Dear ECE Master's students,

With the alternate grade mode option being implemented this semester, I wanted to reach out to you regarding the impact of selecting the alternate grade mode on courses that have a minimum B grade requirement. Note that not all courses have this requirement!

As you know, there are requirements in our Master's program where some 500-level courses (such as those used for the core or concentrations) and some 500/600-level courses (such as those used for a specialization/concentration) need to be completed with at least a B grade (see the catalog and ECE website for more details on these program requirements and which courses they are, depending on your catalog year and plan of study).

You can choose to select the alternate grade mode for those courses this semester, however if the grade you receive is "XS", degree works will not automatically pull in that course as meeting your program requirement (below is a link about degree works if you are not familiar with what it looks like):

https://registrar.gmu.edu/students/degree-evaluation/degree-works/

If you receive an XS, and the letter grade the instructor entered for you was a B or higher (all instructors will enter a letter grade for you in patriotweb irrespective of whether or not you elect the alternate grade mode), then the ECE department will initiate a request with the registrar's office to count the course towards meeting your program requirement. If you received an XS and the instructor gave you a B-, or you received an XP (which means you got a C grade), the requirement will be considered as not met.

If you end up with an XS in a class that requires a minimum B grade and if you obtained at least a B grade in that class, then please send an email to Ms. Patricia Sahs ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) at the end of the semester so that we can request that your degree audit be updated to have the course meet the requirement.

Please reach out to Ms. Sahs if you have any questions or need further clarification about this. Further information about alternate grade modes can be found in the links below:

https://registrar.gmu.edu/students/registration/spring-2020-grading-options/
https://provost.gmu.edu/academics-and-research/graduate-education/spring-20-covid-19-updates

P. Kurtay