Variable Grading Types
Important
Information and features vary according to the roles to which you belong and the permissions associated with those roles. For more information, contact your module manager or your campus support team.
The Variable Grading Types feature lets you allow students to select a grade scale and credit type for a course when they register for it (or when their advisor registers them).
When the Variable Grading Types option is turned on for a course section, different students in the section may have different grade scales and credit types.
To make Variable Grading Types available for students, you first turn on Variable Grading Types for a course section, and then add the specific Variable Grading Type options to that section.
Components of Variable Grading Types
A course section has a grade scale and credit type (as designated on the Manage Section Details page). Examples of grade scales could include Undergraduate, Graduate, and Alternate. Examples of credit types could include Letter Grade, Pass-Fail, and Audit.
Your school assigns a grade scale and credit type to each catalog course and course section. By default, the students in the course have that grade scale and credit type, but Variable Grading Types let you offer students options, so that different students in a section can have different grade scales and credit types. For example, some could take the course for regular letter grades, some pass-fail, and some just auditing.
In J1 Web, a combination of grade scale and credit type is called a Grading Type. Examples could include Undergraduate / Pass-Fail and Graduate / Audit.
A Variable Grading Type is a Grading Type combination associated with a particular Web Registration group.
Let's take a closer look at the three components of a Variable Grading Type: Web Registration Group, Grade Scale, and Credit Type.
Web Registration Group
Defined on the Web Registration Group Definitions page
Associated with years and terms on the Year / Term / Subterm Definitions page
Controls when and how a student can register for courses. For example, maybe students assigned to the Senior Web Registration Group can register earlier than students in any other group. And maybe students assigned to the Freshman group need registration clearance and advisor approval.
Also called Registration Control Groups, Tel/Web Groups, and Registration Groups. (Consistent naming is planned for an upcoming release of J1 Web.)
Grade Scale
Defined on the Grade Scale Definitions page
A set of grades. Many schools have only one grade scale, but some schools have different grade scales for undergraduate and graduate divisions or for their law or nursing schools.
Credit Type
Defined on the Credit Type Definitions page
Many schools have separate credit types for Letter Grade, Pass-Fail, and Audit. Some schools may also have credit types for Study Abroad, Life Experience, or Military Experience.
How the Variable Credit Type Combinations Are Defined
The combinations of Web Registration Group, Grade Scale, and Credit Type aren't defined on any page. They're just assembled automatically from all the possible combinations of the three elements.
When you turn on Variable Credit Types for a catalog course or a section, you then select the Variable Credit Types you want to make available for student selection from the list of all types.
Example
Here's an example of a set of Variable Grading Types for the HIST 205-01 course section.
Suppose these are your school's defined components:
Web Registration Groups: Underclassmen, Seniors, Honors Program, Graduate Students
Grade Scales: Undergraduate, Alternative, Graduate
Credit Types: Letter Grade, Pass or Fail, Audit
That makes 36 possible Variable Grading Type combinations. But suppose for HIST 205-01, you turn on Variable Grading Types and select only 6 options to offer students:
Seniors / Undergraduate / Letter Grade
Seniors / Undergraduate / Pass or Fail
Honors Program / Undergraduate / Audit
Honors Program / Undergraduate / Letter Grade
Honors Program / Alternative / Letter Grade
Graduate Students / Graduate / Audit
That gives students in the respective Web Registration Groups these options when they register (or when their advisor registers them):
Seniors can select 1 grade scale and any of 3 credit types.
Honors students have 2 credit type options under one grade scale, and 1 credit type option under another grade scale.
Graduate students have only the option to audit.
All other students automatically have the course section's grade scale and credit type. They won't see options when they register.
Scenarios
Here are a few scenarios.
