Pass/Not Pass problems.

[FlipperO]

Hello. I'm a grad student working on my masters in engineering. I took 2 courses Pass/No Pass and received No Passes in both. I took these courses because I wanted to be exposed to the material and not have to worry about my gpa. I attended lectures but did not do the hw or exams. I would have audited them but my military benefits do not pay for audits. .

I found out recently that you cannot graduate with NPs on your official records. This rule is not stated on the main registrar page describing the P/NP policy and the rule is buried in the graduate student handbook. Now my only option is to retake the class or get a letter from my department stating the courses are not important to my career goals. I tried the letter route already and it was denied. I feel I was deceived. 

I was supposed to graduate 5/2016 but now I'll have to wait till 12/16 since one of the classes I need to retake is not offered again until fall 2016. I'm considering seeing a lawyer if I cannot get out of this.

 

[shadowclaw]

It is my personal opinion that you are stuck having to retake these classes, and getting a lawyer will be a waste of money and not get you anywhere. A lawyer may even cost more than taking on an additional semester to retake the courses, depending on the cost of your tuition. 

The information on the university's website is meant to be a quick and informative guide to the university's policies - not a complete rundown of every single detail of every policy. You are held to the policies of the official handbook, not the information posted on the website, which is why a lawyer will get you nowhere. This will sound a bit harsh, but it's really your own fault that you ended up in this situation. You alone are responsible for meeting graduate requirements and ignorance is not an excuse. Yes, graduate handbooks are long and contain a lot of information, but you should be aware of your graduation requirements and how failing a class will impact you. The purpose of taking a course pass/fail isn't so you can sit in a class and do nothing - the purpose is so that you can take a course that is difficult or perhaps outside of your field and not have to worry about your GPA being dragged down if you have trouble with it, but you are still expected to pass. Getting an NP is just as bad as getting an F in a graded course.

I also assume you did not communicate your intentions to your advisor or the professors of these courses, or they likely would have advised you to either just sit in on the class (without registering) or actually complete the course requirements so you could pass. Unfortunately, in the event that you did tell them your intentions and they told you it was fine, you still have no recourse because handbooks state specifically that you alone are responsible for meeting graduation requirements. However, it's possible that you could convince your department head to write you that letter on the grounds that your advisor told you it was ok to treat the course as if you were auditing it. However, because you already stated that you cannot get the letter, then I am lead to believe that you did not consult your advisor or anyone else about the matter prior to taking these courses.

My suggestion is to relax and learn from your mistake. You might not have to worry about graduate handbooks in the future, but there will certainly be times when you will be expected to be familiar with policies, and this should serve as a lesson to make sure you know those policies well. An extra semester isn't that bad, and it's only two courses. Since you are already familiar with the material, the classes should be a bit easier for you, too.

[Eigen]

I'm not sure what a lawyer can do about this issue- moreover, involving one can usually create a lot more trouble (and expense). I'd imagine it will be far more time consuming than waiting until Dec 2016 to graduate. 

I feel for you, but I'm not sure what you mean by "buried in the graduate student handbook". The registrar page gives school-wide policies, the handbook gives those additional policies for graduate students. 

Did you discuss taking these classes P/NP with your advisors before taking them? What did they say? Additionally, why did they say they would not write the letter saying the courses were non-essential?

Basically, a NP is the same as failing a class. I don't know why it would be surprising that you can't graduate with failed courses on your records- it's common for graduate programs have policies that grades lower than Cs result in expulsion from the program. 

[FlipperO]

I took and received the NPs prior to entering my current graduate program. I was admitted to the institution for one graduate program and transferred to a different program later. I have an internship lined up 1000 miles away and was prepared to take the one remaining class I needed to graduate via distance. If I cannot get out of this this means no internship, graduating later, having to pay for that last semester out of pocket since my military benefits will be exhausted, .... This is beyond bad.

