The Grading Table

Alphabetical Grading

“IP” for In Progress The grade IP is attributed for a course in which the student is given additional time to complete all of its requirements. The student has to register again for the course during the next semester/summer session, in order to complete it.

“I” for Incomplete The temporary grade I is attributed by the teacher to a course when the student did not attend for the final evaluation, for justified and accepted reasons (not passing the final examination, internship report, presentation of final project, etc.).
On the grades transcript given by the teacher, the notation I is accompanied by the preliminary grade over 100, which will then be considered as the final grade if the student does not fulfill his/her obligations, by the date limit fixed by the University’s academic calendar. It is impossible to change this grade; it is the responsibility of the student to pass his/her remedial examination or deliver his/her work on time.

“W” for Withdrawal The grade W is attributed to a course, when the student drops it within the allotted time fixed by the University’s academic calendar. This can be justified when the student considers that his/her mid-term grades will not allow him/her to pass the course; his/her average grade will not, therefore, be affected.

“WW” for Term Withdrawal

The grade WW is only attributed by the University’s administration when the student drops all his/her courses for major reasons keeping him/her from continuing the semester; such as, serious health problems, traveling, etc.
In order to obtain the Term Withdraw, the student has to officially apply for it by completing a specific form and submitting it to the Registrar Office. If the withdrawal is not officially completed, related teachers will give the student a “Fail to Withdraw” grade in every course.

“AW” for Administrative Withdrawal

This grade is only attributed by the University President or the Council of Discipline in case of violation of the regulations.

“FW” for Fail to Withdraw

The FW grade is given for a course which the student stopped attending without having officially undergone the “Withdraw” procedure – or because he/she did not get the authorization to withdraw. This FW grade is taken into account when calculating the average grade and is equivalent to 40/100.

“P” for Pass and “R” for Repeat

The grades P and R are given with particular courses, such as internships, etc. These courses are assessed with a non-numerical grade; as a result, they will not be taken into consideration while calculating the general average.

“PR/RR” for Pass Remedial / Repeat Remedial

This grade is attributed to the remedial courses (languages or mathematics courses).

“T” for Transfer

The grade T is given for validated transferred courses. A student cannot repeat a transferred course by registering for its equivalent in the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik.

“AL” for Ungraded Attendee

The grade AL is given for a course in which the student is registered as a free attendee, after the approval of the Head of Department and the Dean/Director. An Ungraded Attendee does not undertake the exams of the course he/she is registered in. No grade can be converted into a “AL” and vice versa.

An ungraded attendee will be given a registration record at the end of the course.

“G” for Granted

The grade G is given for a number of credits of validated courses in the context of a diploma/degree, which means that the courses are granted and students pursuing a higher diploma/degree would not have to repeat them.

Passing Grade of a Course

The passing grade required to validate every course in the curriculum is defined in the related educational contract. Students can refer to the curricula in the student file edited by the concerned academic unit or on the USEK website.
In general, the grade required to pass a graduate course is 80/100 or P. A higher grade can be required for certain program of studies.

However, some courses are considered as validated with a grade of 75/100 (or 70/100 according to the course and the Faculty/Institute) in case the student has a GPA of 80/100 at least.

The Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation of the students’ word takes place according to the scale stated in the syllabus of each course and will be defined to the student during the first sessions of the course. The syllabus of the course is given to students at the beginning of the semester.
A student has the right to know all his/her grades (positive participation, attendance, research and/or projects, midterms, quizzes, etc.) in order to decide whether he/she wants to drop a course or not before the deadline for withdrawal from a course, as stated in the academic calendar.

During semester, the teacher manages all the components of his/her course: lateness, absence, midterms, projects, attribution of grades, oral presentations, the course content, the make-up sessions, etc.

A student who fails to meet a course requirement (exam, test, report, etc.) will be attributed a failing grade, zero, by the teacher.

Rules of Midterms and Finals

Final exams are organized at the end of a semester. Specific exam dates are defined by the academic calendar. Students will need their photo ID card to enter the examination room and the student will have to sign a register of attendance.
If a student is late, he/she will be allowed to enter the exam room if no other student has already left, but he/she will not be given additional time.

Any cheating, or attempt to cheat, during the exam will inevitably lead to the annulment of the student’s exam. Additional measures can also be taken by the University’s Council of Discipline.

A student who does not show up for the exam, for any reason, is given, by the teacher, the failing grade of zero or R. If this absence is due to special justifiable circumstances, the student can present a petition with supporting documents to the Student Affairs Office, and request a make-up exam. The appropriate authority will consider this request. However, it is worth mentioning that in order for these petitions to have positive consequences, they must be legitimized by one of the following reasons:

• Death of a parent;
• Hospitalization, attested by a medical report from the hospital;
• Serious accident, attested by an official report from a sworn expert.

Such, free of charge, petitions must be presented to the Student Affairs Office within 24 hours after the missed exam. The request will be ignored in the case of a recurrence and a student who has showed up for the exam cannot, in any case, present a petition.
Midterm exams will be organized during the semester for the concerned Faculties/Institutes. The aforementioned rules for the final exams also apply to the midterms.

Request to Review a Grade

The student has the right to ask, within the two working days after the display of the final grade on the Banner Self-Service, for his/her grade to be re-examined through the means of a specific form available at the Registrar Office. After this period, no recourse, even a justified one, is possible.

A student can ask for the re-examination of two grades, at the most, per semester or summer session. The fee for requesting a grade review is payable to the Accounting Office - Student Services Department. This fee, which sum is fixed by the University and is indicated on the website is returned to the student if the review outcome is positive for the student.

The only acceptable requests for a grade review are as follows:

• In case a mistake occurred while adding up the grade;
• In case a mistake occurred while copying the grade.

The student should present his/her request/s to the Registrar Office with a receipt as proof of full settlement. He/she has to present the receipt for refund in case the review outcome is positive.

The teacher concerned will write down his/her decision on the exam review request form and change the grade if necessary. After that, the form is successively presented to the Head of Department and the Academic Secretary, in order to give their approval by signing the document. In case of conflict, the request is submitted to the Faculty/Institute’s Council which will take the final decision. It is eventually submitted to the Registrar Office for processing.