Scenario | What happens when the student (or their advisor) registers for the course? | Can an administrator assign a grade scale and credit type to the individual student? |
|---|---|---|
Variable Grading Types is turned off for the course section. | They don’t see options for variable grading types. They automatically have the course section’s grade scale and credit type. | Yes, if they have the necessary permission. |
Variable Grading Types is turned on, but the student doesn't belong to one of the Web Registration Groups in the section's Variable Grading Types. | They don’t see options for variable grading types. They automatically have the course section’s grade scale and credit type. | Yes, if they have the necessary permission. |
Variable Grading Types is turned on, and the student does belong to one of the Web Registration Groups in the section's Variable Grading Types. | The options for their Web Registration Group appear. The student selects an option. | Yes, if they have the necessary permission. |
What the Student Sees in the Campus Portal
If Variable Grading Types is turned on for a course section, then when the student registers for the course in the Student Registration feature in the Campus Portal, or when their advisor registers them in J1 Web, the Grading Type drop-down appears. It shows only the options available to the student's Web Registration Group. The student selects a grade scale / credit type combination from the drop-down.
If Variable Grading Types is turned off for the section, or if the student doesn't belong to one of the Web Registration Groups designated for the course, then the Grading Type drop-down doesn't appear.
Note
When you assign Variable Grading Types to a catalog course, then any sections you create from the catalog course will have the same Variable Grading Types as the catalog course. The individual sections can then be edited to change the Variable Grading Types or turn the option off.
From a catalog course's Summary page, click the Catalog course options drop-down, and select Manage course details. The Manage Course Details page opens.
Click the Grading Controls tab.
Click the Edit details button.
Click the Variable Grading Type Course option to set it to Yes.
Click in the Variable Grading Types field. All the possible combinations appear in the drop-down.
Select one.
If you want to make other options available, click in the field again, and select another. You can select as many as you need.
Click the Done editing button. Your changes are saved.
Tip
To edit existing Variable Grading Type assignments, follow steps 1–3 again.
To turn Variable Grading Types off, click the Variable Grading Type Course button to make it show No.
To remove a Variable Grading Type, click its Remove icon
.To add a Variable Grading Type, follow Step 5 again.
Click the Done editing button. Your changes are saved.
From a course section's Summary page, click the Section options drop-down, and select Manage section details. The Manage Section Details page opens.
Click the Grading Controls tab.
Click the Edit details button.
Click the Variable Grading Type Course button to make it show Yes.
Click in the Variable Grading Types field. All the possible combinations appear in the drop-down.
Select one.
If you want to make other options available, click in the field again, and select another. You can select as many as you need.
Click the Done editing button. Your changes are saved. Students in the Web Registration Groups of the Variable Grading Types you selected will have those options when they register (or their advisor registers them) for this course section.
Tip
To edit existing Variable Grading Type assignments, follow steps 1–3 again.
To turn Variable Grading Types off, click the Variable Grading Type Course button to make it show No.
To remove a Variable Grading Type, click its Remove icon
.To add a Variable Grading Type, follow Step 5 again.
Click the Done editing button. Your changes are saved.
FAQ
Yes. An administrator can select a grade scale and/or credit type on the Manage Student Section Record page. The administrator needs one or both of the following permissions which are found in the Registrars role, the Registration Module Manager role, and roles copied from them. This permission overrides restrictions on grade scale and credit type imposed by the student’s Web Registration Group.
Can edit student section records that do not have History status
Can edit student section records that have History status
Not necessarily. When you create a section from a catalog course, the section inherits the catalog course’s Variable Grading Type settings. But you can edit the section’s settings on the Manage Section Details page, Grading Controls tab. So individual sections can be different from each other and from their catalog course.
Catalog Course: a course that exists in the school’s catalog. Example: BIOL 101. The Variable Grading Type settings you set for the catalog course are inherited by course sections you create from it. (That is they inherit whatever settings were current in the catalog course when the sections were created from it. If you change the settings in the catalog course later, the sections that already exist don't automatically get changed.)
Course Section: a particular instance of a course in a particular term. Often just called a section. Example: BIOL 101-01 in Fall 2025. You might have 5 sections of BIOL 101 in a given term. You can edit the Variable Grading Type options in any or all of the sections.
Student-Section: a particular student’s instance of a particular course. Example: Moira McCarvan’s enrollment in BIOL 101-01 in Fall 2025. You can't edit Variable Grading Type options for a student-section, but administrators can directly edit the Grade Scale and Credit Type for the student-section.