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Christendom College Bulletin Academic
Policies
Degree
Requirements The Christendom College Bachelor of Arts degree is normally a four-year degree, combining the breadth and understanding of the College's demanding Core Curriculum with the specialized, in-depth knowledge of a major field. The requirements for the B.A. are • 126 hours,
including all standard requirements of the core curriculum and of the
major; Requirements for the Associate of Arts (A.A.) Degree The Associate of Arts degree is designed for those students who plan to spend no more than three years in higher education, and thus it is generally regarded as a terminal degree in Liberal Studies, concluding the students' matriculation at the College. The requirements are • completion
of the 84-hour core curriculum requirements; Christendom College assigns each student upon matriculation a faculty Academic Advisor to assist him in registering for his courses each semester and to advise him in academic matters. Once a student is accepted into a major, the student's advisor becomes the major department chairman or his delegate. However, it is ultimately and primarily the individual student's responsibility to comply with all academic requirements and policies, and the College may not be held responsible for a student's failure to fulfill any academic requirement. Each faculty member keeps scheduled office hours when students may meet formally or informally with their professors. A distinctive feature of a Christendom education is the individual and small-group interaction of students and professors that takes place outside of class: students are strongly encouraged to make consultation with their professors outside of class a regular feature of their learning and study. In addition to being available by appointment, full-time faculty are obligated to keep at least five hours per week devoted to announced on-campus office hours, part-time faculty at least two hours per week.
Freshman should consult the Student Handbook and with the Dean of Student Life about the date they are expected to arrive on campus for orientation. Only under very unusual circumstances, and only with the permission of the Dean of Student Life, will new students be allowed to arrive late for their orientation. Normally a new student who misses the first week of classes will not be allowed to register for that semester's courses. Course
Load Students desiring to take fewer than 12 hours or more than 19 must have the permission of the Academic Dean. Normally, only students with a minimum 3.25 GPA and upper-division status are granted permission to elect more than 19 credit hours a semester, for which an overload tuition fee is charged. Twelve (12) semester hours is the minimum course load for a full-time student. Student
Classification • Freshmen: 0–35
credit hours completed Normally only students pursuing a program of studies leading to the A.A. or B.A. degrees may enroll in Christendom College courses. The circumstances of the rare exceptions to this norm are described below under Part Time Students. Course Numbers and Course Prerequisites 100–level courses
are introductory and open to all students; 200–level courses are
open to sophomores, juniors, seniors, and qualified freshmen; 300–level
courses are open to juniors, seniors, and other qualified students; 400–level
courses are open to juniors and seniors and are intended only for advanced
students; 500–level designates the senior thesis or thesis-related
courses.
Auditing Courses Adding and Dropping
Courses Freshmen and Sophomores must have the permission of the Academic Dean to add or drop a course. Juniors and Seniors must have the permission of their academic advisor, who is the chairman of their major department, to add or drop a course. For either action, an "Add-Drop" form with the required signature must be submitted to the Registrar within the announced deadlines to add or drop a course. Withdrawal from
Courses Policy on Courses by Correspondence As a general rule, Christendom College eschews offering courses by correspondence, since our educational philosophy posits the personal interaction of student and professor in the context of the whole Christendom culture to be of the essence of our educational mission. In rare cases, however, an exception might be made. For example, when a single course is all that stands between the student and fulfillment of graduation requirements, and circumstances would entail a severe hardship for the student to complete that final course in residence, an arrangement might be made to offer the course as an off-campus directed study, a decision to be made by the Academic Dean in consultation with the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the appropriate department chairman. Authority of Professors Any professor may at any time exclude from his class any student whose conduct in the professor's judgment is uncivil or unbecoming; who fails to fulfill an academic assignment; or who is out of dress code. With the concurrence of the Academic Dean, a professor may expel from the course any student guilty of serious incivility or unbecoming conduct or any student who, in his judgment, has pertinaciously neglected the work of the course. In such cases a failing grade will usually be recorded. Class Attendance Regular class attendance, promptness, and preparedness are expected of all students. Out of respect for the professor and the other students in the class, students are expected to be prompt, to be in their seats, and to be ready for class at the beginning of the class hour. Specific requirements appear in course syllabi; minimally: A student who misses a total of four (4) weeks of classes (12 MWF classes, 8 TuTh classes, or 4 weekly classes) will receive an F for the course, unless an Incomplete is granted under the usual conditions or the student withdraws from the College. Academic Ethics Cheating is defined as the use of books, notes, or assistance from other students, or the giving of such assistance, to fulfill requirements—during tests, quizzes, or exams, or by collaboration in the writing of papers or other course-related work—unless specifically authorized by the professor. Plagiarism is defined as copying verbatim from another person's writing and inserting it into a paper without quotation marks and a bibliographic citation, or paraphrasing information or presenting ideas or a line of argumentation without indicating one's indebtedness in the text and without documentation by a note and bibliographic citation, thus dishonestly presenting another's work, words, organizational structures, or ideas as the student's own. Use of a paper