The IN (Incomplete) grade is a temporary grade available to students in rare and very particular circumstances. As explained in the University’s Undergraduate Student Handbook
here, the IN may be assigned when a student has achieved “a) a satisfactory record in the work already completed for the course” and “b) encountered unusual or unforeseeable circumstances which prevent them from completing the course requirements by the end of the term.”
A student must request an IN grade from their instructor, who may grant or deny the request based on their own judgment of whether the student meets these conditions. Instructors may not assign the IN grade in the absence of a student request given the significant negative impact of the grade, which will automatically convert to an F if unaddressed by the end of the second quarter following the term in which it was assigned.
Students are very strongly encouraged to weigh their capacity to complete course requirements outside the context of a class before requesting the IN; faculty are very strongly encouraged to weigh a student’s prior performance and ongoing capacity to resolve the IN prior to granting one.
Any decision between faculty member and student to pursue an IN grade should be accompanied by a written agreement to expectations for completion of course requirements and a clear deadline, well in advance of that point when the IN grade will lapse to an F. Both parties should be aware that once an IN grade converts to an F, an instructor no longer has sole authority to request conversion to a passing grade. As explained in the Student Handbook, an F may be changed only by way of a faculty member’s appeal to the LAS Exceptions Committee.
A student considering a request for an IN grade should reach out
directly to their instructor. Faculty members with questions about the IN grade, the grace period, or the role of the College Exceptions Committee should reach out to LASAssociateDean@depaul.edu.