If the courses were pertinent, it would be easier to swallow. One of the classes is clearly not necessary and the other is related but I took a similar lower level course and received a good grade. The only reason I will be taking this course is to adhere to a hidden rule. No new applicable knowledge will be gained and I will be delayed from entering the work force. 

[Eigen]

You still haven't answered the question about why they won't write a letter saying the courses are non-essential. 

I'd also encourage you to not refer to the rule as "hidden", since having it written in the graduate handbook is about as far from "hidden" as I can think of. That's like saying something is "hidden" in your employment contract. You'll come across better when arguing your case to the school if you avoid such language.

[shadowclaw]

I definitely understand that this unexpected turn of events has put you into a bad position. However, I am interested in knowing why this will keep you from doing your internship. From your follow up post, it sounds like you were planning to start your internship sometime at the beginning of the spring semester and doing your last course online while you do your internship. Again, I am making assumptions based on what little I know, but it sounds like you don't need to have graduated to do your internship, so why does it matter if you have to return in the fall? Unless the internship is a lot longer than the typical internship that last 3-4 months, I don't see this as an issue. If I'm wrong, please correct me, but you haven't given us much to work with.

Getting back to the graduation issue, taking those two P/NP courses prior to enrollment in your current program is irrelevant. Clearly, it is a graduate school requirement to have no NP's on your record to graduate, not a program-specific policy. So even though you changed programs, you are still held to the same standards because you are at the same school, and you should have been aware of those policies as a graduate student, no matter what program you started in. You also should have consulted your advisor from that first program prior to taking those courses. 

Eigen is also right that you should stop referring to this policy as a "hidden rule." It's definitely not hidden. This may be part of the reason why your request for a letter was denied. Because you took those courses when you were in a different program, it would make sense for your current program head to write you that letter that says the courses are non-essential. However, if you approached your program head with the attitude that this is some "hidden rule," he/she may have been less inclined to cut you some slack. Furthermore, if you told the program head what you told us - that you took these two classes without any intention of completing the assignments and exams and didn't consult anybody about the wisdom of this - then he/she was probably a bit irked by the situation and felt disinclined to help you. As Eigen said, it would be a lot more helpful if you explained why your letter request was denied. I am purely speculating here.

[kaykaykay]

I am not sure why did you mean by saying that military benefits do not pay for audits. Audits do not cost any money you just have to talk to the professor. In addition, I have the slightest idea why you did not even try to get anything done to get a P on your transcript, seems like a lot of wasting of military benefit money. Ps usually require minimum amount of work. 
I would first talk to the graduate advisor , anyone who really knows all the rules. I believe that under some conditions you can retrospectively drop classes. Another way would be to talk to the respective professors (especially one during the fall) and try to work with them to get a P (try really to come up with some idea for real work. do not just say it was a mistake. also do not expect to do just a little and get away with it). They can also change your grade retrospectively. I also think that lawyering up or not accepting full responsibility will make your situation even worse. But others are humans so maybe if you treat the situation with humility and try to find a solution you can come up with an acceptable compromise.

[Eigen]

1 hour ago, kaykaykay said:

I am not sure why did you mean by saying that military benefits do not pay for audits. Audits do not cost any money you just have to talk to the professor. In addition, I have the slightest idea why you did not even try to get anything done to get a P on your transcript, seems like a lot of wasting of military benefit money. Ps usually require minimum amount of work. 
I would first talk to the graduate advisor , anyone who really knows all the rules. I believe that under some conditions you can retrospectively drop classes. Another way would be to talk to the respective professors (especially one during the fall) and try to work with them to get a P (try really to come up with some idea for real work. do not just say it was a mistake. also do not expect to do just a little and get away with it). They can also change your grade retrospectively. I also think that lawyering up or not accepting full responsibility will make your situation even worse. But others are humans so maybe if you treat the situation with humility and try to find a solution you can come up with an acceptable compromise.

Audits cost tuition, sitting in on a class doesn't. An audit shows up on your transcript, sitting in on a class doesn't.