Grade Checks/Reporting

Your student's primary interaction with the University will be through his/her instructors. The University will conduct two grade checks during the course of the semester. One is at five weeks (Early Intervention), and the other is at eight weeks (mid-term). Five and eight week checks that show a student has a D or F in the course are shared with the school leadership for intervention. Five-week interventions are generally for “heads up” purposes, but if a student is still making a D or F at eight weeks, the University requires they drop the course. Instructors provide the University the student's letter grade and its numerical value. The letter grade is used for University purposes, and the numerical value is reported to the high school for use on the student's high school record. Instructors will receive Early Intervention grade reporting instructions from the Secondary Partnerships & Initiatives staff.

The Registrar's Office provides notification and instructions of grade reporting for mid-term and final grades. Mid-term and final grades are required to be uploaded from D2L into our SIS system – Banner. The Academic Calendars and other important information are found on the Registrar’s webpages.
Dropping a Course or Withdrawal from All Courses

If a student wishes to drop one or more courses during the semester, the High School Dual Credit designee needs to be notified, and they must submit the dual credit add/drop form to the Assistant Director of Secondary Partnerships & Initiatives. Approved add/drop forms are submitted to the Registrar's Office to add, drop, or withdraw a student from courses or the university. If a student is being dropped from all courses in a semester, this is considered a withdrawal from the semester and the university for that term. There are specific drop and withdrawal deadlines each semester. Be aware dropping a course may impact percentage of refund. Students can check the deadlines on the University's Academic Calendars.

Under the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the University is strictly limited on what it can share with parents about student progress. Details can be found on our Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act page.
Since the University “shares” a dual credit student with the high school, information that cannot be released to parents may be shared with school leadership. Students have the option of filing a FERPA Release Waiver that allows parents access to their academic records. This waiver only includes those records associated with a student’s Academic Record (i.e. admission, registration, financial aid, student account/billing, enrollment, grades, TSI.) It does not authorize access to records concerning Counseling, Housing, Student Conduct/Disciplinary Records or Title IX. Information regarding Couseling, Housing, Conduct or Title IX must be requested through their respective offices. This waiver must be initiated by the student and approved by the student and filed with the East Texas A&M's Registrar Office (some exclusions apply).

Final Exams

The semester typically ends with administration of the final examination. Due to the fluctuating schedules of a high school campus, dual credit instructors are given the leeway to give final exams during Final Exam Week as published in the Academic Calendar, based on their regular class schedule. Instructors should follow any final exam directives from academic departments.

If the instructor is teaching an online course, unless they've been given a schedule by the department head or dean, you may decide when to schedule your final exam as long as it is completed within the week of final exams and ample time is given for grading and submitting final grades by the due date.
Grades are calculated, and then turned in by the instructor to the University. Moving from a fall to spring semester or spring to next fall, a thorough grade check is done after final grades post to determine who is eligible to move on to spring semester courses. Students who are eligible to move on are registered for those courses prior to the holiday break or in early January or before summer break for upcoming fall term. Students who are ineligible will not be continued on into the next dual credit course. High school leadership will work to adjust their high school schedule.
Instructor Core Curriculum Assessment (Artifacts) Requirements

The University's accreditor, SACSCOC and the State of Texas require annual assessments of core curriculum courses. Each fall and spring, assessment artifacts from student work on a fall/spring assignment must be collected to fulfill this requirement. Each instructor teaching a core course being assessed must submit a designated number of assessment artifacts for the designated term.

The Core Curriculum program at East Texas A&M embodies the characteristics and purposes of the University. With both professional and liberal arts programs, East Texas A&M recognizes general education as a necessary component in the development of all students. The general education which takes place in the Core Curriculum program is, therefore, not only compatible with specialization, but is the context in which specialization occurs.

The Student Learning Outcomes, or SLOs, for the Undergraduate Core Curriculum are

1. Critical Thinking – Students will be able to analyze, evaluate, or solve problems when given a set of circumstances, data, texts, or art.
2. Oral/Visual Communication – Students will communicate in a manner appropriate to audience and occasion with an evident message and organizational structure.
3. Empirical/Quantitative Reasoning – Students will be able to interpret, test, and demonstrate principles revealed in empirical data and/or observable facts.
4. Teamwork – Students will be able to work together toward a shared purpose relevant to the course or discipline with a sense of shared responsibility for meeting that purpose.
5. Personal Responsibility – Students will understand and practice academic honesty.
6. Social Responsibility – Students will demonstrate an understanding of societal and/or civic issues.
   The Texas Core Curriculum requires students to complete thirty-six hours of coursework from a broad variety of disciplines across eight Foundational Component Areas. Another six hours that meet requirements for any one of the Foundational Component Areas are also required, but institutions are allowed to select those six hours to meet institutional priorities and mission. This six hour element of the Texas Core Curriculum is called the Component Area Option. Completion of the Core Curriculum, either from the current block of courses offered at East Texas A&M, or through Generic Transfer Equivalent Courses transferred in must total forty-two semester hours.
   Dr. Derrick McKisick, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of History, serves as the University's Core Curriculum Coordinator, [email protected]. The Director of Secondary Partnerships and Inititatives works with Dr. McKisick to collect required assessment artifacts each semester. Additional information concerning assessment artifacts and FAQs may be found at this link: Core Curriculum Assessment Table and FAQs.pdf