Grading Policies
Grading Policies
Clinical Grading Criteria
Daily Grades For the daily computer grading program, clinical skills are assessed using the following criteria:
Superior, Acceptable, Needs Improvement, Unacceptable
Superior (95) 90-100- Represents a high level of performance/competence with difficult cases - no improvements necessary
Acceptable (85) 80- 89 - Represents an acceptable level of performance /competence with minimally to moderately complex cases – minimal improvements necessary
Needs Improvement (75) 70-79 - Represents an average to minimal level of performance, improvements are necessary
Unacceptable (65) Below 70 -Represents unacceptable level of performance, significant improvements are necessary.
**Highlighted score will be entered into Axium
Competency Grades
Clinical competencies also constitute a percent of the clinic course grade and are graded from 0-100%. Students receive a zero for any incomplete clinic competency and will have one grade deducted from their final course grade for any incomplete skills assessment. An “I” for the final course grade is issued until the competency is completed. Students have until mid-term of the following semester to complete any remaining competencies from the prior semester. An “I” grade is converted to an “F” course grade if competencies are not completed by the designated date. If students do not complete critical competencies (e.g., periodontal assessment, hard tissue assessment) by the end of the second semester junior year, they may not be able to participate in scheduled service learning activities.
Numerical grades for the competencies are entered into the computer using the following scale:
Grading Scale A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 F below 70
Classroom Grading Criteria
The criteria utilized to determine a grade are specified in each course syllabus. Percentage weightings of course components also are listed. All School of Dentistry dental hygiene courses use the following grading scale*: A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 F below 70
*CDHL students should refer to the MHS course syllabi regarding the Graduate School grading scale
GPA
The grade point average is the sum of the products of course credits and grade values, divided by the total number of course credits in that year of the curriculum.
The School of Dentistry does not use the “plus or minus” grading system. CDHL students please note: The Graduate School permits instructors to assign final grades using the “plus or minus” grading system, which applies to MHS courses only. The available letter grades and corresponding quality point values used for grade-point average calculations are as follows:
A 4.00
A- 3.67
B+ 3.33
B 3.00
B- 2.67
C+ 2.33
C 2.00
C- 1.67
D+ 1.33
D 1.00
D- 0.67
F 0.00
Grades at the Time of Withdrawal and Passing Grade Criteria
The following grades are used when students withdraw after the beginning of the course: WD - Withdraw: This grade indicates withdrawal during the first half of the course. WP - Withdraw Pass or WF - Withdraw Fail: This grade denotes student performance to date when withdrawal occurs after the first half of the course.
Information related to the grading criteria for each course is distributed at the onset of the course. All transfer courses, dental hygiene courses and courses taken for institutional credit must be passed with a C grade or better.
Reviewed 11/23/16
Updated 8/12/2020
Approved Faculty Assembly 8/24/20