2020-21 Graduate Academic Catalog

Page 14 2020–21 Graduate Academic Catalog Academic Information Grade Appeal Process Grade Points and Point Averages Cedarville University uses the four-point system to determine academic averages. Grade points are awarded as follows: Grade Grade Points A 4.0 A- 3.7 B+ 3.3 B 3.0 B- 2.7 C+ 2.3 C 2.0 *C- 1.7 *D+ 1.3 *D 1.0 *D- 0.7 F 0.0 *Grades of C- to D- are used only for professional practice. The grade point average is computed by dividing the total grade points earned by the total hours attempted. Grades are issued at the end of each semester. It is the responsibility of each student to discuss his/her academic achievement with his/her instructor. Grade Appeal Process A student who believes that a grade received is incorrectly recorded, inaccurate, unfairly awarded or based on criteria different from that applied to other students in the same class may initiate a grade appeal. The process for grade appeals is available on the website of the Vice President for Academics ( cedarville. edu/avp ) using the “Policies” link from that page. Students may also obtain the same information directly from the office of the Vice President for Academics. Repeating Courses Any graduate course may be repeated once with the approval of the director of the program. When a student repeats a course only the most recent grade is calculated into the cumulative grade point average. Credit hours for a repeated course count only once toward the credits needed for graduation. Students have up to two years from the end of the original course to repeat a course. Students repeating courses are required to pay all applicable tuition and fees for those courses. Other program-specific requirements may be listed under the academic program. Academic Discipline Policies Students placed on academic probation or dismissal will be notified in writing by their academic department. The School of Pharmacy provides pharmacy students with remediation (progression, probation, and suspension) policies in the School of Pharmacy Professional Student Handbook. For other programs, the following standards apply: Academic Probation status refers to any student whose cumulative graduate grade point average falls below 3.00 and as a result is no longer in good academic standing. Students placed on academic probation are expected to return to good academic standing (overall GPA of 3.00 or above) within the attempting of 15 additional graduate credits. Failure to return to good academic standing may result in academic dismissal. A student receiving veterans benefits who is on academic probation after half of the hours for a given degree program are completed, or whose cumulative grade point average falls below a 2.5, will be reported to the Veterans Administration. The veterans’ benefits for such a student will be terminated unless the student is making progress toward meeting the minimum academic requirements for graduation. Academic Suspension status refers to any student who fails to make satisfactory progress toward declared goals or who accumulates six semester credits of “C+” or below. A student who is suspended from a graduate program may not be readmitted to the program for one calendar year, and then only if evidence for expecting satisfactory performance is submitted and found to be acceptable. Academic Dismissal status refers to any student that is disqualifed from Cedarville University and is not eligible for readmission. Academic dismissal is a terminal action. Credit for Prior Learning Subject to specific program standards, students may earn up to 50% of the required program hours through all forms of prior learning credit combined, including transfer credit, institutional test-out credit, and/or assessed credit for non-traditional learning experiences. Hours earned do not count toward the hours required for full-time status or as hours in residence toward graduation with honors. Other Types of Prior Learning Credit Institutional Test-out and Nontraditional Learning can be recognized by individual graduate programs per the program's standards. The total amount of credit awarded through these processes may not exceed 25% of the program's total hours and are included in the overall allowance of 50% for credit for prior learning (see above). Transfer Credits Graduate transfer credit is allowed at the discretion of the University for courses that clearly correspond to courses offered in the graduate and professional practice degree programs at Cedarville University. The Dean of Graduate Studies or director of the academic program is responsible for evaluating all requests for transfer credit within that program. Institutions from which courses are transferred must meet accreditation standards required of the individual program. Transfer credit will not be granted for grades of B- or less. “Credit” or “pass” grades are accepted only if approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies or director of the program. The number of allowable transfer credits are detailed within each program. To transfer credit an official transcript must be sent directly from the transfer institution to the registrar at Cedarville. Once received, a copy of the transcript will be sent to the director of the graduate program for approval. The director will complete a transfer credit evaluation and identify the approved course equivalencies. This information will be provided to the registrar, after which the credits will be posted to the student’s transcript with the assigned course equivalency and a transfer grade of “K.” Grades of transferred credit are not posted to a Cedarville University transcript or counted in the Cedarville grade point average. Credit hours transferred from institutions where quarter hours are awarded will be assigned the equivalent number of semester hours using the formula of three quarter hours being equivalent to two semester hours. For international colleges or universities, the international equivalent of regional accreditation or Ministry of Education recognition will be considered. If transcripts are in a language other than English or are from a non-U.S. college/university, the original transcript must be submitted to a credential evaluation