University at Buffalo (UB)
Faculty can assign a failing (“F”) grade, but should understand the different types of “F” grades and how to select the correct one.
To ensure compliance with financial aid regulations, the University at Buffalo must confirm eligibility requirements for each student.
At the time of grade entry, faculty will select from three failure options that indicate if and when the student receiving an “F” grade participated in the class. Faculty will see the following options on their grade roster in the HUB Faculty Center:
Faculty will see the following options on their grade roster in HUB Faculty Center for Graduate courses with an "S/U" grade scheme:
Faculty will not be able to assign an “F” or "U" grade without participation information.
When faculty determine which “F” grade to assign, they will consider when students participated in any academically related class activities.
| Academically Related Class Activities | Non-Academically Related Class Activities |
|---|---|
Academically related class activities are defined by federal policy and include any of the following:
| Academically related class activities do not include activities where a student may be present but not academically engaged. Examples include:
|
Scenario | Appropriate “F” or "U" Grade |
|---|---|
Student did not attend class or submit any assignments or exams. | “F3” or "U3" |
Student did not attend class or submit assignments during the session but student did complete the final exam. | “F1” or "U1" |
Student submitted assignments and exams throughout the session but did not complete the final paper/exam. | “F1” or "U1" |
Student submitted assignments during weeks 1-7 of the regular fall/spring semester but stopped submitting assignments and didn’t complete any exams after week 7. | |
Student participated throughout the full session but did not master the subject material and therefore earned a failing grade. | “F1” or "U1" |
Student logged in to an online class a few times but never accessed content, participated in discussions or completed any assignments. | “F3” or "U3" |
The student missed several classes, violating your course attendance policy and therefore earning a failing grade. The student did submit assignments and take exams, and they last submitted an assignment before the 60% point of the session. | “F2” or "U2" |
A student’s level of participation in a class may impact their federal or state financial aid. A higher level of reported class participation gives students a better chance of keeping any financial aid they have been awarded. Questions regarding financial aid should be directed to a financial aid advisor.
The U.S. Department of Education requires institutions to confirm that financial aid recipients meet the following criteria:
Because a student may be a financial aid applicant at any point during the academic year, we must collect this information for all students to accurately determine financial aid eligibility. Faculty-provided participation information is critical to this process.
Financial aid recipients who drop, resign, withdraw or discontinue from all courses within a term are required to be reviewed under the Federal Return of Title IV (R2T4) calculation process.
Since the instructor is the only person at the institution who can document whether a student participated in an academically related activity, this information must come from the instructor.
The University at Buffalo is not an attendance-taking institution, and therefore, instructors are not required to take or track attendance. Instructors should provide the date of the last known academically related activity. If there is no documented academically related activity, instructors must assign an “F3” to indicate the student never participated.
If instructors do not know if the student participated and they have no record of academic activity, indicate the student did not participate by assigning an “F3.” If participation cannot be documented through an academically related activity, they must report that the student never participated.
Information about “F1,” “F2” and “F3” grades (or "U1", "U2", "U3" for graduate S/U grade scheme courses) should be provided alongside the grading information that instructors provide in their syllabus. We suggest that instructors provide details regarding how grades “A”-“F” (or “P” and “F” for Pass/Fail grading) will be calculated and assigned, and then provide information about the types of “F” grades.
The following suggested text can be incorporated into your syllabus.
A student who earns an F will be assigned a grade of “F1,” “F2” or “F3” based on their level of participation in academic class activities as follows:
Please keep in mind that a student’s degree of participation may impact their eligibility for federal or state financial aid. Higher levels of participation ensure greater chances of retaining any financial aid received for this class. Questions regarding financial aid should be directed to a financial aid advisor.
Calculate the grade based on the date of the last academically related activity. In a distance education context, documenting that a student has logged in to an online class is not sufficient, by itself, to demonstrate academic participation by the student. To have participated, the student needs to have engaged with the course content in some way, such as submitting an assignment, contributing academic content to an online discussion or initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a course-related question.
Letter or P/F grading is determined based upon the nature of the course content, not the mode of delivery.
Faculty with any type of grading question can reach out to their department chair. They may also contact the Office of the Registrar.