Assignment of Grades
Final grades are recorded in the fall at the end of the term and at the end of module session 3, and in the spring at the end of the term and at the end of module session 8, except in courses designated by the school as part of a grading sequence in which a final grade is given only after the sequence has been completed.
Grading and the Grading System
The Health Sciences Schools follow University requirements pertaining to Grading and the Grading System for all Undergraduate students. The School of Medicine uses the Honors/Pass/Fail grading system as described in the School of Medicine section of this catalog.
Grading System
A letter grading system is used by the Schools of Health Professions, Nursing (refer to the School of Nursing for specific grading policy), Social Welfare, Basic Sciences, Graduate Nutrition and Public Health programs. The School of Dental Medicine uses the letter grading system, without plus or minus grades, for all didactic and laboratory courses, including basic sciences courses, except those specifically identified by the school.
A Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) and/or Satisfactory/Failure (S/F) grading system is used for selected courses in the Schools of Health Professions, Nursing, Social Welfare, Graduate Nutrition and Public Health programs and for all clinical courses and seminars in the School of Dental Medicine. The School of Dental Medicine also uses an honor grade of (H). The School of Medicine uses the Honors/ Pass/Fail grading system as described in the School of Medicine section of this Bulletin.
The Schools of Health Professions, Nursing, Social Welfare, Basic Sciences, Graduate Nutrition and Public Health programs may use plus or minus grades for students of these schools.
Grades are assigned point values as follows:
A = 4.00
A- = 3.67
B+ = 3.33
B = 3.00
B- = 2.67
C+ = 2.33
C = 2.00
C- = 1.67
D+ = 1.33
D = 1.00
F = 0.00
S = (indicates satisfactory work)
U = (indicates unsatisfactory work)
The letter grades D and D+ may not be assigned to graduate students in a graduate level course in the schools of Social Welfare, Dental Medicine, Graduate Nutrition, the Public Health program and the School of Nursing PhD in Nursing program.
The following are also used in the grading system:
Incompletes
Incompletes (I) may be given at the discretion of the instructor when a student is unable to complete all course requirements because of circumstances beyond his or her control. Incomplete (I) grades are used by the Health Sciences programs and the Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine as described in the school section of this Bulletin. If a grade is not reported by the deadline date appearing in the academic calendar, or if the instructor does not extend the period for completing the course requirements, the grade of I will automatically be changed to U or I/F as appropriate. The grade of I/F will be averaged as F when computing the grade point average (GPA) or determining other aspects of the academic standing of the student. Under unusual circumstances, an instructor may extend the period for completing the course requirements. In such cases, the instructor must notify the respective schools’ Deans Office in writing of the new deadline.
No Record
An instructor may assign a grade of No Record (NR) for students in the Schools of Health Professions, Nursing, Social Welfare and Public Health Program.
The Schools of Dental Medicine and Medicine do not use the NR grade. The NR grade is assigned for students who have never (to the instructor’s knowledge) participated in the course in any way, but appear on the final grade roster for the course. Undergraduate grades of NR that have not been replaced by a final grade or by withdrawal (W) by the end of the ninth week of the fall semester (for spring NR grades) or by the end of the ninth week of the spring semester (for fall NR grades) will be converted to one of the following grades: N/F for letter graded course, N/U for courses graded A-C/U or S/U. The grade of N/F will be treated as a failure (F) for the purposes of academic standing and will be averaged as a failure (F) in the computation of the student’s GPA.
Graded/Pass/No Credit Option (GPNC)
Graded/Pass/No Credit Option (GPNC) may not be used by undergraduates in the School of Health Professions, School of Social Welfare and School of Nursing.
Reserved/Registered
A Reserved (R) grade is used by the Schools of Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Social Welfare to indicate attendance during the first course in a sequence for which a final grade will be assigned only at the completion of the second course in the sequence. R grades are not computed in the GPA.
Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory or Satisfactory/Failure
A Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) or Satisfactory/Failure (S/F) grading basis may be used by the Schools of Health Professions, Nursing, Social Welfare and Public Health Program in specially designated courses where finer grading distinctions are impractical, and an S/U grading policy is announced in the course description provided by the school. No other grades may be assigned in such courses. The School of Dental Medicine uses S/U grading and adds an Honors (H) grade for all clinical courses and seminars, and those specifically identified by the school. F grades are computed in the grade point average, S and U grades are not computed in the GPA.
Course Withdrawal
A mark of W is recorded when the student withdraws from a course after the add/drop deadline noted on the academic calendar for Undergraduate and Graduate students. The W is not calculated into the grade point average.
Repeatable Courses
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Certain courses note in their descriptions that they “may be repeated once” or “may be repeated as the topic changes.” Students may repeat such courses within those restrictions and receive credit each time.
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Each grade for such repeated courses is computed in the student’s grade point average; a repeat grade does not replace the original grade.
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Only courses stating in the description that they may be repeated may be taken more than once for credit.
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If a student has scored a grade on a test or examination that awards equivalency for a specific Stony Brook course, the Stony Brook course may not be taken without permission as the university repeat rules apply. Students may not receive credit for an exam or test that awards a course equivalency in addition to receiving credit for the Stony Brook course.
Retaking Courses
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Students are considered to have taken a course if they remain in the course past the add/drop deadline, regardless of the grade received in the course. Note: a grade of ‘W’ does count as a grade; see the course withdrawal section for more information.
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Credits for retaken courses will count once toward cumulative credits, but will count each time toward semester load. The highest grade of all attempts at the course will count towards the GPA. All graded attempts will be listed on the student’s transcript.
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Students who wish to take a course more than twice must receive approval from the academic department offering the course.
Note: This policy applies to students in the following programs: School of Health Professions, School of Nursing, School of Social Welfare, Program in Public Health and Graduate Nutrition Program.
Academic Renewal Policy
Students who have not been enrolled at the University for at least 10 consecutive semesters and/ or have previously earned a degree or certificate from Stony Brook University, may be eligible for academic renewal. Exceptions to this policy may be made at the discretion of the Health Sciences Schools. In this policy, the student’s cumulative grade point average and cumulative credit total will be calculated based on course grades earned as of the date of academic renewal, although the original grades and grade point average remain on the transcript. After academic renewal, students must earn 55 credits in residence to be considered for degrees with distinction. For eligibility requirements, see a representative in your Health Sciences School.
Degree Progress Report
For more information on the degree progress report for Undergraduate students, please follow this link.
Academic Standing
The academic standing of Health Sciences students is subject to the policies of the school in which the student is enrolled. Each school has a committee on academic standing which is advisory to the dean. Appeals from decision of deans are directed to the senior vice president for Health Sciences.
Similar procedures are followed in cases where academic dishonesty is alleged to have occurred. Refer to the academic standing requirements for each in subsequent “School” sections of this Bulletin.
Academic Integrity
Intellectual honesty is the cornerstone of all academic and scholarly work; academic dishonesty is viewed as a serious matter. Detailed policies and procedures for hearings and other matters are provided in the “School” sections of this Bulletin.
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