Courses, Calendars, and Reporting Frequently Asked Questions

Allowing students to choose a Pass/Fail option for spring and summer 2020 semesters, and for Academic Year 2020-2021 is an institutional decision.

For institutions electing to provide students the option for Pass/Fail, institutions should encourage students to seek academic advising/counseling to fully understand the implications of choosing a Pass/Fail option, including the impact to current academic major, transfer options, and long-term education and career goals.

Please refer to the reporting section of the FAQ for guidance on how to report data for these students.

Texas public institutions of higher education are not required to adjust their semester end dates if three or fewer contact hours of classes have been cancelled.

If more days have been cancelled, make up classes should be scheduled, the semester end date should be extended, or students should be provided with sufficient supplemental materials and assignments. Institutions that wish to suspend their classes for more than a week should notify Dr. James Goeman, Director, Academic Quality and Workforce, of their status and provide updates about spring schedule changes. Dr. Goeman can be reached at James.Goeman@highered.texas.gov.

Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Chapter 4, Subchapter A, Rule 4.5(b) gives the Commissioner of Higher Education the authority to “grant waivers to the common calendar to benefit students and/or to improve the efficient operations of the institutions.”

The Commissioner of Higher Education has authorized approval to any public university or community, technical, or state college that decides to alter their calendar from the common calendar because of disruption by COVID-19. Any institution doing so should immediately send an electronic notification to Ray Martinez, Deputy Commissioner for Academic Affairs and Workforce Education, at ray.martinez@highered.texas.gov or (512)653-3331. This authorization is effective until terminated by the Commissioner of Higher Education.

Yes.
If an institution adjusts its start date for a second 8-week course, it is appropriate to change the Census date to six days after the new start date. This allows students opportunities to make decisions about adding/dropping courses and aligns with instructions for setting census dates based on days of actual instruction. If an institution would like to adjust a Census date in a manner that does not generally align with this guidance, please contact Victor Reyna at Victor.Reyna@thecb.state.tx.us or John Dinning at John.Dinning@highered.texas.gov.

Yes.

The “six drop” rule states that an institution may not allow a student with a total of six dropped courses (including those dropped at another institution of higher education) to drop any additional courses. However, as per Texas Education Code Sec. 51.907, an institution may allow additional drops if the student shows “good cause as determined by the institution of higher education” for dropping more than six courses. The Coordinating Board recommends that institutions be generous in granting the “good cause” exception should students subject to the six-drop rule wish to drop courses during the spring and summer 2020 semesters, and during Academic Year 2020-2021.

Courses dropped under the “good cause” allowance should be reported to the Coordinating Board as withdrawals on the CBM00S Student Schedule Report, as per existing instructions, but should not be counted toward a student’s total dropped course count.

Waivers are typically processed in a week or so. If a public university or community, technical, or state college that begins its fall and spring semesters and its first summer term within 7 days of the date set by the common calendar, the institution is in compliance with the common calendar and does not require a waiver. Here is the link to the:Common Calendar

Student grades are reported to the THECB on the Student Schedule, CBM00S report, including grades of I (Incomplete). Because the number of incompletes reported have, traditionally, been very low, the Coordinating Board has not allowed for resubmission of an incomplete grade that has been resolved. However, because successfully completed hours are used in community college Success Point progress measures and student grade information is also used for data analytics and other purposes, the Coordinating Board will provide a mechanism for institutions to update incomplete grades for public two- and four-year higher education institutions for spring and summer 2020 and Academic Year 2020-2021. The Coordinating Board will consult with reporting officials to determine a workable approach for gathering this additional data and to set a final date for resubmissions that is sensitive to both institutional need and reporting requirements for Success Points and other analyses. Also, as per current rules, an institution may not resubmit a class for formula funding for a student who is finishing an incomplete if the course was already included in spring semester census date reports. Instructions for resubmission of incomplete grades will be forthcoming.

There are no restrictions in state statute or rule that limit when institutions may set their withdrawal deadlines after the Census date has passed. Currently, institutions set their own course withdrawal (drop) dates. The Coordinating Board is not aware of any federal or accrediting body requirements regarding setting withdrawal deadlines.

Yes.

Institutions may set an appropriate census date for those classes and report in the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters provided reporting does not delay the October 15 and February 15 deadlines.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) requires student and course enrollment data to be submitted and deemed error free by October 15th for fall and/or February 15th for spring, to meet deadlines to submit data for formula funding purposes to the Legislative Budget Board. If an institution is able to report students who are enrolled in courses by the course census date, and provide that data to the THECB, including allowing time for data edit checking so that the data are error free by October 15th and/or February 15th, then the institution may include the students in its census date reports rather than report them as flex in the following semester. An institution should check with its chief reporting official before committing to a condensed timeline for data review.

Note: The response below applies to reporting for spring and summer 2020 and Academic Year 2020-2021.

To assist institutions in making decisions that best support their local needs and information systems, institutions will be allowed to report data elements that have changed during the semester in whatever way works best for the institution. For example, if a course has already been reported and data certified as face-to-face delivery and the course is changed to an online modality, the institution may choose to report either option on the CBM00S at the end of the semester. Similarly, if a course was reported as 16 weeks for Census date reporting and it will be reduced to 13 weeks, the institution may choose how to report the course length for end-of-semester reporting. Also, if an institution has not yet certified Census reports, the institution may choose whichever response is best if the mode or length was changed as a result of the coronavirus.

Yes.

In the past, the CBM00S allowed only grades of A, B, or C to be reported for courses designated as a First College-Level Course (FCL) on Item #20 (university manual) and Item #23 (CTC manual). All other options generated an error. The edit check was adjusted to allow institutions to report Option 8 – “Credit/Passed” for courses designated as First College-Level Courses for the Spring 2020 and Summer 2020 reporting periods. In addition, institutions were allowed to report a student who passed a Pass/Fail course with Option 4 – “yes at my institution this semester” on Items #30/#50/#70 (Credit for First College-Level Course) on the University and CTC CBM002 TSI Reports. This provision has been extended for Academic Year 2020-2021.

However, please note that awarding of Success Points at community colleges also relies on additional information. For Success Point purposes, legislation (Rider 19, FY2020-21 State Budget, pIII-220) specifically requires a grade of A, B, or C in a first college-level course for a point to be awarded. THECB staff will be surveying institutional reporting officials at community colleges to determine if Pass/Fail includes a grade of D or is only awarded with grades of A, B, or C. For community colleges for which a passing grade includes only students who earn a C or better, Success Point calculations provided to the Legislative Budget Board for funding in the next biennium will include grades of Pass for first college-level course completion.

Institutions are not required to notify the THECB as they move to complete Academic Year 2021 using an online modality; courses moved online during Academic Year 2021 or Fall 2021 (i.e., September 1, 2020 – December 31, 2021) in response to COVID-19 will not be counted as distance education courses when the agency considers whether a degree remains a non-distance education degree. However, the Coordinating Board will need to be notified if an institution plans to permanently move a program to an online modality.
If an institution intends to offer a program permanently in an online modality, the institution should follow the standard processes related to distance education modifications and requests, which may be accessed online at Distance Education Modifications & Requests. Institutions offering remote learning delivery modalities are encouraged to comply with Principles of Good Practice for Academic Degree and Certificate Programs and Credit Courses offered at a Distance.

Note: As alternative approaches to instruction are considered or continued, the THECB encourages institutions to include their financial aid offices in those discussions. The regulations for federal financial aid are complex, and financial aid directors can provide insight on how different approaches may impact a student’s eligibility for financial aid.