Colleagues,

I’m writing to check in on a couple of things I’m hearing from advisors about progress reports and incompletes:

Progress Reports
Thank you to all who have already submitted progress reports! This semester’s campaign runs until March 19. Please remember that students do see the language that you submit, so write your messages with them as the primary audience (e.g., “Johannes, I noticed that…”).

Incompletes
I’m hearing from advisors that our students received a high number of incompletes last semester. This is not surprising, of course, given the pandemic, and a clear sign that our instructors are trying to find ways to help students succeed.

The concern expressed to me is that many students do not seem to have a handle on what they need to do about incompletes, and by when. If you granted any incompletes last semester, please reach out to those students and ensure that they have

• An understanding of the policy, in particular that they know that an ungraded incomplete (“I”) will lapse to an “F” if a grade is not entered by the end of the Spring term.
• Clear expectations and deadlines.

As a reminder, you can find the text of the policy here (under “incompletes”):
https://catalog.uwm.edu/policies/undergraduate-policies/

Take care,
Johannes

Johannes Britz
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs