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News: AHEC has a prescrlptlon to~ parking woes. Page
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News: MSC's Health Clinic came up short in its attempt to retain contested space. Page
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Feature: There's more to mountain living than meets the eye. Page
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Volume 5, Issue 16
© Metropress January 19, 1983
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76 classes get "x" on transcripts '
Late-grades _cause MSC hassles by Richard Bellizzi
Hundreds of MSC students opened their grades this month and, rather than A's, B's, C's, D's or Fs, found X's for some classes. 1' The X grades were entered into students' transcripts because 76 class grade sheets totalling 1,222 students were not turned in to admissions and records by the 10 r a.m., Dec. 20, deadline. Since MSC shares some computing equipment with the University of Colorado, grade sheets had to be brought to Boulder that day to be processed. Now, until admissions and records personnel can manually enter the late grades into students' transcripts--which will not be until some time after the current •spring semester registration--the X's will remain a part of their academic record. For many of those students, those X grades represent the beginning of a period of ·uncer• tainty during which their academic and financial futures are put in jeopardy.
For example, graduating and transferring students who received X's must wait until their grades can be posted, which costs them valuable time, whether they are seeking a job or trying to matriculate at another college. Since students receiving veteran's benefits cannot receive money unless they complete 12 hours, X grades could be a factor to some veterans. Financial aid recipients will also be affected. Some students with X grades will have checks withheld. "They (X grades) are causing us tremendous problems," said Tony Ledesma, associate director of MSC financial aid. "As a result, we have designed a form to be filled out by instructors to change a grade from an X to a letter grade. We will then accept that as a document to show actual academic progress." Other ways X grades affect students include the possibility of being placed on academic probation or suspension; X grades for prerequisite courses may affect
subsequent registration; students expecting to be reimbursed by their companies for courses completed cannot be paid; and official transcripts sent from MSC are incomplete and must be resubmitted (admissions and records personnel estimate the cost of resending transcripts to students for the 1,222 grades to be over $1,000.) The 76 late grade sheets represent nearly a 300 percent increase over the 27 turned in late for the fall, '81 semester. After the spring, '82 semester, 42 grade sheets. were submitted late. While he is very concerned about the increase in late grades, Associate Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Records Ken Curtis believes most 'of the delinquent faculty members made an honest :i;nistake. "The typical MSC faculty member cares and gets grades in on time," Curtis said. "But, if you're a student and this happens to you, it hurts. The frequency of X grades is growing, and there's no excuse for it."
Al Rodriquez, assistant dean of admissions and records, drew an analogy between his mission and running a business. "In a sense, we've got a product, and the student is the con"I sumer," Rodriquez said. believe when you pay for a service, you should expect the most for your money." Rodriquez said, to their credit, the Schools of Professional Studies and Engineering Technology were the only ones which did not turn in late grades. "However," Rodriquez said, ''I'm still concerned about the overall increase in late grades." Curtis, who is familiar with operations at other area colleges, including DU, where he once worked, feels the increasing instances of late grades may give students the impression that MSC shares the attitude of large colleges, that being they exist only for the faculty. "That may be the approach at CU or DU," Curtis said, "but here, that's unacceptable. MSC's approach is for the students." O
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