Someone tells me that there is a law requiring universities to assign a grade of “incomplete” to anyone who is mobilized in the middle of a semester. That person hasn’t been able to supply me with any information other than his say-so. Does anyone here know what he might be referring to?
(Note: This is GQ. Some of you may think you have some idea about why I’m asking this question, and may have some relevant opinions. But you are probably wrong about why I’m asking the question, and opinions are not a matter for GQ. I’m looking for a GQ answer to a GQ question.)
The Higher Education Opportunity Act 2008. It doesn’t mandated an “Incomplete,” however. It varies as to when in the term the call-up is. The student gets a “W” or an “Incomplete” and is allowed to re-enroll with no penalty within 5 years if they meet certain conditions. See here for some details.
At my alma mater, I believe that this was one of the grounds for an incomplete, though I assume that you were required to actually show a copy of your orders. Other legitimate grounds for an Incomplete were debilitating illness, serious injury (e.g. you were in a car accident and won’t be able to leave the hospital for several weeks and will miss a quarter of the lectures), and possibly other things of that level of seriousness that were outside the student’s reasonable control. A student was not entitled to an Incomplete because they partied and drank too much to learn the material.