Academic Policies

Academic Terms - CAS and Pre-licensure Nursing

The regular academic year consists of a fall semester and a spring semester. Fall and spring semesters consist of 13 weeks of schedule classes and a two hour comprehensive final exam. As a general rule, a credit hour includes a minimum of 42 hours of coursework with 1/3 being classroom or equivalent instruction and 2/3 being outside course engagement. On average a three credit hour course requires a minimum of 126 hours of work. An equivalent amount of work is required for non classroom credits. An undergraduate student is classified as full-time when enrolled for 12-16 credit hours in a semester. Graduate students are classified as full-time when enrolled for 9 credit hours in a semester. Students may complete the 124 semester credits required for a baccalaureate degree with four semesters of 15 credits and four semesters of 16 credits.

Undergraduate students who wish to register for more than 16 credit hours must meet the following criteria:

• To enroll for 17 credit hours the student must have a 2.75 GPA
• To enroll for 18 credit hours the student must have a 3.0 GPA
• To enroll for 19 hours the student must have a 3.5 GPA

Special sessions include:

• May Term (MA) - three-weeks. May term courses are offered at discounted rates in an approximately three week period immediately following the spring graduation. Most May courses are three credits but a maximum of four credits may be earned. Two credit hours in May is considered full-time. A maximum of four credits may be earned.
• Summer Session 1 (S1) - five-weeks. Three semester hours of credit is considered full-time. A maximum of four credits may be earned.
• Summer Session 2 (S2) - five weeks. Three semester hours of credit is considered full-time. A maximum of four credits may be earned.
• Summer1Term (S1T) - 13 weeks. Six semester hours is considered full-time. A maximum of twelve credits may be earned.

Students may earn a maximum total of sixteen CAS credits during the summer terms (May, S1, S2 and S1T)

Classification

Undergraduate students enrolled for 12 hours or more are considered full-time. All students having met regular entrance requirements are classified by the university registrar. Classification is based on the following scale:

Grading and Evaluation - CAS and Pre-licensure Nursing

A letter grade is used to evaluate coursework. For the purpose of determining scholastic standing and awarding honors, grade points are granted according to the letter grades and semester hours of credit. The grade-point average (GPA) is the number of quality points earned divided by the number of credit hours attempted.

The following grades are not figured into the student's grade-point average:

Dean's List

At the end of fall and spring semester, a dean's list for undergraduate students only in CAS and SON Pre-licensure Nursing is published that includes all students who have passed a minimum of 12 semester hours with a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. All 12 hours must be passed with a letter grade other than "CR."

Incomplete Courses

A grade of "I" may be given if circumstances beyond the student's control prevent completion of the work. A faculty person, at his or her discretion and within approved guidelines, may award an incomplete grade to a student. No more than 1/3 of the course work may be left to complete and the student must be passing the class at the time the incomplete grade is awarded. Students who take an incomplete grade may not subsequently withdraw from the class. Any incomplete extended beyond the end of the next term must be approved by the Associate Dean of the governing school. Once an incomplete grade has been awarded, the student cannot withdraw from the class. Students may not register for new courses for subsequent semesters if more than 12 hours of undergraduate or 6 hours of graduate incompletes remain on a transcript. The entire incomplete policy is available at the Registrar's Office.

Repeating Courses

A student may repeat once any course in which a grade below "C" ("C-," "D+," "D," "F," or "NC") was previously earned. Some specific graduate level courses are identified as repeatable and can be repeated if a student earns a grade higher than "C" but below the level required for that specific course. A failed course may be repeated once. Whenever a course is repeated, the last grade and credits earned replace the previous grade in computing the student's grade-point average (GPA). All entries, however, remain a part of the student's permanent academic record. Duplicate credit hours are not given for two or more passing efforts. A course taken in a classroom format may not be repeated for a grade through independent learning, credit-by-examination, by assessment of prior learning, by transfer of credit, or online.

Since a course may be repeated once, failure to achieve a satisfactory grade in a required course after two attempts may result in academic suspension or ineligibility to complete the major in which the course was repeated.

Grade Reporting

At the midpoint of each semester, grades for undergraduate students below "C" are reported to the director of records. A progress report is then available to each student, on the wildcat portal, who falls into this category and a copy of that report is mailed to parents. In addition this information is available to the advisors for counseling purposes. Mid-semester grades are not recorded in any way on the student's permanent record. Final grade reports are available to all students at the end of each term on the wildcat portal.

Grade Changes

A final grade cannot be changed after it has been verified by the Registrar's Office unless there has been an error in calculation or assignment. In the event a non-routine change of grade becomes necessary, a written recommendation must be submitted by the faculty member to the school Associate Dean who will determine the validity of the recommendation.