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Main :: Academic
Policies & Procedures
Academic Policies and
Procedures
Graduate Student Adviser
Notification of admission to the Graduate School will include
assignment of an adviser.
Graduate advisers are responsible for the following:
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Helping students plan a unified and balanced program of
graduate work adapted to
the students’ particular interests, needs, and abilities, and
directed toward the
students’ field of specialization or advising on non-degree
status matters.
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Recommending students for admission to candidacy for the
degree for degree
seeking students.
Graduate Courses and Credit
Graduate credit will be given only for courses described in this
bulletin under the heading
Graduate Course Descriptions. Master’s degree candidates must
complete a minimum of 18
semester hours in courses numbered at the 6000 level. For
master’s degrees requiring more
than 30 hours, at least 50 percent of the credit hours must be
completed at the 6000 level. A
course completed at the 4000 level for undergraduate credit
cannot be taken again at the 5000
level for graduate credit. No more than three semester hours of
credit earned through
independent study may be applied toward a graduate degree.
Graduate students enrolled in courses numbered 5000 through 5999
must do special
work in addition to that required of undergraduates in the
courses numbered 4000 through
4999. A masters degree program traditionally consists of courses
numbered 5000 and 6000.
Courses numbered 7000 and above are normally reserved for
specialist and doctoral
programs. Check the particular degree program section for
program specific restrictions or
deviations.
Special Studies Courses
Special courses of study may, upon request, be organized in any
college at any level of
study to meet the needs of interested groups. The second digit
of the course numbers for such
courses, which must be approved through normal university
curriculum channels, will always
be 9. The letter prefix will show the department offering the
course, the first digit will indicate
the level of study, and the last digit will show the hours of
credit. Credit earned in some special
studies courses may not be applicable toward a degree.
Auditing Courses
Except for graduate assistants, students enrolled in a minimum
of 12 semester hours
during a semester will be permitted to audit a maximum of three
semester hours without charge.
All other students auditing a course will pay the regular course
audit fee as shown under the
heading Fees and Expenses. Only those persons who have been
admitted to the Graduate
School are eligible to audit a graduate course.
Auditors are expected to meet all requirements for a course
other than taking examinations
and completing formal written papers. The names of those persons
registered to audit a
course will appear on the class roster, and at the end of the
enrollment period the professor will
determine whether the audit designation should be entered on the
student’s permanent record.
Permission of professor is required for audit.
Transfer Credit
Subject to the approval of the student's adviser and the
graduate dean, a student who has
a "B" grade average or above in graduate work from another
approved institution may be
permitted to transfer a maximum of nine semester hours of
credit. Only work with "B" or better
grades earned at an accredited graduate school and acceptable
toward a graduate degree at
that institution will be considered for transfer. No
correspondence courses may be transferred.
Grading System
The letters, A, B, C, P, D, F, I, and CR are used in grading,
indicating the following qualities:
|
A |
Excellent |
|
B |
Good |
|
C |
Fair |
|
P |
Pass |
|
D
F |
Failure |
|
I |
Incomplete |
|
CR |
Credit awarded for completed thesis/dissertation. |
|
NC |
No Credit awarded for
thesis/dissertation work. |
For the purpose of computing cumulative and collective grade
averages, grade points are
assigned as follows:
Students’
grade point averages are
computed by multiplying the number of hours credit of each grade
by the grade points assigned
to that grade and dividing the sum of these several products by
the total number of hours in
which the students were enrolled.
Except in the case of dissertation, thesis, creative thesis,
exhibition thesis, or field study,
an incomplete grade not removed within one semester unless
extenuating circumstances are provided in writing to the
Graduate School, will be recorded as “F.”
No grade below “C” will be accepted for graduate credit.
Probation
Any graduate student whose cumulative GPA on all courses taken
for graduate credit falls
below 3.00 will be placed on probation. Students may remove
probation by raising their
cumulative GPA to 3.00 or better. Failure to make a grade of "B"
or better in each course taken
while on probation will result in suspension from further
graduate work if the student's
cumulative GPA continues below 3.00. A graduate student on
probation may not hold an
assistantship and is not eligible for candidacy or graduation.
Suspension
Any graduate student who receives a grade
of "F" in any graduate-level course will be ineligible to
register for further graduate work.
