Boston University Arts & Sciences

Also in Faculty & Staff

• Committees & MeetingsFind agendas, meeting minutes, and committee membership applications.
  • Chairs' Calendar
  • 2008/2009 Chairs & Faculty Meetings
• Procedures & FormsFind information on academic planning, curriculum development, and budget requests.
  • Memo from the Dean
  • Academic Planning Self-study Reports
  • Curriculum Guidelines
  • Consultation on Class Scheduling
  • Faculty Expectations
  • Faculty Appointments
  • Teaching Award Nominations
  • Faculty Payroll
  • Staff Payroll
  • Student Payroll
  • Graduate Students Teaching Stand-Alone Courses
  • Performance Review Process Due Dates
• CAS Newsletter ArchiveAn e-newsletter for Arts & Sciences faculty and staff.
• Chairs’ GuideLearn about the role and responsibilities of a department chair.
  • Courses & Curriculum
    • Planning Course Offerings
    • Scheduling Classes & Assigning Instructors
    • Reviewing and Revising the Department’s Curriculum
    • Proposing New Academic Programs
    • Proposing New Courses & Revising Existing Courses
    • Syllabi
    • Grading System
  • Faculty Issues
    • Tenure-Track Faculty & Faculty Promotions
    • Non-tenure-track Faculty & Research Staff Reappointments
    • Faculty Searches
    • Sabbaticals & Other Leaves of Absence
    • Teaching Awards
  • Student Issues
  • Graduate School Issues
    • Grant Principal Investigator Status
    • Grant Cost Sharing Guidelines
    • Guidelines for Teaching Buyouts
    • Dean’s Awards
    • Termination of a Student’s Graduate Status
    • GRS Guidelines for Traveling Scholars
    • Travel Support
  • External Funding
• Instructors’ GuideFind resources to assist with teaching and administrative responsibilities.
  • Academic Conduct
  • Adding/Dropping a Student (Deadlines)
  • Class Management
  • Evaluations
  • Final Exam
  • Grading
  • Holidays
  • Library Materials
  • Office Hours
  • Reading Period
  • Students with Disabilities
  • Syllabi
  • Textbooks
  • Teaching Resources
• Administrative Offices & Roles Learn the roles of each administrative office, along with contact information.
  • Dean of Arts & Sciences
  • Undergraduate Education
  • The Graduate School
  • Faculty Actions
  • Finance and Administration
  • Student Academic Life
  • Student Programs & Leadership
  • CAS Connections
  • Boston University Humanities Foundation

Related Links

• Provost Website
• Faculty Link

Grading System

The University grading system is:

A: excellent
B: good
C: satisfactory
D: low pass
F: Fail, no credit

There has been a well-documented nationwide increase in average grades over the past few decades. In CAS, average grades have crept upward by about 0.1 GPA points (on a 4.0 system) per decade. Furthermore, the average grades in courses are nonuniform both across departments and within departments. The Dean and Central Administration therefore urge faculty to make use of the full range of grades and to consider the above interpretation. An “A” grade should be reserved for the students with the most outstanding work in the class, while those with lackluster but adequate performance should be assigned “C” grades.