Academic Policies

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Add/Drop

Each term, students may add or drop courses anytime prior to the beginning of classes or during the add/drop period with no financial or academic penalty.  The add/drop period is generally the first two weeks of classes in any given term; students should contact the CED/Grad Office for exact dates.  Students must make a written request to the CED/Grad Office.  Students who fail to follow the proper procedure risk academic and financial penalties.

After the add/drop period, students may withdraw from classes; however, they are responsible for all charges and a “W” will be posted on the student’s official transcript.  A course withdrawal form or written notification must be submitted to the CED/Grad Office; course withdrawals cannot be accepted in verbal form (phone calls, voice messages, etc.).

No student will be allowed to register after the add/drop period.

Advising

The staff in the CED/Grad Office is available to assist students with developing their overall program and course of study each term.  Any course substitutions or transfers must be pre-approved by the Director of Continuing Education and Graduate Studies. 

Attendance

Students enrolled for credit are expected to attend all classes, take examinations, and complete all other required course work.  If a student is absent from a class for any reason, including registering late within the add/drop period, it is the student’s responsibility to make up all work from that class.

Changing from an Associate Degree to a Bachelor Degree Program

Students who have completed at least 15 hours in an associate degree program with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 may change to a bachelor degree program upon written request to the CED/Grad Office. 

Class Cancellations

Thomas College Continuing Education classes are rarely cancelled.  To find out if classes have been cancelled due to inclement weather, students should call the College's Snow Phone at 859-1140.  Announcements will be made on local radio, TV stations and on our website as well. If an individual instructor cancels class, the College will attempt to contact students in the class at their work telephone number.

Enrollment Status

CED students must be enrolled in two classes per term to be classified as half-time students for financial aid purposes. CED students taking 9 or more credit hours per semester are considered full-time students, and will be charged the current day student tuition rate. For more information contact Student Financial Services. 

Full-time graduate study is defined as being enrolled in 18 credits per academic year (six credits over three terms). Students enrolled for three credits during a term are considered half-time.

Non-degree Students

Students may take CED or Graduate classes at Thomas College without matriculating into a degree program.  Students selecting this option are designated as non-degree students.  Non-matriculated students are billed according to current CED billing unless the student is enrolled in a day class. These students will pay the day class tuition rate. Students enrolled in a non-degree status are not eligible to receive financial assistance.  Non-matriculated students may enroll for up to a total of 24 credits before matriculating.

Prerequisites

Many CED and Graduate courses have prerequisites.  The purpose of a prerequisite is to ensure that students entering an advanced class have an understanding of the foundation concepts related to the course.  Students who have not completed prerequisites may experience difficulty understanding and completing assignments. Many adult learners have acquired sufficient prerequisite knowledge through work experience. Requests to waive a prerequisite will be considered by the Director of Continuing Education and Graduate Studies and the appropriate instructor, and should be made in writing to the CED/Graduate office.

Honors

CED students enrolled for at least 6 credit hours who achieve a grade point average of 3.20 or better for a term are placed on the CED Dean’s List for that term with one of the following designations:

                        Highest Honors -          3.80 to 4.00

                        High Honors -              3.50 to 3.79

                        Honors -                      3.20 to 3.49

At Commencement, students who have completed at least one-half of their credits at Thomas College, and have achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or better at the time of Commencement will be recognized with one of the following honors:

                         Summa Cum Laude -   3.8 to 4.0

                         Magna Cum Laude -    3.5 to 3.79

                         Cum Laude -                3.2 to 3.49

Residency

CED students pursuing an associate’s degree must complete at least 30 credit hours (10 classes) at Thomas College.  The last 15 credit hours (5 classes) of a student's program for an associate’s degree must be completed at Thomas.

CED students pursuing a bachelor’s degree must complete at least 60 credit hours (20 classes) at Thomas College. The last 30 credit hours (10 classes) of a student’s program for a bachelor's degree must be completed at Thomas.  In addition, at least 15 credit hours (5 classes) must be completed within business/major courses at Thomas. 

