must be finalized by the end of the second week of the semester.
No courses may be added after this time unless approval is
granted from the course instructor, Chair of the department that
offers the course, and the Dean of the respective school. In the
absence of the Assistant or Associate Academic Vice President,
the Academic Vice President may approve a late registration.
A late registration fee of $50.00 will be charged to process a
registration or add a course after the deadline.
Changes in a student’s course schedule must be made through
the drop/add process. This may be completed online within seven
calendar days after courses begin. After this time, a drop/add form
is required to complete a schedule change. Forms for course
changes are available in the Office of the Registrar and must be
signed by both the course instructor and the student’s academic
advisor. The student is required to make up any work missed due
to late entrance. Changes in a schedule caused by cancellation of
courses will not result in financial penalty.
When a course is dropped, the action is recorded as follows:
Week Course Is Dropped
Action
Before the end of the first full
No record on transcript
calendar week
During second full calendar week W – Withdrawn
through ninth calendar week
10th and 11th calendar weeks
WP – Withdrawn Passing
or
WF – Withdrawn Failing
Week 12 through the end of
Drops not permitted
the semester
Course changes are complete when the Office of the Registrar
receives the completed drop/add form. The effective date of the
course change is the date the Office of the Registrar receives the
completed form. Failure to properly drop a course will result in a
grade of “Z”, which counts the same as an “F”.
Refund information is listed in the financial information section
of the catalog. This information is also available on the Registrar’s
webpage.
Auditing
Auditing involves attending and participating in a course without
earning credit. A course may be changed from credit to audit
before the end of the first week of the semester. Courses may be
changed from audit to credit, with permission of the instructor,
before the end of the first week of the semester. A student may
not test out of a course already audited. Registration to audit a
course will not be processed until the first day of the semester to
accommodate students requiring regular registration status.
Independent Study
Independent study allows students to develop a high degree of
independence in their ability to choose and investigate problems.
The objectives of the program include providing opportunities to
explore areas not covered in normal course structure, recognizing
foreign travel experiences, rewarding self-motivated students, and
encouraging joint study by faculty and students on specialized
projects.
Individual students and faculty members develop the specific
criteria that must be met for the successful completion of specific
independent study projects. However, the following guidelines
govern the independent study program:
1. Only one independent study project may be undertaken in
an academic term, unless permission is granted from the
department Chair and Assistant or Associate Academic
Vice President of the student’s primary major.
2. The maximum credit that may be earned for an
independent study project is three semester hours.
3. The faculty member supervising the independent study,
the student’s advisor, and the department Chair must sign
the student’s independent study form. Registration for
the independent study must occur at the beginning of the
semester in which the work is to be completed.
4. No more than six semester hours in independent study
may be counted toward the major field, no more than three
semester hours toward a minor field, and no more than
12 semester hours toward graduation. Independent study
taken outside major and/or minor fields must be approved
by the department Chair and the Assistant or Associate
Academic Vice President of the supervising faculty
member.
5. Supervising an independent study is a privilege a faculty
member may extend to a student. It is not a right that a
student has.
6. Supervising faculty members determine the grade (letter
grade or credit/no credit) for the independent study.
Internships
Many of the major fields of study include opportunities to
receive credit for supervised, on-the-job activities. Interested
students should contact the respective department Chair for
details.
Out-of-Class Courses
In order for students with irreconcilable conflicts to be able to
complete graduation requirements on schedule, it is sometimes
necessary to allow instruction in an out-of-class setting. To take a
course out of class:
1. The course must be 2000-, 3000-, or 4000-level.
2. Students must obtain approval from the department Chair,
the faculty member teaching the course, and the advisor.
Out-of-class course approval forms are available in the Office
of the Registrar. Exceptions to the course level requirement listed
above must be approved by the respective faculty member,
advisor, and department Chair.
Course Numbers and Designations
The course numbers are designed to help students select
courses at the appropriate level. The University uses the following
system:
1. The first number indicates the year in which the course is
usually taken. Freshmen normally take 1000-level courses;
sophomores, 1000-level or 2000-level courses; juniors,
2000-level or 3000-level courses; and seniors, 3000-level
or 4000-level courses. Courses beyond the student’s
classification should be taken with the consent of the
instructor and academic advisor.
2. The alphabetical prefixes in the course designations
indicate content divisions within academic departments.
For example, the prefix “BETH” indicates that the course is
a theology course in the School of Biblical and Theological
Studies.
The semester that the course is offered is shown following the
course title as follows: Fa – fall; Sp – spring; and Su – summer.
The number to the right of the course title indicates credit given
in semester hours. The University reserves the right to offer or
withhold any of the courses listed.
Alternate Year Courses
Some departments offer courses on alternate years. These are
designated as “even years” or “odd years” based on the first school
year number. Example: 2011–12 is an odd year.
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2013–14 Undergraduate Academic Catalog
Academic Information
Registration for Courses
