Department of Politics at Princeton University

Students are sometimes tempted to extend their work in a seminar beyond the end of the semester by taking an "incomplete" grade. The department discourages this. Incompletes, especially when accumulated, can substantially slow a student's progress. The department's policy on incomplete grades (INCs) is as follows.  This policy applies to all courses taken for credit (including those offered in other departments).

1. The Contract for Incompletes (.pdf) and the due date: An incomplete is the grade an instructor gives a student whose work is unfinished on the official grade sheet sent to the Registrar; that term does not apply to extensions instructors may give before the Registrar’s date for the term’s grades. Incompletes will be granted only if students sign and submit the Incomplete Contract Form with the instructor’s signed agreement. The contract is due no later than one week before grades are due to the Registrar; an instructor may require that the contract be signed earlier. By signing the form, the instructor agrees to actively guide the paper’s progress. An instructor should sign the form only after a substantial face-to-face meeting with the student. The form asks for the reason for the incomplete; the reason the paper cannot be broken down into parts that will be completed for other courses or for the 591 paper; an outline of the paper; dates for a future meeting and for a draft to be turned in; and a date for the final paper to be turned in. The due date for the final paper must fall no later than 12 weeks past the last day of class, but instructors may choose earlier dates. Faculty members who sign this form are taking full responsibility for monitoring the student and ensuring that the paper is turned in by the due date. Faculty who do not wish to take on this responsibility are free to refuse to grant the incomplete. The director of graduate studies (DGS) must review and approve all signed contracts; no incomplete will be granted without the DGS’s signed approval of the form.
    
2. Multiple and permanent incompletes: Multiple simultaneous incompletes are strongly discouraged and the DGS will ensure that they are given rarely, to avoid a situation where a student becomes so overloaded that he or she cannot make reasonable progress. The DGS will provide additional mentoring to students who request multiple incompletes or have incurred past penalties for incompletes. However, students who incur more than two permanent incompletes are not making good progress in the program, and this fact may be considered when making decisions about readmission, travel grants, and competitive fellowships.
    
3. Work submitted toward an incomplete must be turned in to the graduate program administrator, not to the instructor. The graduate administrator will forward the paper to the instructor. If the paper was submitted after the departmental deadline for incompletes (and in violation of the contract), the student has a choice between a penalty of a third of a course grade per week or a permanent incomplete on the transcript (the latter likely requiring enrollment in a new course). The student will notify the graduate administrator of his or her choice in writing, and the administrator will notify the instructor of the penalty and will ensure that it has been applied when the change-of-grade form is submitted to the graduate office. It is expected that with adequate guidance from the instructor, the student will be able to complete the work by the deadline and avoid any penalty.
    
4. Any extension of the incomplete deadline past the twelve-week mark will be granted by the DGS only in exceedingly rare cases (e.g., the student has experienced long-term, serious health problems requiring hospitalization, the student has had or adopted a baby, or a death in the immediate family has occurred). These cases will be handled directly by the DGS.
    
5. Faculty should submit a change-of-grade form within a few weeks of receiving the paper.