Graduate students in a 36 credit program must complete a minimum of 30 credits of their academic program at Thomas College.  Students in a 30 credit program must complete 24 credits at Thomas College.  MBA students must complete MG558 - Strategic Planning in residence at a Thomas College site.

Students who wish to enroll simultaneously in courses at Thomas College and any other educational institution must have the prior approval of the Director of Continuing Education and Graduate Studies.

Grading Information

Grades are recorded as follows:

*P (Pass), W (Withdrew), AU (Audit), AW (Administrative Withdrawal), L (Stopped Attending)

The cumulative grade point average (GPA) is used in determining eligibility for honors, participation in extracurricular activities, study abroad, and graduation as well as probation and dismissal.

Academic Warning, Probation, and Dismissal

After the completion of each 12 credit hours, the scholastic performance of all CED students is reviewed by the Academic Affairs Committee.  Students whose term grade point average is below 2.0 are placed on academic warning, and those with a cumulative GPA below 2.0 are placed on academic probation.

A student on probation receives a letter from the Chief Academic Officer prescribing cumulative grade point averages and other conditions that must be met in order to ensure the student’s continued enrollment.  A student who fails to meet the terms of his or her academic plan may be dismissed from the College, unless the Academic Affairs Committee makes an exception because of extenuating circumstances.  A probation student who fails to achieve the minimum cumulative grade point average described in the dismissal section below may be dismissed after only one semester on probation.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

A student who adheres to the terms of his or her academic plan is considered to be making satisfactory academic progress. Any student on probation must receive a grade point average of at least 2.00 in the next semester or be automatically suspended from financial aid.

Unless otherwise restricted by the Academic Affairs Committee, a student on academic probation is permitted to participate in college activities if the student is making satisfactory academic progress.  Any upper-class student-athlete who is making satisfactory academic progress when a sport’s season begins shall be eligible until the end of the season.

Academic Dismissal

When in the opinion of the Academic Affairs Committee a student is not making satisfactory academic progress, the student may be dismissed from the College, whether or not he or she had been previously placed on academic probation.  Dismissal may occur at the end of any academic term.  The Academic Affairs Committee makes decisions about academic dismissal on a case-by-case basis. The following guidelines are considered (but are not binding):

Four-Year Programs:

0-16 earned credits      Below 1.00

17-31 earned credits    Below 1.50

32-61 earned credits    Below 1.75

62-91 earned credits    Below 1.90

92-107 earned credits  Below 2.00

Two-Year Programs

0-16 earned credits      Below 1.00

17-31 earned credits    Below 1.50

32-47 earned credits    Below 2.00

In addition, a full-time student who earns fewer than twelve credits per semester jeopardizes his or her good academic standing, financial aid, and right to on-campus housing, and may be dismissed from the College at the discretion of the Academic Affairs Committee.

A probation student who fails to achieve the minimum cumulative grade point average described in this section may be dismissed after only one semester on probation.

A student dismissed from the College for academic reasons may appeal his or her dismissal by submitting a written request to the Chief Academic Officer. At that time, he or she may present new evidence of his or her ability to satisfactorily continue his or her studies.  The student will meet with the Chief Academic Officer, at which time the Chief Academic Officer may allow the dismissal decision to stand, reverse the decision, or readmit the student under specific conditions.  A student dismissed a second time may not appeal the dismissal, unless the Chief Academic Officer makes an exception.

A student who has been dismissed from the college because of poor academic performance may apply for readmission after one full semester away (not to include the summer session.). The Chief Academic Officer must approve the readmission of an academically dismissed student.

Academic Disciplinary Dismissal

Students who violate academic policies or in some other way behave inappropriately in any academic setting may be placed on disciplinary probation by the Chief Academic Officer. Students who violate disciplinary probation will be referred to the Academic Affairs Committee (including the Dean of Student Affairs) to be considered for dismissal from the College.

Faculty may drop a student from a course because of excessive absences or because of student conduct judged inappropriate by the faculty member. 

Academic Honesty

Students are expected to do assigned work themselves, to write papers in their own words (extensive quoting suggests a failure to master the material), and to cite sources appropriately and accurately.

