An I or Incomplete grade is assigned to a student by an instructor when the student's work is of passing quality but is incomplete because of circumstances beyond the student's control, and when the student has been temporarily excused by the instructor from completing the quarter's work.
For currently enrolled students, the maximum time limit for making up an I grade is three quarters of enrollment. After this time the I grade can no longer be replaced and will appear permanently on the record. The instructor is not obligated to allow the maximum three-quarter period. The student should consult the instructor to determine how the Incomplete may be made up. It is strongly recommended that the student and the instructor prepare a written agreement specifying how the Incomplete can be made up and the deadline for doing so. Once the work is completed within the time agreed upon by the instructor, the student should ask the instructor to submit a change of grade form to the counseling office of the school in which the course was offered. The student should not reenroll in the course to make up the Incomplete.
Students not currently enrolled at UCI have a maximum of one calendar year in which to replace an Incomplete grade. However, in exceptional individual cases involving the student's prolonged inability to pursue a course of study, extensions of up to two additional years may be granted by the instructor with the approval of the dean of the unit offering the course; students must petition for such an extension within one calendar year following the assignment of the Incomplete grade.
Courses graded I carry no grade points and are not included in computation of the grade point average which appears on the student's permanent record. Any I grade will remain indefinitely on the permanent record unless the work is completed and a grade assigned as described above.
University of California regulations require a grade point average of 2.0 for all units attempted in order to receive a bachelor's degree. Only when a check for satisfaction of graduation requirements is made are I's treated as F's. If the student's overall average is at least a 2.0, including the Incomplete grades computed as F's, then the student may graduate. If the Incomplete grades computed as F's decrease the student's average below a 2.0, the student may not graduate until enough I grades have been made up to bring the average up to a 2.0 and this must be done within the time limits specified above.