The Nursing Program is committed to preparing students for safe, competent, and effective professional nursing practice. To support this mission, progression policies are designed to ensure that students demonstrate satisfactory mastery of essential nursing knowledge and clinical judgment. Because examinations are a key measure of students’ cognitive competency and clinical reasoning readiness for practice, the Nursing Program requires students to meet a minimum cumulative examination performance standard in all nursing courses with exams. This policy establishes the minimum exam average requirement, outlines the method for calculating final course grades, defines the passing standard, and clarifies eligibility for progression within the nursing curriculum.
For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:
- Exams: Exams that evaluate cumulative knowledge and are designated in the course syllabus as contributing to the cumulative exam average. These may include unit and final exams.
- Standardized testing used in the program, skills assessment, and the medication competency examination do not apply.
- Exams make up at least 75% of the course grade in designated nursing courses.
- Exam average: The exam percentage is calculated in LMS by dividing the total points the student has earned by the total points possible for all exams in that group.
- Other graded assessments: All non-exam coursework identified in the syllabus, which may include quizzes, assignments, projects, papers, clinical evaluations, simulations, or participation activities.
The exam requirements are as follows:
- Minimum cumulative exam average requirement
- A student must achieve a minimum cumulative exam average of 77% in a course.
- Grade Calculation
- If the exam average is 77% or higher, all other graded assessments are included in the final course grade calculation per the syllabus.
- If the exam average is below 77%, the student is unsuccessful in the course. The final grade will be determined by the exam percentage calculated in the LMS. The letter grade will be determined based on the nursing grading scale.
- Passing Standard
- A final course grade of 77% or higher is required to pass any nursing course.
- Grades are not rounded.
- Progression
- A student who is unsuccessful in a course will follow established progression policies.