Taking credit for work not one’s own is a serious offense.  It can take several forms:

1.      Plagiarizing.  According to the 1999 MLA Handbook, “To use another person’s ideas or expression in your writing without acknowledging the source is to plagiarize” (30). The Handbook continues, “Forms of plagiarism include the failure to give appropriate acknowledgement when repeating another’s wording or particularly apt phrase, when paraphrasing another’s argument, or when presenting another’s line of reasoning” (30). A student’s failure to properly cite and document sources may constitute plagiarism, even if there is no deliberate attempt or intent to misrepresent the work in question.

2.      Aiding and abetting plagiarism. Permitting others to use your work.

            3.      Recycling your own work. Submitting, without permission, in one 

                  course work originally done for another.

4.      Cheating.  Copying from another student’s exam paper; permitting others to copy one’s work; bringing unauthorized material to exams; accepting or giving unauthorized assistance on coursework and/or assignments.

5.      Subbing.  Replacing another student, or asking another student to replace you, for the purpose of taking a quiz or exam.

6.      Altering.  Changing grades or marks on papers or exams; unauthorized use or alteration of college add/drop or other forms.

7.      Falsifying.  Falsification or fabrication of research results, quotations, facts, and/or references.

Penalties

First offenses of academic misconduct in the context of a course will be dealt with by the course’s instructor.  Instructors are expected to inform the Academic Affairs Office of any instance of alleged academic misconduct.

Once a faculty member has made a determination of academic misconduct, students will be informed as soon as reasonably possible of the offense and penalty in writing and may appeal in writing to the instructor within 72 hours.  Penalties for the first offense may range from failing the particular assignment at issue to failing the course.

Should the student wish to appeal the instructor’s finding of academic misconduct, he or she may file a written appeal with the department chair within one calendar week of the decision of the instructor. After consultation with the instructor and the student, the department chair may deny the appeal (in which case the decision of the faculty member stands) or accept the appeal and recommend an appropriate course of action. (If the faculty member in question is the department chair, the other department chair will function in his or her capacity during the appeals process. Should the alleged misconduct be reported in a CED or Graduate course, appeals would be referred to the Director for Graduate and Continuing Education.)

Should the faculty member or the student wish to appeal the decision of the department chair (or that of the Director for Graduate and Continuing Education), that appeal should be made in writing to the Chief Academic Officer within one calendar week of the department chair’s decision. The decision of the Chief Academic Officer is final.

Students who are reported to the Academic Affairs Office for an alleged second offense (or any alleged subsequent offense) will have their cases automatically referred to the Academic Affairs committee for review. In cases where the Chief Academic Officer has been involved in a formal appeal of the incident in question, he or she will be replaced on the committee by the Chief Student Affairs Officer. The Academic Affairs committee may choose to recommend an additional penalty to include academic disciplinary probation or dismissal. 

Decisions of the Academic Affairs committee may be appealed to the Appeals Board within one calendar week of the decision of the Academic Affairs committee. Appeals must be based on the basis of new evidence or when there is reason to believe that proper procedure has been violated, but may not be appealed solely on the basis of dissatisfaction with the sanction. There is no further appeal beyond the Appeals Board.

Work Cited

Gibaldi, Joseph, ed. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5^th ed. NY: Modern

Language Association of America, 1999.

Graduation Information

The responsibility for meeting the various prerequisite, degree, and graduation requirements rests with the student.  It is the student's responsibility to submit an Application for Graduation to the Registrar’s Office no later than January of the year in which he or she expects to graduate.

Each candidate for graduation must:

A student who is substantially certain to complete his or her degree requirements during that calendar year will be permitted to participate in commencement exercises in May.  Substantial certainty exists when, at the time the degree candidate list is published, the Registrar certifies that in his or her opinion the student will satisfactorily complete the required course work by the end of that calendar year.  If the student fails to do so, the degree cannot be awarded. In such cases, the date when the degree requirements are met will be indicated on the student’s transcript, and the degree will be awarded the following year.

A graduation fee is charged to the degree candidate during the semester or term prior to the intended graduation date and is payable whether or not the student participates in the graduation ceremony.

