2015-2016 Graduate Academic Catalog

Page 9 2015–16 Graduate and Adult Programs Academic Catalog Graduate Programs Academic Information Grade Appeal Process A student who believes that a grade received is incorrectly recorded, inaccurate, unfairly awarded or based on criteria different than 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/academics/vpa ) using the “Policies” link from that page. Students may also obtain the same information directly from the office of the Vice President for Academics. Petitions and Student Complaints Student complaints about any aspect of a graduate program or requests for exceptions to an academic regulation should first be discussed with the appropriate faculty member or director of the program. If those discussions fail to resolve the complaint a written request must be initiated by the student and must be submitted to the office of the Dean of Graduate and Extended Learning Programs or director of the program. Probation and Suspension 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 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. 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 for one calendar year, and then only if evidence for expecting satisfactory performance is submitted and found to be acceptable. 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. Attendance Regular attendance and/or class participation are necessary for the student to receive full benefit from the University experience. University policy allows each faculty member to determine and develop reasonable attendance/participation standards that will meet the particular needs of the course. See syllabi for attendance requirements for individual courses. Course Load A student’s academic load for any given term is subject to reduction or limitation by the Dean of Graduate and Extended Learning Programs or director of a particular graduate program for poor scholarship or excessive work responsibilities outside of college hours. 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. Independent Study On occasion special student circumstances may suggest that an independent study course option should be considered. Such an option might recognize opportunities to explore areas not covered in normal course structure, reward self-motivated students, and encourage 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 independent study projects. However, the following guidelines govern the independent study program: • Only one independent study project may be undertaken in an academic term. • The maximum credit that may be earned for any one independent study project is three semester hours. • The faculty member supervising the independent study and the Dean of Graduate and Extended Learning Programs or director of a particular graduate program 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. • No more than six semester hours in independent study may be counted toward the graduate degree. • In general independent study projects cannot be taken in lieu of required courses unless special arrangements have been made through the department sponsoring the course and the director of that particular graduate program. • It is the prerogative of individual faculty members to offer independent study courses or not. • Participating faculty members determine the letter grade.