THE GRADING SYSTEM
Courses are recorded in terms of credit hours. The fall and spring semester each consist of 15 weeks of instruction plus a one-week final examination period. Summer sessions may vary in length. One theory credit hour is equivalent to a 50-minute period of class work per week per semester. One laboratory credit hour is equivalent to a three-hour period of laboratory experience per week per semester. Students receive a grade report following the close of each semester.

The School uses the following system of grading to indicate on its records the quality of a student’s work:

Transfer credit for nursing & non-nursing courses taken in the Muhlenberg Regional Center School of Nursing/Union County College Cooperative Nursing Program is awarded at the discretion of the receiving institution.

A grade reported as incomplete at the end of a semester in a nursing or non-nursing course will be permanently reported as “XF” if the incomplete is not removed within the first six weeks of the next regular semester. The student will be officially withdrawn from any sequential course if the incomplete is not removed within the first six weeks of the next regular semester. The student will be officially withdrawn from any sequential course if the incomplete is not removed from the prerequisite course within the stated six-week time period. However, students may NOT progress in the nursing sequence with an incomplete in the prerequisite nursing course.

The last date to withdraw is published for each semester and for each summer session. Students withdrawing after that date will receive an “F” in the course.


GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA)
A student’s academic standing is based upon his/her performance in all courses expressed in terms of the academic grade point average. In computing this average, the following numerical values are assigned to each letter grade:

Numerical quality points are then determined by multiplying the above values by the number of credit hours which a course carries. For example, a three-credit hour course in which the student receives a “B” represents nine quality points earned.

The grade point average is determined by dividing the total number of quality points earned by the total number of credits attempted, whether passed or failed. The following is an illustration of this computation:

Institutional credits (zero-level courses) are not included in the computation of averages.

When a student repeats a course, the higher grade will be substituted for the lower grade in the student’s average. The student’s record, however, will show all courses attempted and all grades received.


REPEATING COURSES
The policy relative to repeating non-nursing courses is found in the Union County College Catalog and Student Handbook. The minimum acceptable grade in science courses, NURM 100 and all nursing courses is a “C”.

A student may not repeat a nursing course (in which any grade other than a “W” has been received) more than once.


GRADING OF NURSING COURSES:
NURM 120, 121, 122, 221, 222, 141, 241, AND 242
The minimum acceptable grade in these nursing courses is a “C”. Nursing courses are comprised of theoretical and clinical components. A student withdrawing more than twice from the same nursing course will be dismissed from the program.

The clinical component is graded on satisfactory (pass)/unsatisfactory (fail) basis. A letter grade is assigned to the achievement in theory. A failure of the laboratory component and a passing grade in theory will result in a failure (grade of “F”) for the course, as will a failing grade in theory and a satisfactory achievement in the laboratory component. All grading, both theory and clinical, is a measurement of the degree to which the student has met course objectives.