Grade Reports

Grade reports are issued to students at the end of each academic term.  Thomas College assumes its transcripts and grade reports to be correct; if a student believes that there is an error on his or her transcript or grade report, it must be reported to the Registrar’s Office within 30 days.  Except upon request by students or parents of students who have given the college permission to do so, grades are not normally sent to parents.  A written copy of the College’s policy on access to college records is available through the Registrar’s Office.

Directed Study

Directed Studies are offered for one of two reasons:  (1) logistical—the student needs to take a course in the regular curriculum but cannot do so at a regularly scheduled time because of irreconcilable hardship or course-conflict instances not contributed to by the student or (2) pedagogical—the subject of the course is not found in the regular curriculum and is one in which the student has considerable interest and the faculty member considerable expertise.

Directed Studies must be approved in advance by the Director of Continuing Education and Graduate Studies.  All proposals must include data found in regular course syllabi, including (but not limited to) learning objectives, meeting schedule, texts, and grading/evaluation methods.

Students need to complete a Directed Study Request Form (obtained from the CED/Grad  Office) and submit it during the pre-registration period prior to the semester the directed study is being offered. Under no circumstances will a Directed Study be approved to accommodate a student’s work schedule.

Course Audit

A regularly enrolled student may audit a course on a space-available basis.  A request to audit must be made with the Registrar within the official add/drop period of that semester.  Under no circumstances can credit be given an auditor, nor can an audited course later be converted into an accredited course.  The instructor’s sole responsibility will be to certify the student’s attendance; failure to meet attendance requirements will result in a grade of L (non-attendance).  The student will receive a grade of AU (Audit), which will appear on and become part of the student’s permanent record.  However, the student will receive no credit for the course, and it will not count toward degree requirements.  Please refer to the section on Tuition and Fees for the tuition for audit.  Senior citizens (age 65 or above) may audit any course—on a space-available basis—free of charge (one per semester or trimester).

Course Retakes

Students may, at their option, retake a class to attempt to improve their grade.  Upon successful completion of the class, the Registrar’s Office will record the awarded grade and compute the cumulative GPA using the more recent of the two grades.  In doing so, students forfeit any credit they may have received in the previous class; that is, they will receive credit for the class only once. The student must complete a retake form, retake the course and pay any additional expenses incurred.  Generally, no course substitutions are allowed; the retake must be the same as the original course. The original grade for the class will be crossed off of the transcript, and an asterisk will be put next to the new grade to indicate the course was retaken.

Academic Bankruptcy

Students may declare academic bankruptcy.  In doing so, students forfeit any credit they may have received.  Any future courses undertaken by the student are recorded on a new transcript.  The application for academic bankruptcy may occur only after a minimum one-year separation from Thomas College.  A student may declare academic bankruptcy only once.

College Level Examination Program (CLEP)

Students with acceptable CLEP scores may be granted up to 15 credit hours toward their degree requirements.  Thomas College will recognize CLEP Subject Exams as identified below.  The College does not recognize the general CLEP examinations of the College Board.

Credits in the following subject areas must be applied to the equivalent Thomas College courses indicated:

Students who choose to take the exams in Analysis and Interpretation of Literature must complete the essay version of the exam and will be charged a $25 faculty reader fee by the College to have a member of the English faculty evaluate the written portion of the exam.  On all non-essay exams, the College generally accepts the recommendations of the College Board as to what constitutes a grade of "C" on test scores. CLEP scores may not count toward the student's residency requirement.  For more information, students should contact the Registrar or the CED Office.

Academic Policy Waivers

Students are expected to comply with all College policies and regulations.  In the event of unusual or extenuating circumstances, however, a petition for exception may be filed with the Academic Affairs Committee.

A student who feels that an exception to a specific policy is warranted may submit a written petition to the Academic Affairs Committee of the College.  Exceptions to policy are rarely granted, and then only for compelling reasons. Only petitions for the current term are considered.  Students are informed in writing of the Committee's decision.

This webpage was last updated on:Wednesday September 19, 2007 04:07 PM

This web site is maintained by the Continuing Education and Graduate Studies Office.

Please email us, ced@thomas.edu, with any questions.