Custom Grades

CAMS comes with a set of grades based upon a standard 4.0 GPA. These have been constructed from common values used by our clients and are populated into the "Blank" Grade Catalog (Grade Catalog ID = 0) with the initial installation and setup of CAMS Enterprise. You need to verify the values in this grade catalog as part of your setup process prior to issuing student grades. You can use differing grade systems by defining them in the Custom Grade Entry Form. Use this form to make changes to existing grades, add different grades, or create a new Grade Catalog.

When grades are entered in a student's record, CAMS determines the proper values to apply by matching the value in the Student Grade Catalog (Student Admissions Information form) with the Grade Catalog Custom Grades and using the grades defined in that catalog. If the value in the Student Admissions Information form is blank, CAMS will use the blank grade catalog as defined in the Custom Grade Entry form. If your institution utilizes more than one grade catalog, it is imperative that the appropriate grade catalog value is assigned to students in the Student Admissions Information form.

Prior to creating custom grades in a new grade catalog, the catalog name must be defined in the Grade Catalogs Glossary table. Upon creating that value, CAMS will automatically populate the catalog with the values residing in the Grades Default Table. You can then go to the Custom Grade Entry form to make appropriate changes to the new catalog.

To create a custom set of grades:

Follow CAMS Manager >Lookup Table Options >Custom Grade Entry to the Custom Grades form.
Select a grade catalog with which you wish to work, or leave blank if you wish to modify the existing blank catalog. (Grade Catalog values are defined in the Grade Catalogs Glossary table).
Click OK. The Custom Grades data grid will be displayed, listing all grades and their attributes.
Right-click in the list box to add a new grade, or double-click an existing grade to change its attributes.
Supply the Grade, its GPA value, and the associated conditions in the detail entry form. These conditions determine how the grade value will be processed when a transcript is created.
Repeat the procedure for as many discrete grade values your institution requires.

NOTE: An entire set of grades must be defined for each Grade Catalog that is created. Students will only be able to receive those grades that have been defined in their assigned catalog.

Grade Catalog Conditions:

Affect Term Earned Hours - grade is included in the calculations for the Term ERN on the transcript.
Affect Cumulative Earned Hours - grade is included in the calculations for the CUM ERN on the transcript.
Affect Term GPA Hours - grade is included in the calculations for the Term HRS on the transcript.
Affect Cumulative GPA Hours - grade is included in the calculations for the CUM HRS on the transcript.
Affect Term GPA - grade is included in the calculations for the Term PTS on the transcript.
Affect Cumulative GPA - grade is included in the calculations for the CUM PTS on the transcript.
Affect Transcript Attempted Hours - grade is included in the calculations for the CUM attempted hours on the transcript.
Can Mark As Repeat - designed to identify grades that bypass the Repeat Policy. Those unchecked indicate that they will have no impact on repeat policy. Grades that are to have a role in the repeat policy (transcript calculations) must have the Can Repeat box checked.
Act as Ungraded - affects Pre-Requisite and Co-Requisite checking. Prereq with GPA requirement, for example P which has a zero grade point. Checking this will mean the course counts for the Pre-Requisite and Co-Requisite checking. This allows grades with a zero grade point to be counted for the Pre-Requisite and Co-Requisite checking. An ungraded course is assumed to count for Pre-Requisite and Co-Requisite checking.

If Affect Term Earned is checked then the transcript Term ERN field is populated with the credits of the course. Otherwise its populated with 0. Example: if the grade entered for a course affects term earned and it is a 4 credit course, the Term ERN field for the course will be populated with a 4.

If Affect Term GPA Hours is checked then the transcript Term GPA HRS field is populated with the credits of the course. Otherwise its populated with 0. Example, if the grade entered for a course affects term GPA Hours and it is a 4 credit course, the Term GPA HRS field for the course will be populated with a 4.

On the transcript, PTS divided by HRS = GPA. Transcript Term GPA = (sum of points for letter grade * Term GPA Hours) / (sum of GPA Hours). Example: (12 + 12 + 12) / (4 + 4 + 4) = 3.0 GPA for three 4 credit hour courses.

Transfer courses: the items checked on Grade Catalog are ignored and CAMS will look at what is checked on the transfer course detail.

Note: If you change grade points or how a particular grade affects the transcript, you will need to rebuild grades.