Course Numbering System

1- 99        Courses which carry no-credit toward a degree or a credential.

100-199    Lower-division courses designed as freshman level, but also open to other students.

200-299    Lower-division courses designed as sophomore level, but also open to other students.

300-399    Upper-division courses designed as junior level; may be opened to “advanced” lower-division students under special circumstances with prior approval.

400-499    Upper-division courses designed as senior level, not open to lower division students and may be used for post-baccalaureate or graduate credit with prior approval.

500-599    Graduate courses open to “advanced” seniors, credential candidates, and graduate students.

600-699    Graduate courses designed primarily for Classified graduate students.

700-799    Continuous enrollment courses designed for those students who have completed all requirements for the Master’s Degree except the thesis, project or examination, and who are not enrolled in any other course. These are offered in each Master’s program.

800-899    Courses receiving Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) designed for re-licensure requirements.  Credit for these courses not applicable to degrees.

900-999    Courses designed for professional groups seeking vocational improvement or career development. Credit for these courses not applicable to degrees or credentials.

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Course Units - Most courses at CSUB are based upon the 5-quarter unit model.  However, courses may also be designed for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 quarter units.  Course instruction is 50 minutes for each unit of credit, so a 5-unit course will have 250 minutes of instruction.  Courses with laboratories or studios will either have the laboratory/studio integrated into the course structure or the laboratory/studio will have separate course numbers.  Regardless of structure, laboratory/studio instruction varies from 1-1/2 - 3 hours for each unit.  Some of the science courses have two units of laboratory (up to 6 hours)

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Class Schedule - An official Schedule of Classes is prepared each term by the University that provides information about the registration schedule, registration procedures, fees, classes offered by days/hours, and other pertinent information about university resources available to the student.  The Schedule of Classes is available in advance of registration each term, and copies may be purchased from the Runner Bookstore.  In addition, the Schedule of Classes is available online at the CSUB website www.csub.edu.  Students are encouraged to use the online version to get the latest information regarding availability of courses (new sections added or sections closed), availability of “seats” in each class, and changes in meeting times/days, assigned instructors, and/or assigned classrooms. 

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Class Meetings - Classes meet at the time and place indicated on the CSUB website Class Schedule except when a change is made to increase educational effectiveness or in response to the unavailability of the normal room or the regular instructor of the class.  Except in cases of emergency, all changes will be announced by the course instructor prior to subsequent class meetings. Information on any rescheduled class session may be secured from the office of the appropriate School Dean.

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Class Attendance - Class attendance is expected of all students enrolled at the University.  The instructor in each course sets the standard expected of students in this regard.  When students are absent from classes, it is their responsibility to inform instructors of the reason for the absence and to arrange to make up missed class work and assignments.  If a student’s situation requires him/her to be absent for the remainder of a term, withdrawal from the course and from the University must be initiated by the student and formal documentation filed with the Office of Admissions and Records (see Complete Withdrawal from the University above).  Where such absence or withdrawal is caused by illness, the student must report to the Health Service upon return to the University for medical clearance.  Except for “instructor initiated drop,” students are not automatically dropped from classes due to nonattendance.

Some instructors may have class attendance or “class participation” count in the calculation of the final course grade; the criteria for attendance or “participation” should be clearly indicated in the course syllabus.  It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the instructor has accurately recorded the student’s attendance or “participation” for grading purposes.

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Out-of-Class Preparation - Course instructors generally structure their courses so that the “average” student will need to devote 2-3 hours outside of class each week for each unit of course credit.  In other words, students should expect to spend 10-15 hours outside of class each week for a 5 unit class in completing assigned readings, performing library or internet searches, doing homework assignments, writing papers or reports, studying for quizzes/exams, etc. 

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Student Opinionnaire on Courses and Instruction (SOCI) - Students enrolled in each regular non-seminar class are asked to fill out anonymous questionnaires which report their assessment of the course content and the instruction in that class.  The Student Opinionnaire on Courses and Instruction (SOCI) are used both by individual faculty members and the university administration in a continuing effort to insure that the instructional program at CSUB is as effective as possible.  Faculty use the student feedback to make systematic adjustments in their courses to better serve our students.  Faculty committees and university administrators use the SOCI as one mechanism to assess faculty performance in teaching for Retention, Tenure, and Promotion (RTP) for probationary tenure-track faculty, for post-tenure review of tenured faculty, and for performance review of temporary faculty.

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Course Grading System

Grade Symbol       Explanation        Grade Points                                            /Course Unit

A............................. Excellent......................... 4.0

A-.................................................................... 3.7

B+ .................................................................. 3.3

B ............................... Good............................ 3.0

B -................................................................... 2.7

C+................................................................... 2.3

C ............................. Average ......................... 2.0

C-.................................................................... 1.7

D+................................................................... 1.3

D.............................. Passing.......................... 1.0

D-.................................................................... 0.7

F............................... Failing.............................. 0

W .......................... Withdrawal............... No Effect

I............................. Incomplete .............. No Effect

IC………………Incomplete-Charged....................... 0

CR............................. Credit................... No Effect

NC .......................... No-Credit................. No Effect

RD....................... Report Delayed............ No Effect

AU ............................. Audit ................... No Effect

RP.................... Report in Progress.......... No Effect

WU............... Unauthorized Withdrawal................. 0

Grade point averages (GPA) are computed by dividing the number of grade points earned by the number of units attempted. Only units and grade points earned by a student while enrolled at CSUB are used to compute the CSUB GPA.  The CSUB GPA is used to determine academic standing.

