Policies and Procedures

CFAM Grade Appeal Policy

Students in the college wanting to appeal either a grade or a charge of academic dishonesty or plagiarism should first discuss the matter directly with the instructor. If a satisfactory agreement is not reached with the instructor, the student may submit an appeal in writing to the director of the school in which the course is offered. If the student and director of the school do not reach a satisfactory agreement, the student may submit an appeal in writing to the Dean of the College (The School of Communication has an interim step in which the appeal goes to an Advisory Committee in the School before the appeal is sent to the Dean.) The Dean may at his/her discretion call upon an advisory committee for input.

Effective 3/10/2006.

School of Communication Grade Appeal Policy

Students in the department wanting to appeal either a grade or a charge of academic dishonesty or plagiarism should first discuss the matter directly with the instructor. If a satisfactory agreement is not reached with the instructor, the student may submit an appeal to the Director. If the student and Director do not reach a satisfactory agreement, the student may submit an appeal to the Faculty Committee. If the student and the Faculty Committee do not reach a satisfactory agreement, the student may appeal in writing to the Dean of the College. The Dean may at his/her discretion call upon a college advisory committee for input.

Effective 7/1/2022.

CFAM Graduation Check Process

All students with 91+ credits will have a graduation check. This process will be completed through the Dean’s office.

Incomplete Grade Policy

To receive an “incomplete,” students must contact their professor prior to the end of the semester, request a grade of incomplete, and make arrangements to complete the work. The rules which govern the issuance of the incomplete are as follows:

1. The grade “I” is used by an instructor at the end of a semester or summer session to designate incomplete work in a course. It is given when a student, due to circumstances such as illness, military service, hardship or death in the immediate family, is unable to complete the requirements of the course in the term in which the student is registered for credit. Incompletes will only be given if the student has already substantially completed the major requirements of the course.
2. Each instructor will judge each situation. The instructor will also indicate by a unit record, with a copy to the student, how the incomplete is to be removed, and if the instructor is at the University at the time of removal, supervise the makeup work and report the permanent grade.
3. In the event the instructor is not available at the time of the student’s application for removal of an incomplete, the unit coordinator or school director will supervise the removal of the incomplete and turn in the permanent grade for the student.
4. A student shall have no longer than the end of the next regular semester following receipt of the “I” to remove the incomplete. After that time, the “I” will automatically become a “W”, or such other grade specified by the instructor depending on the amount and quality of the course work previously completed. Exceptions to this rule will be permitted if initiated by the student and approved by the instructor, school director and Dean. Exceptions to this rule will be made only in response to circumstances over which the student has no control, and these must be detailed.
5. In registering for courses, students receiving one or more “I” grades from the previous semester should take into account the time needed to complete the required work and plan their schedules accordingly.

CFAM Academic Amnesty Policy

A student enrolled in the College of Communication, Fine Arts & Media may request to have one or two semesters (taken at UNO, UNL and/or UNK) removed from their cumulative grade point average and degree consideration by petitioning for academic amnesty in the CFAM Dean’s office (WFAB 314).

• The student must be at least two years removed from the semester(s) to be considered for academic amnesty.
• Petitioning students must have completed 24 credit hours of successful coursework with a minimum grade point average of 2.5 since the amnesty period at UNO, UNL or UNK.
• Removal of GPA computation shall be by entire semester(s). Students who are granted academic amnesty will not be considered for degrees with academic honors

Names of petitioners will be forwarded to the CFAM Educational Policy Committee for approval and then to the Dean’s office for final action. There shall be no physical obliteration of any part of the student’s record. Academic amnesty is not allowed after a student has graduated.

Nothing in these Bylaws shall be construed to be in conflict with any applicable law or with the Bylaws of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, which may be amended from time-to-time; and in cases of conflict between these Bylaws and the Bylaws of the Board of Regents or any applicable law, the latter shall take precedence.

Revised 12/21/15, 8/18/16.