Dear Graduate and Professional Students:

The University of Houston wants you to continue to be successful in your courses this semester despite the unique and unprecedented challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the University is implementing an interim policy for graduate grades that will benefit you and help mitigate these extraordinary circumstances we are facing.

The policy provides most graduate students with the option to choose Satisfactory/No Credit (S/NCR) grading on a course-by-course basis. Should you choose this option, it means that if your course's current grading scheme is Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, grades of Satisfactory will remain the same, and grades of Unsatisfactory will convert to No Credit Reported COVID-19 (NCR). 

If your course's current grading scheme is letter grade, then students with a grade of C- or higher may choose to receive the Satisfactory (S) grade instead of the letter grade. For grades below C-, students may choose to receive the No Credit Reported COVID-19 (NCR) option instead of the letter grade. 

I encourage you to read fully the policy online, but here are several key highlights:

• The Interim Graduate Grade Policy applies to all graduate students in courses offered during Spring 2020 Sessions 1, 4, 5, and 6 as well as the 2020 Summer Mini Session. The policy will be reviewed for continuation through future terms if necessary. Professional students should check the full policy to determine eligibility and should contact their program with questions.

• You will have the opportunity to review your spring semester grades and then choose your grading option for the semester as the deadline for you to choose is not until 5:00 p.m. on May 18, 2020.

• More details regarding the process through which you will choose your grading options will be communicated by the Office of the University Registrar near the end of the semester.

• Satisfactory (S) and No Credit Reported COVID-19 (NCR) grades are not factored into term or cumulative GPA.

To assist graduate students who are graduating this semester and are working to complete their thesis or dissertation, the deadline for final submission of your thesis/dissertation has been extended to May 22, 2020.  Please check with your college regarding the college submission deadlines.

While we have structured this new policy to benefit you, I strongly recommend you contact your academic advisor to discuss questions regarding the impact of your grade option choice on academic matters. The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid should also be consulted to discuss the impact of your grade option choice on financial aid matters.

The University believes in you and your academic pursuits, and we have made these changes to help you overcome the challenges we face. After reading the policy, should you have questions, please reach out to grading@uh.edu.

Warm regards,

Paula Myrick Short
Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UH System
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, UH
provost@uh.edu | 832-842-0550

This is an official message sent by the University of Houston. To verify the validity of this message, email security@uh.edu.