Overview
The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration is organized into projects. You must master every project to earn the degree. Each project is comprised of specific competencies, associated assessments, and the resources needed for successful completion. At the conclusion of the subscription period, a letter grade is reported for each project. A key characteristic that distinguishes Competency-Based Education (CBE) is that you make progress by demonstrating the knowledge and skills required for each subject, rather than making progress based on fixed amount of time in the classroom.
If you’re seeking tuition reimbursement, the the following memo may help explain the CBE grading format to your employer. If the PDF option does not fulfill your needs, please contact oel-registrar@uwex.edu with additional questions.
A project, in part or in whole, corresponds to one or more competency areas. There are a fixed number of competency areas that comprise the business administration degree, and you must master all required projects for each competency area.
Grades/Quality Points
Your academic work is evaluated against a set of rubrics that are made available to you upon enrollment in any project. Each letter grade also carries a certain number of quality points per credit.
| Grade | Description | Quality Points | Traditional Letter Grade Equivalency |
| MD* | Mastered with Distinction (MD) | 4.00 | A |
| M* | Mastered (M) | 3.00 | B |
| F | Fail (F) | 0.00 | F |
| The following grades are assigned no grade points and are not counted when the GPA is calculated. | |||
| PR* | Progress | ||
| I | Incomplete | ||
| W | Withdrawal | ||
*Grades used in the UW Flexible Option program only
Calculating your Term Grade Point Average
Each letter grade carries a certain number of quality points per credit. For example, a grade of MD is worth four quality points per credit. If you received a MD in a 2-credit competency set, you would have earned a total of 8.00 quality points (4 x 2.00).
Your subscription period GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned in the subscription period by the total number of credits attempted.
Example:
| Course | Credits | Grade | Quality Points | Total Quality Points |
| BAEF 100 Microeconomic Market Analysis I |
1 | MD | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| BAEF 101 Microeconomic Market Analysis II |
2 | M | 3.00 | 6.00 |
| BALM 200 Business Law and Ethics |
3 | MD | 4.00 | 12.00 |
| Total | 6 | 22.00 |
Total Quality Points / Total Credits = Term G.P.A
22.00 Total Quality Points / 6 Total Credits = 3.66 GPA
Note: G.P.A. calculations are truncated and not rounded (i.e. 3.777 is reported as 3.77 and not rounded to 3.78)
Grade Definitions
Mastered with Distinction (MD)
This is a permanent grade assigned when you reach a distinguished level of achievement on the stated criteria for mastery of a project.
Mastered (M)
This is a permanent grade assigned when you meet or exceed the stated criteria for mastery of a project.
Progress (PR)
This is a permanent grade assigned in UW Flexible Option programs when you complete part, but not all, of the requirements toward mastery by the end of the subscription period. This grade is permanent but does not count toward degree attainment or calculation of grade point average.
You are required to achieve mastery in each project within six attempts. This means that once you receive a “PR” grade in any single UW Flexible Option Business Administration project five times, you will not be eligible to receive another “PR” grade in the same project on the sixth attempt. A grade of “F” will reported on the sixth attempt if mastery is not achieved.
While continuous enrollment in a project with a PR grade is not required, you must demonstrate progress towards mastery by re-enrolling in the project (retake) within six calendar months from the end of the subscription period for which the last PR grade was assigned. Beyond six months, there is no guarantee that your prior work will carry forward into a new version of the project.
You may not have more than five open projects with In-Progress status in any subscription period. If you have five open projects, you may not register for additional projects until you complete one or more of the open projects.
Incomplete (I)
This temporary grade is assigned to a UW Flexible Option competency set/projects if you, due to extraordinary circumstances (e.g. family/medical emergencies), have requested an incomplete for a project that is near completion to allow the extra time to complete. A grade of Incomplete is assigned at the discretion of the instructor, guided by the following policies:
- A grade of Incomplete may be reported for a student who has maintained a passing grade until near the end of the project and who then, because of unusual and substantiated cause beyond the student’s control, is unable to take or complete the final examination, or to complete some limited amount of work. The grade of Incomplete must be accompanied by the instructor’s description of the work that has yet to be completed.
- Students requesting an Incomplete must submit official documentation related to the extraordinary circumstances within 30 calendar days of the end of the subscription period, however, an Incomplete may be initiated by an instructor on a student’s behalf if the instructor believes there is cause to do so.
- A request to change an already recorded grade to a grade of Incomplete will not be carried out unless the instructor submits a Request for an Incomplete.
- Students receiving a grade of Incomplete must master the project within three months of the end of the subscription period in which the grade was recorded.
- An Incomplete project that is not mastered within three months will be changed to a PR.
- A student will not graduate with an Incomplete on his/her transcript if failure in that course/project would make the student ineligible to graduate.
Withdrawn (W)
This is a permanent grade assigned if you drop a course after the 25th day of the first month of the subscription period through the 15th of the second month. Withdrawals are not awarded after the 15th day of the second month.
Administrative Withdrawals
If you fail to pay your account balance in full or have not completed the required Flex Check In (FCI) for each project in which you are enrolled, you will be administratively withdrawn after the 10th day of the subscription period (e.g. January 11th for a January subscription period). No grade will be assigned. If you do not demonstrate educational engagement (defined as submission of one non-practice assessment) after the 10th day of the subscription period, you may be administratively withdrawn. A W grade will be assigned. Administrative withdrawals are not counted as an attempt.
You are encouraged to review the UW-Parkside Academic Catalog to become familiar with the academic policies.