion of the required work, she or he should be given the grade earned and re-register for the course.
2. The incomplete coursework can be completed outside of a formal classroom situation. If completing the coursework requires that the student attend lectures, labs, or field activities, then the student should be given the grade earned and re-register for the course.
If the above requirements are satisfied, then the student and faculty member can negotiate a contract regarding how and when the missing coursework will be completed. Upon completion of the terms of the contract, the incomplete grade will be replaced by a letter grade. The “I” grade is not computed in the student’s GPA; however, this grade will be changed to an “F” grade after one year if the instructor has not submitted a grade change card to indicate that the work has been completed.
The Incomplete Grade Contract: This required contract specifies both the work to be completed and the deadlines for that work, and should be signed by both the instructor and the student. Instructors should download the contract. When completed, copies of this form must be submitted to the Dean’s Office and the Registrar’s Office.