The purpose of this procedure is to give specific guidance to assist the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) with implementation of, and ensure institutional compliance with, WVSOM’s Institutional Policy DO-04: Grading Scale in regards to the removal of Incomplete (I) grades and the Retest (R) category, as those terms are defined in Institutional Policy DO-04.
This procedure applies to any situation where Incomplete grades are assigned or the Retest category of Institutional Policy DO-04 is triggered
WVSOM reserves the right to amend this procedure at any time, as necessary or appropriate.
means a course where a preponderance of the assessment is derived from skill-based exams (i.e., OPP1, OPP2, CS1, and CS2).
means any graded assessment that equals or exceeds 20% of the course grade and Anatomy Practicals.
For purposes of this procedure, Incomplete and Retest have the same meaning as assigned to them in Institutional Policy DO-04.
The requirements for the removal of an Incomplete (I) should be obtained from the Associate Dean that assigned the course grade. A grade of “I” must be removed within the time period specified in Institutional Policy DO-04.
When the student receives an “I” due to an excused absence from the final exam, the “I” will be removed upon completion of the make-up exam.
If the grade of “I” is not removed within the appropriate time period, a grade of “F” will be recorded for the course as specified in Institutional Policy DO-04 and a grade of 65 will be entered by the Registrar in place of the “I” grade.
Students are eligible for a Retest (R) designation when:
their grade at the end of a Year 1, Year 2, or Year 3 course is less than 70% (excluding lab courses, Prep Tracks and OSCEs);
they have scored less than 70% on a single test in a Year 1 or Year 2 course or less than the set standard score for a Year 3 COMAT test. For Year 1 or Year 2 courses that have a single test, the Retest will cover all course materials. For Year 1 or Year 2 courses that have multiple tests, the Retest will cover that material that pertains to the portion of the course the student failed. The Retest will be at a similar level of difficulty as the original test, but may be in the form of a multiple-choice exam, fill in the blank, oral, or any other format chosen by the faculty and course director;
had they scored 70% on the Year 1 or Year 2 test they failed or a score equal to the set standard score on the Year 3 COMAT exam, they would have received a grade of 70% or greater for the course; and
they have no other current R grades.
If a student is eligible for a Retest designation, a grade of R must be submitted to the Registrar at the end of the course by the appropriate Associate Dean. The time allotted for preparation and reexamination will be included in detail in the course syllabus and must occur within its scheduled time period.
Reexamination consists of student self-guided, independent study of the test material on the test failed, followed by an examination requiring a grade of 70.0% or greater in Year 1 or Year 2 or a score equal to or greater than the set standard score on the Year 3 COMAT exam. Failure to achieve a 70.0% or greater in Year 1 or Year 2 or a score equal to or greater than the set standard score on the Year 3 COMAT exam results in the original course grade being entered by the Registrar in place of the R grade.
A student who is successful on the retest in achieving a 70.0% or greater in Year 1 or Year 2 or a score equal to or greater than the set standard score on the Year 3 COMAT exam will have their R grade converted to a course grade of 70 that will be recorded on the student’s transcript. The original course grade will not appear on the student’s transcript. A student who is unable to retest at the scheduled time for any reason will have their R grade reverted to the original course grade.
A student may have only one course grade of R at any one time and may have up to two R grades per year in Years 1 and 2. Only one R grade is allowed per academic year in Year 3. If a student has an R grade for a course, any subsequent course grade of <70% will be considered a course failure and may not be reexamined. An R grade cannot be assigned if a course ends after the second retest period of the academic year.
A student is not eligible for assignment of an R grade if the exam failure was due to an unexcused absence or any other issue resulting in a grade reduction.
A student may only retest or remediate one course at the end of the year, not both. A student with one course failure at the end of the first semester who then receives an R grade during the second semester that then fails a course will be remanded to the Student Promotions Committee and viewed as having two course failures.