ASSEMBLY MILITARY AND VETERANS' AFFAIRS
COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 4878
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JANUARY 23, 2025
The Assembly Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee reports
favorably Assembly Bill No. 4878.
This bill extends certain options in regard to grades to dependents
of service members enrolled in public institutions of higher education
who cannot complete a course due to an unplanned military obligation
of the service member. The bill also clarifies the scope of existing
grade options and establishes additional grade options.
Under current law, a student enrolled in a public institution of
higher education who is unable to complete a course due to a
deployment, mobilization, reassignment, or other military obligation as
a service member has four options in regard to the grade for the
course. If the student has completed at least eight weeks of the course,
the student may choose to receive a (1) letter grade; (2) pass or fail
grade; (3) grade of incomplete; or (4) withdrawal. If the student has
completed fewer than eight weeks of the course, the student’s options
are limited to choosing between receiving an incomplete grade and
withdrawing from the course. Current law also specifies that a student
who accepts a grade of pass or fail may, within a year of returning to
the institution, complete the course work to receive a letter grade.
Under the bill, these grade options are to also be made available to
the dependents of the service member. The bill defines a “dependent”
as a dependent child or spouse of the service member.
The bill clarifies that the deployment, mobilization, reassignment
or other military obligation preventing the service member or
dependent from completing the course be unplanned.
The bill also changes the demarcating line of course completion
from eight weeks to 55 percent of the duration of the course. If the
service member or dependent has completed 55 percent of the duration
of the course, receipt of a letter grade would only be granted if the
faculty member teaching the course determines that the service
member or dependent has completed sufficient work, and there is
sufficient evidence of progress toward meeting the requirements of the
course, to justify the grade. A grade of pass or fail would also be
based on whether the faculty member determines the member or
dependent completed sufficient work and there is sufficient evidence
of meeting the course requirements. The bill also adds the options of 2
receiving a temporary grade or transferring into an equivalent online
section of the course when available and with appropriate approval.
The options are to be subject to the approval of the teacher,
department, registrar, or appropriate office at the institution.
If the service member or dependent has completed less than 55
percent of the duration of the course, the service member or dependent
may receive an incomplete for the grade only if the faculty member
teaching the course determines that the student or dependent has
completed sufficient work, and there is sufficient evidence of progress
toward meeting the requirements of the course, to justify the grade.
The service member or dependent also has an added option of
transferring into an equivalent online section of the course when
available and with appropriate approval. The options shall be subject
to the approval of the teacher, department, registrar, or appropriate
office at the institution.
Finally, the bill specifies that the service member or dependent
who initially chose to accept a pass or fail grade, but subsequently
returns to the institution within a year to complete course work to
receive a letter grade, may contact the faculty member who taught the
course, the academic chair of the department offering the course, the
registrar, or the appropriate office at the institution to establish a plan
for completing the course work to receive the grade.