Editing Herzing Issues: Grading and Academic Records (section)

=== HU-083: Milestones assessment regime eliminated September 2024 with no retake option; finals escalated to 45%; enrolled students never consented to this fundamental restructuring ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| Critical
! Status
| CONFIRMED
|-
! Issue type
| Mid-Program Assessment Regime Elimination
! Date added
| 2026-05-05
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Program Chair / Dean of Nursing / Academic Affairs
|}
'''Finding.''' Per the tracker's evidence, in September 2024 Herzing eliminated the Milestone exam system that had been in place since the program's inception and replaced it with a system in which course finals, high-stakes HESI exams, count for 45 percent of the overall course grade with no retake option. Students who enrolled under the Milestone system, which allowed up to three retakes, were subjected to the new high-stakes, no-retake final system mid-program. Multiple students independently expressed a preference for the prior Milestone system. This change materially restructured the conditions under which students were enrolled.

'''Evidence.''' A student pseudonymously identified as Student U (December 13, 2024) reported that Milestones no longer existed as of September 2024, and that for certain courses finals had been raised to 45 percent. An anonymous member, identified only as member 946 (December 13, 2024), reported that Milestones and the retest option were both gone, describing a score of 750 on the pathophysiology HESI against 1,020 on fundamentals, and noting content on the pathophysiology HESI that had never been covered. Another anonymous member (March 24, 2025) said the Milestones process had been much better than the new one and called the 45 percent final weighting excessive. Student N (March 31, 2025) called the HESI exams poorly aligned with preparation. Student BL (February 4, 2025) referenced finals being 45 percent of grades, and Student N (February 12, 2025) noted that with a 45 percent HESI exam, a student needs those 30 points. Student CH (March 20, 2025) explained that a student could enter the final HESI with an A and still risk failing or barely passing the course if that single exam went poorly, since any grade under 80 is failing. Source group: Herzing Direct Entry MSN Facebook Group Export (December 2022 to May 2026), Exhaustive Line-by-Line Review of 34,887 lines, 1,350 posts, and 14,112 comments across 8 passes (Volume 7).

'''Reported statement.''' Student U states that Milestones no longer existed as of September 2024, and that for certain courses the finals had been raised to 45 percent. The anonymous member identified as member 946 states that Milestones and the retest option were both gone, describing a score of 750 on the pathophysiology HESI against 1,020 on fundamentals, and noting content on the pathophysiology HESI that had never been covered.

'''Standards.''' 34 CFR 668.71-75 (misrepresentation): students enrolled under a specific grading structure have a reasonable expectation that structure will remain in place; material changes to grading scheme without adequate notice or consent constitute a misrepresentation risk. Contract law principles in higher education (Ross v. Creighton University, 957 F.2d 410, 7th Cir. 1992): student enrollment constitutes a contract with the institution, and material changes to assessment structure mid-enrollment may breach that contract. ACEN Standard 4: assessment instruments must be fair, consistent, and aligned with course content. The lack of a retake option is significant, since the prior Milestone system allowed up to three retakes, acknowledging that a single exam may not reflect student competency, while the new system provides zero remediation opportunity.

'''Impact.''' Students who were enrolled under the Milestone system with retakes faced an immediate and irreversible change to their academic standing requirements. Students who scored below the HESI threshold without the option to retake faced course failure with no remediation path. The member identified as 946 failed the pathophysiology HESI citing content never covered, direct evidence that curriculum-assessment misalignment, combined with the no-retake policy, caused a student failure that would not have occurred under the prior system. Student CH's account illustrates that a single bad exam day can erase an entire semester of strong performance.

'''Notes.''' This issue compounds {{HU|HU-074}} (HESI weighting escalation) significantly. {{HU|HU-074}} documented the percentage escalation; {{HU|HU-083}} documents the simultaneous elimination of the retake safety net. Together these constitute a two-part restructuring that dramatically increased the consequences of a single poor exam performance. The petition movement (F68/{{HU|HU-093}}) is directly attributable to this change. Cross-reference: {{HU|HU-074}} (HESI weight escalation), {{HU|HU-076}} (curriculum-assessment misalignment), {{HU|HU-090}} (HESI covers untaught content).

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