AICAD Exchange

CCS students benefit from the cooperative programs and built-in access to leading art schools that are members of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD). By sharing resources and facilities, AICAD colleges offer educational opportunities that, taken together, are without parallel in professional arts education. Through the AICAD Exchange Program, qualified students at one AICAD school can spend a semester at another participating AICAD school without additional cost or loss of credit. In addition to the 42 full member schools in the US & Canada within the network, AICAD has three long-standing International Affiliate schools in Japan, Ireland and Israel. Through the International Affiliate program, AICAD has broadened its membership and enhanced the dialogue at the Executive level, which in turn brings greater global opportunity to the students of all AICAD schools.

Application deadlines are March 15 for the fall semester and October 1 for the winter semester.

Students should contact Tom Turoczi in the Academic Advising and Registration Office at 313.664.7832 for more information on these programs.

Incomplete Grades

This policy details the criteria and process for an “I” or Incomplete grade.

An incomplete or grade of “I” may be given to a student when a minimal number of course assignments have not been completed due to unavoidable and legitimate circumstances (i.e., injury, hospitalization, jury duty, death of a family member, or other reasons beyond a student’s control).Completion of at least 75% of course work at passing levels is recommended before an “I” grade is assigned.

Unless otherwise indicated, students have one semester to finish any work necessary to complete the course (i.e. Incompletes assigned for the fall semester must be completed by the winter semester; Incompletes assigned for the winter/summer semester must be completed by the fall semester). If work is not completed within this timeframe the Incomplete Grade will default to the grade earned.  Any student receiving an “I” grade in their anticipated semester of graduation, will graduate in a later semester after all unsatisfied credits are confirmed. 

Important: Faculty may exercise the grade change form for situations where the incomplete grade is not warranted, but late assignments have been approved (see Grade Change policy).

Incomplete Grade Verification

The Instructor should submit the current “grade earned” (A-F) for their student during final grading submissions for their course, in the grading module.

  • For students approved to receive an “I” grade: the instructor must submit a completed Incomplete Grade Verification Form to the Academic Advising & Registration Office (AARO).
  • The reason for the incomplete grade and outstanding assignments must be identified on the form and agreed upon by the student.
  • The instructor, student and department chairperson must sign the form.
  • All forms must be received by the final grading deadline of the current semester for “I” grade processing. Incomplete grade submissions will be entered/updated by AARO staff.
  • Forms not received by the deadline will maintain records displaying the “grade earned”.

Updating an Assigned “I” Grade

  • Once the required coursework is completed by the student, the instructor must submit a Grade Change Form with all required signatures, to the AARO, by the “I” Grade Expire Date (or by the final grade due date for the subsequent semester).
  • Assigned “I” grades that do not have grade change submissions , will revert back to the student’s original “grade earned”.
  • The Office of Academic Affairs must approve all standard grade changes beyond a 60-day period and any grade changes for Incompletes.
  • The final assigned grade is calculated into the student’s cumulative GPA and SAP (see Satisfactory Academic Progress for Undergraduate Students and Satisfactory Academic progress for Graduate Students).

Resolving “I” Grades if the faculty is no longer teaching at CCS:
Incomplete Grades assigned by a former faculty member will be handled by the Department Chair of the course; who will review the required assignments and submissions to determine a final grade. The required grade change form must be completed and submitted by the Department Chair to the AARO.

Campus and Facility Access

Students working on Incomplete Grades are not granted automatic access to CCS facilities (studios, labs or classrooms). Departments are not obligated to ensure access to CCS facilities if a student is not registered and/or if a registered student has day/time conflicts during hours of facility open access.

If access to a CCS facility is required (or desired) to complete coursework for an incomplete grade, it is the student’s responsibility to:

  • communicate with the Instructor to understand expectations for completing the coursework;
  • and to confirm If open access to facilities are available through the affiliated department, before agreeing to the incomplete grade.

If campus facilities are approved for use, each department can determine arrangements for reasonable access, which should be verified in advance with appropriate campus offices as required (i.e. registration, security, etc); and included on the Incomplete Grading Form.