2021-22 Graduate Academic Catalog

Page 14 2021–22 Graduate Academic Catalog Academic Information Repeating Courses 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 Academic progress requirements differ by program. Students should check the academic section of the graduate catalog for the specific grade point average (GPA) requirement for their program. Students who are not in good academic standing will be notified by the dean of their School. The School dean may make exceptions to the academic progress guidelines when appropriate. Academic Warning A warning will occur when a student falls below a defined semester cumulative GPA in a prior grading period. Academic Probation The Academic Probation status will occur when a student’s cumulative GPA falls below the level defined by the School offering the program. Students placed on academic probation are expected to return to good academic standing within the attempting of a defined number of additional graduate credits (see your specific School or program). Failure to return to good academic standing may result in academic suspension or 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 the required level for the student's program, 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 The Academic Suspension status will occur when a student accumulates a defined number of credits at or below a defined grade (see your specific School or program). Any student on academic probation for two successive semesters and/or who is not making satisfactory academic progress is subject to academic suspension. Academic Appeals A student may appeal the academic discipline status designated by completing the process outlined by their specific School or program. Readmission Any student who is suspended must apply for readmission to the University and to their School or program. To be considered for readmission, the student must meet the criteria established within the specific School or graduate program in addition to the University standards. Academic Dismissal The Academic Dismissal status refers to any student who is disqualified from continuing at Cedarville University and is not eligible for readmission. A student who is subject to suspension a second time may be permanently dismissed. 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