UNIVERSITY SENATE EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND PLANNING COMMITTEES

RESOLUTION: THE TZ GRADE

3/8/00

Background:

The TZ grade, which was instituted on the 1992 recommendation of the Senate, is a non-punitive grade which was to be used in cases where a faculty member was not sure if a student was actually registered for a class. That is, the student was on the roster but did not appear to have attended class or completed any course work. In addition, if a grade was left blank on the grading sheet, the Registrar was to assign a grade of TZ.

The TZ was intended to allow for the assignment of a non-punitive, temporary grade (ie., no immediate effect on the GPA) to students that may have been victims of registration or clerical errors. It was then the student’s responsibility to resolve the problem; if the problem was not resolved within the following semester the TZ converted to an F, and the GPA was recalculated accordingly.

Issues:

1. Prior to the full implementation of touchtone registration, the possibility of an unknown registration error was much more likely and the need for the TZ much more apparent. With touchtone registration, there should be no reason for students to be unaware of exactly for what they have registered: it’s very easy to check a schedule and very easy to drop a course.

2. There are inconsistencies among the definitions of the TZ included in various University publications/communications:

The Roster Transmittal Letter sent to faculty every semester states that "The TZ grade may be assigned when a student does not appear to have attended class or completed course work," rather than "completed any course work" as is stated in the official definition.

The "University Policy and Procedures" section of the New Brunswick catalog simply states that "The TZ grade is used when no grade is assigned by the faculty member." (p. 513).

The Camden undergraduate catalog states that "The TZ grade is assigned to students who never attended classes for a course, or stopped attending and did not officially withdraw, or were not graded by instructors." (p. 141).

3. The TZ is not necessarily being used for its intended purpose; faculty members are using the TZ in situations where they feel that there may be extenuating circumstances for a student’s non-completion of course requirements. There is a reluctance to assign a TD or TF as those would immediately become part of the student’s GPA.

4. As there are no consequences to not resolving registration problems expeditiously, students have little incentive to drop immediately courses they are not planning on attending. This can be a real problem in courses with limited space/high demand.

5. Most students are unaware of what the TZ grade means, and thus they simply ignore it, hoping it will go away. Some come in long after it converts to an F and try to complete the course.

6. The TZ is a problem when the academic record of a student on probation is being reviewed; it’s not clear how the TZ should count.

Advantages: Although that was not its intent, the TZ does give the instructor greater flexibility in allowing the instructor to assign a non-punitive, temporary grade to a student that he/she feels probably had a legitimate reason for not finishing the course.

RESOLUTION:

1. Be it resolved that the TZ grade be redefined, and all germane University publications/communications be changed to accurately reflect that:

The TZ grade should only be assigned when a student is unable to finish his/her course work due to a verifiable emergency situation. The student and faculty member should endeavor to reach an agreement as soon as possible as to how the course should be completed. The TZ will have no immediate effect on a student’s GPA, however if the situation is not resolved within the following semester the TZ will convert to an F, and the GPA will be recalculated accordingly. 2. Be it further resolved that Where no grade is assigned on the final grade roster by the faculty member, the Registrar shall assign a NG (No Grade Given). The NG will have no immediate effect on a student’s GPA, however if the situation is not resolved within the following semester the NG will convert to an F, and the GPA will be recalculated accordingly.