Section III : Clinic Grades

Clinical grades are assigned by the RISP clinical faculty and/or preceptors and are based on the attainment of clinical course requirements, general and specific objectives for each clinical course, evaluation of performance and behavior during the clinical experiences, and other graded clinical activities (ie: exam competencies, patient care skills, recording exams in the database, image critiques, clinical knowledge quizzes, online tests, etc).  Course objectives can be found in the course syllabus each semester.

Students are responsible for demonstrating that they have met the minimum clinical performance objectives in each clinical course.  Obtaining radiographer verification on clinical competency exams verifies that the minimum objectives have been met. Grade deductions will be made for failing to complete clinical course requirements and general and specific objectives.

• Students are expected to earn a passing grade in all clinic rotations within a clinical experience course. Clinical rotation passing scores are specified in the syllabus for each clinical course. In addition, students must receive at least a C course grade in order to pass a clinical experience course. A C- is a failing grade.
• Failing scores for two (2) clinical rotations in a clinical experience course will result in course failure, even if the cumulative scores for all rotations results in a passing score. A clinical experience course failure results in Program Probation for failure to progress.
• Clinical competencies earned during failed clinical rotations will be removed from the clinical database and not counted for course productivity or toward graduation requirements.

The RISP faculty assigned to each hospital is responsible for all evaluation materials. Evaluation methods are selected that evaluate the student’s attainment of the objectives for the overall experience and the specific rotation.  Appropriate input will be obtained from supervising radiographers concerning those objectives that are above the minimum requirements. Evaluation methods may vary from institution to institution because of different staff, applicability to the procedures at a given institution, preference of the RISP faculty and the needs of the student.  All evaluations, regardless of the type, should be perceived by the student as a reflection of how well the student is performing in the course.

Evaluation methods that may be used include:

• Electronic technical staff evaluations (Evalue )
• Verbal comments given to the RISP faculty by hospital personnel
• Volume of work/productivity
• Number of verified clinical competency exams
• Observations in the clinic by the RISP faculty
• Written comments from the RISP faculty
• Formal conferences with the RISP faculty
• Observed work ethics

Periodic counseling sessions may be held with each student.  Clinical records are open to the student for review at all times.  The hospital RISP faculty member should be consulted if the student is unsure of his/her progress.  A letter grade will be assigned to each student at the close of each clinical course.  All information regarding course requirements, course objectives, and grading scales can be found in the individual course syllabus or within the course management system, Canvas. Blank evaluation documents can be found in the Evalue database.

At the end of each semester, clinical preceptors (CPs) will calculate final grades using the Final Grade Report Form.  The categories and weighting of grades will vary from semester to semester and students must familiarize themselves with the grading components at the beginning of each semester.  Canvas and Evalue will be used to store resources, assignments, test scores, etc.  For clinical courses, Canvas is only used to store the raw grade scores, meaning final grades are hand calculated.  This is due to the various categories, complexity and weighting of clinical grades.  Final clinical course grades will be processed and calculated once clinical rotations are complete, making it very important to be timely with submission requests at the end of the semester.  Once finalized, the CP will email students his/her final grade along with the grade breakdown on the Final Grade Report Form.