Readmission of Suspended Students
After one
regular semester or full summer in suspended status,
students may be readmitted
on probation, but only upon recommendation of their adviser and
department chair and with the
approval of the dean of the Graduate School. Readmission to
Graduate School does not imply
readmission to a particular degree program. The student must
reapply to the program.
Dropping Individual Courses
The final date for dropping individual courses is the last day
of the 10th week of classes
in a semester,
the 38th class day in a
ten-week term (class that spans two five-week terms),the 26th class day in an eight-week term, the
17th class day in a five-week term,
the 10th class day in a three-week term, and the sixth class day
in a two-week term. (See
DEADLINES, page 11).
Students who drop individual courses will receive a grade of W
in the courses.
Withdrawal from the University
Students withdrawing from the university during a session must
obtain a withdrawal card
from the Counseling Center. Approval must be secured from the
individuals and offices listed
on the withdrawal card. This process must be completed two
business days prior to the
beginning of the final examination period in order to have the
official date of withdrawal
recorded on the permanent record. Grades earned in courses
completed prior to official withdrawal from the university (i.e., short courses) will not be
affected by that withdrawal.
Students who cease to attend classes
without processing an official withdrawal
automatically receive an F in all courses in which they were
enrolled.
Graduate Student Load
The load of full-time graduate students may not exceed 15
semester hours, including any
undergraduate courses, per regular semester and 14 semester
hours cumulative over all summer
terms without special overload permission.
The total academic
load resulting from concurrent enrollments at Arkansas State
University and other institutions shall not exceed the maximum
loads stated above. Nine graduate hours or
more for Fall and Spring
terms are considered full-time; six hours or more cumulative
over all summer terms are considered fulltime.
Graduate Assistant Load
Master and Specialist level graduate assistants must complete a
minimum of six hours of
graduate credit during a regular semester and will not be
permitted to enroll for more than 12
hours of credit including both graduate and undergraduate
courses. Students enrolling for
fewer than six hours of graduate credit in a regular semester
are not eligible to hold a graduate assistantship.
Graduate assistants will be permitted to enroll in a maximum of
seven semester hours at
the graduate level in a five-week summer term. They must
complete at least three semester hours at the graduate level
in the combined summer terms if they hold an assistantship
during any summer term.
All Doctoral level graduate assistants are required to take a
minimum of nine credit hours
during the regular semester and three credit hours during each summer term
an assistantship is held.
Graduate
Assistantships
Graduate assistantships are available to a limited number of
qualified applicants in all
departments offering graduate degrees. Assistantships are
available for both regular semesters
and summer school. Application for an assistantship must be made
through the chair of
the department in which the student wishes to major. No
application for assistantship will be
considered unless the applicant has also applied for admission
to the Graduate School.
A graduate assistantship carries with it a waiver of
out-of-state tuition. Doctoral graduate assistantship
carries a tuition scholarship covering the cost of tuition.
To be awarded an assistantship, a graduate student must have
been admitted to a
graduate degree program at Arkansas State.
A graduate student whose GPA drops below 3.00 is placed on
probation and is not eligible to hold a graduate assistantship.
The master and specialist level assistantship will have a
maximum time limit of five
semesters. An exception is made for students admitted based on a
bachelor's degree rather
than a master's degree to the Ed.S. in Psychology and
Counseling; these students will have
a maximum time limit of eight semesters. Ed.D. and Ph.D.
assistantships will have a maximum
time limit of eight semesters.
Graduate School Appeals and Grievance Processes
Graduate student appeals and grievance processes are outlined in
the ASU Student
Handbook available in the Office of Student Affairs. All
grievances should first be taken to the
student's graduate adviser, who will inform the student of the
correct procedures to follow.
Following proper channels for appeals and grievances is
essential to obtain a timely and
efficient resolution.
Application for the Degree
All candidates are required to make formal application for the
degree and pay the
graduation fee at the time they enroll for the final
registration period before completing all
requirements for the degree, except that students who expect to
complete the requirements for
the degree during the second summer term must make application
for the degree not later than the registration date for the first
summer term. A new application must be filed if the degree is
not completed in the term within which the original application
was filed. Acceptance of
candidates’ applications will be determined by the students’
advisers and the graduate dean. |