Grading Policies
Attendance & Participation
Class attendance and participation are an essential part of the educational process. While the Seminary has no uniform regulation on attendance, absences should be held to a minimum. Specific attendance requirements are established in some courses, depending upon their nature and content. In every course, the student is responsible for the mastery of all that is required for credit.
Final Exams/Incompletes
Final examinations are given at the close of each semester/term. Students are required to take final exams at the time scheduled by the faculty. Exams may not be given prior to the scheduled time, and permission to take a final exam after the scheduled time may be granted only when the student has suffered confining illness or has had serious illness or death in his/her family. The circumstances must be reported to the professor before the time scheduled for the final exam. In such a case, the professor will recommend to the Student Relations Committee that an incomplete be granted. These are the only acceptable reasons for requesting an incomplete grade. Incomplete grades granted by the Student Relations Committee must be removed within four weeks following the close of the semester/term. Incompletes that are not removed after four weeks will become an “F” unless otherwise specified by the Student Relations Committee.
Pass/Fail
Candidates for MDIV degrees may choose to take up to six hours of elective credit as Pass/Fail. Candidates for all other degrees may take up to four hours in this manner. These hours do not include courses that are required as Pass/Fail. The decision to register on a Pass/Fail basis must be made by the deadline for adding classes.
Course Repeat
Required classes taken Fall 2009 and later can be repeated if the student chooses to do so, no matter what grade the person made. But all grades remain on the transcript and all grades remain in the GPA calculation. Electives do not apply and a required class taken more than once satisfies the stipulated degree requirement and any additional credit CAN NOT be counted as an elective.
Required classes taken before Fall 2009 fall under previous regulation that only allows a person to repeat a class which he/she failed. The "F" remains on the transcript, but is replaced in GPA calculation by the passing grade.
Grades
| A |
4.0 |
|
C |
2.0 |
| A- |
3.7 |
|
C- |
1.7 |
| B+ |
3.3 |
|
D+ |
1.3 |
| B |
3.0 |
|
D |
1.0 |
| B- |
2.7 |
|
D- |
0.7 |
| C+ |
2.3 |
|
F |
0 |
Golden Gate faculty recognize that grades do not give a complete picture of a person’s qualification for ministry. However, some system of evaluation has to be operative and some incentive given for quality work. With this in mind, an attempt is made to relate the work in the classroom to the work of Christian leadership. A student’s work is evaluated on the basis of whether its quality will provide adequate preparation for ministry. Grade point equivalents appear in the table at the right.
Students view their grades online via MY GGBTS. Paper grade reports are not issued unless requested in writing by the student. Advanced degree programs have distinctive grading scales. (See Department Chairperson.)