Letter Grades - The assignment of letter grades for each course is the responsibility of the course instructor.

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Change of Final Course Grade - A change in letter grade can be approved by the department chair only in the case of a declared clerical error.  The definition of clerical error is an error made by the instructor or by an assistant in grade estimating or posting.  Under no circumstances, except for completion of work when “I” was issued or through the Student Academic Grievance Procedures, may a grade change be made as the result of work completed or presented following the close of a grading period.

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Non-Letter Grade Symbols

AU (Audit) - Admitted students may file a request with the Office of Admissions and Records (SA103, 654-3036) to audit a course.  An auditor does not receive baccalaureate credit for the audited course.  Enrollment as an auditor is subject to permission of the instructor; enrollment in a course as an auditor shall be permitted only after students otherwise eligible to enroll on a credit basis have had an opportunity to do so. Auditors are subject to the same fee structure as credit students and regular class attendance is expected. Once enrolled as an auditor, a student may not change to credit status unless such a change is requested no later than the last day to add classes.  Auditors are not permitted to take examinations in the course.  A grade of “AU” for an audited course is posted on a student’s permanent record if, in the judgment of the instructor, the student has attended enough class meetings to receive a grade of “AU”; otherwise, a “W” is recorded.

CR, NC (Credit, No-Credit) - These symbols are used in courses where letter grades are not deemed appropriate.  Credit, no-credit registration is also used for all students enrolled in courses numbered 0-99 that do not count toward the baccalaureate degree, and in some performance courses such as Music and Theatre where participation is the key component.  Finally, most Independent Study and Directed Research courses are graded on a credit, no credit basis, since accomplishment of a specified amount of work is the content of such courses.  A “CR” or “NC” is not used in calculating grade point average or progress points.

A student desiring to enroll in a course on an optional credit, no-credit basis must obtain from the Records Office (SA 103, 654-3036) the appropriate form.  This form requires the advisor’s signature and, if a student is requesting permission to take more than one course in a single term on an optional credit, no-credit basis, the signature of the appropriate school dean.  Students may change their enrollment among optional credit, no-credit grading and letter grading up to the 15th instructional day (Census Day).  A grade of “CR” will be awarded for work of “C” (2.0) or better; the grade “NC” will be awarded for the grade of “C-” (1.7) or below. 

Courses taken on an optional credit, no-credit basis may not be counted toward major, minor, concentration, or cognate requirements for the baccalaureate degree.  Ten (10) units of optional credit, no-credit course work can be used in meeting the General Education requirements.  Up to a maximum of 45 units of credit, no-credit course work (including optional credit, no-credit) completed at CSUB may be counted toward a baccalaureate.

I (Incomplete - Authorized) - The symbol “I” indicates that the student has been unable to complete a portion of required course work in the prescribed time period due to unforeseen, but fully justified, reasons and that the instructor believes that the student is still capable of completing the required course work and earning credit. It is the responsibility of the student to bring pertinent information to the attention of the instructor and to determine from the instructor the remaining course requirements which must be satisfied to remove the Incomplete.  A formal Petition for Incomplete Grade must be signed by the instructor and filed with the Records Office.  The student will have one quarter to remove the Incomplete.  This one-quarter time limitation prevails whether or not the student is enrolled during the subsequent quarter.  An “I” is not used in calculating grade point average or progress points.  A final course grade will be assigned by the course instructor when the required work has been completed and evaluated.

IC (Incomplete Charged) - The “IC” symbol is used when a student who received an authorized incomplete “I’ fails to complete the required course work within the allowed time limit.  The “IC” replaces the “I” and is counted as a failing grade (F = 0) for grade point average and progress point computation.

RD (Report Delayed) - The “RD” symbol is used where a delay in the reporting of a grade is due to circumstances beyond the control of the student. The symbol may be assigned by the registrar only and, if assigned, shall be replaced by a substantive grading symbol as soon as possible.  An “RD” is not used in calculating grade point average or progress points.  The Records Office shall notify both the instructor of record and the department chair within one week of the assignment of RD grades.

RP (Report in Progress) - The “RP” symbol is used in connection with courses that extend beyond one academic term, normally Independent Study, Directed Research, and master’s thesis or project.  It indicates that work is in progress and that the progress has been judged satisfactory but that the assignment of a final course grade must await completion of additional work.  Work must be completed within one year; theses or projects for master’s degrees may be authorized for a maximum of two (2) years as long as the delay does not exceed the overall time limit for completion of the master’s degree requirements.  Any extension of time limits must receive prior authorization by the appropriate school dean and, for master’s degree theses and projects, by the Associate Vice President for Academic Programs.

W (Withdraw) - The “W” symbol indicates that the student was authorized to withdraw from the course after the third full week of class instruction with the approval of the instructor and appropriate campus officials. It carries no connotation of quality of student performance and is not used in calculating grade point average or progress points.  Withdrawals are not permitted during the final three weeks of instruction except in cases such as accident or serious illness, where the cause of withdrawal is clearly beyond the student’s control and the assignment of an “Incomplete” is not practical.  Ordinarily, withdrawals during the last three weeks of the quarter involve Complete Withdrawal from the University.

WU (Unauthorized Withdrawal) - The “WU” symbol indicates that an enrolled student did not formally withdraw from the course and failed to complete course requirements.  It is used when, in the judgment of the instructor, completed assignments or course activities or both were insufficient to make normal evaluation of academic performance possible.  For purposes of grade point average and progress point computation, the “WU” symbol is equivalent to an “F.”