NCU Faculty Handbook | Faculty Teaching Responsibilities | 29
Grading Guidelines
Grades are based on the faculty member's academic judgment that the student has demonstrated a specified
level of performance based on objective and subjective evaluations such as papers, presentations, assignments,
examinations, projects, and discussions. Students are graded according to their individual performance in the
course and not on a curve and/or compared with each other to determine a grade or performance ranking.
Criteria for awarding grades for achievement may include:
• Preparation of assignments, including accuracy, legibility and promptness;
• Contribution to faculty-student discussions;
• Demonstrated understanding of concepts on exams, papers, assignments, etc.;
• Application of skills and principles to new and real-life situations;
• Organization, presentation, and professionalism of written and oral reports;
• Originality and reasoning ability demonstrated in working through assignments; and
• Meeting minimum standards for all rubric criteria on the required deliverable.
Grade points are assigned to academic performance grades as outlined in the Grading policies and are used
to calculate a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) for each student.
For grading guidelines on deliverables in the Doctoral Student Experience (Chapters 1-5, Dissertation Proposal,
Dissertation Manuscript), please consult the Doctoral Student Experience Handbook, which is located in the
Dissertation Center.
The University uses the following academic grade scale:
NOTE: Some courses may have minimum grade requirements and/or criteria specific to the course (e.g.,
grade sets and grading guidelines). Faculty should refer to the course syllabus for additional information.
A = 4.00 C- = 1.66
A- = 3.66 D+ = 1.33
B+ = 3.33 D = 1.00
B = 3.00
B- = 2.66
C+ = 2.33
C = 2.00
F = 0.00
S = N/A
U = N/A