written for one course to fulfill a similar assignment in another course is "self-plagiarism" and likewise unacceptable. Any student discovered cheating or plagiarizing will receive a zero for the test or assignment on which he has cheated, and will be reported to the Academic Dean. Serious cheating or plagiarism will result in a grade of F in the course, and may result in dismissal. A student who knowingly aids or cooperates with a student in cheating may be subject to similar punishment. See "Guidelines for Student Papers and Study Habits" in the Student Handbook, and "Plagiarism and How to Avoid It" in A Vade Mecum for Christendom Writers of Essays and Research Papers, for further definition of plagiarism and guidelines on avoiding it. Plagiarizing on a senior thesis is an especially egregious violation of academic ethics, because the senior thesis is the culmination of the student's academic education at Christendom College. If the final draft of a senior thesis is discovered to contain plagiarized material, the offending student will receive an F for the senior thesis course and will be unable to graduate from Christendom with a B.A. degree. If a student wishes to challenge a professor's judgment that he has cheated or plagiarized, he may appeal to the Academic Dean, whose decision is final. Student Electronic Devices in Class Christendom College clearly recognizes the positive advantages that computers and related devices can bring to daily life. Yet the College grants pride of place to a Catholic moral and intellectual formation offered through a personal community of students and mentors. In order that a strong sense of this community be encouraged, the College seeks to instill a balanced and healthy detachment from an inordinate use of the opportunities provided by technology. We believe that in so doing the virtues will better flourish in a context of friendship and communion—both human and divine. For this reason the College is supportive of professors who prefer not to allow laptops, Blackberries, cell phones, and the like within the environs of the classroom. Grading
System
Individual course grades at Christendom are, however, assigned according to grading scales adopted by each professor for his own course and announced in the course syllabus. Each student's Grade Point Average (GPA) for each semester, as well as the cumulative GPA, is recorded on the report card and on the transcript. The GPA is computed by use of quality points, which for any given course are computed by multiplying the number of credit hours of the course by the grade point for the course. The total quality points divided by the total credit hours yields the grade point average (GPA). A grade point below 1.7 (C–) in a course does not count toward fulfilling requirements for the major. A cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 is required for a degree. At the end of each semester report cards are sent to each student. A student's report card may be withheld if the student has any outstanding debts to the College. Term
Paper Policy All essays, term papers, and research papers at Christendom College are to conform to the format and style mandated by Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (latest edition) and the supplementary guidelines found in the in-house publication, A Vade Mecum for Christendom Writers of Essays and Research Papers, available in the campus book store. The Registrar issues a final examination schedule to which faculty and students should adhere. Only when a student has three final exams on the same day may he request a rescheduling of one of the exams; the request should be made to the Registrar. Students or their parents should not make travel plans which require the student to depart campus before the last day of finals announced in the Academic Calendar. Examinations will not be rescheduled for those who schedule early departures during finals week. Majors are offered in Classical and Early Christian Studies, English Language and Literature, History, Philosophy, Political Science and Economics, and Theology. All students working toward the B.A. degree must choose a major upon completion of the first 66 hours of the lower division core curriculum. This ordinarily occurs in the second semester of the sophomore year. To become a major in a particular department, a student must apply on the form provided by the Registrar to the department chairman and fulfill departmental requirements for acceptance into the major. Acceptance or rejection is given in written form and filed by the chairman with the Registrar. To change a major, the student must notify the former major department chairman, and make application with the chairman of the new department. Selection of courses in the major program is to be made by the student in consultation with his departmental advisor. Since a minimum 2.0 GPA in the major is required for graduation, and since no course in which a student has received a grade below C-minus (1.7) can fulfill a major requirement, failure to maintain that 2.0 GPA in the major for two (2) consecutive semesters, or any three (3) semesters, may result in that student's expulsion from the major.
The Senior Thesis As the culmination of the student's four years of study in the liberal disciplines, the senior thesis is to be a scholarly paper of substance, demonstrating the student's ability to do significant research in his discipline, and employing the senior's developed skills in the arts of discourse, especially mastery of the techniques of research, exposition and argumentation. The student may as part of the 512 course be required by his department to defend the thesis in an oral examination. Senior thesis topics must be pre-approved by the department chairman. It is advisable for the student to present for approval a short prospectus to the chairman outlining the thesis project the semester before enrolling in Senior Thesis 512 to make sure that the topic is appropriate and acceptable. Students working on their senior theses must register for the thesis course number 512 in the department in which they are majoring, whether they are in residence at the College or not. Rough drafts are required and are due approximately five weeks prior to the end of the semester. The due date is published in the current Academic Calendar. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the final grade for the senior thesis will be based on the quality of the rough draft. The rough draft will be returned by the thesis director with recommendations and suggestions within ten days. The final draft, typed with full, correct scholarly apparatus, is due one week before the last day of classes. The thesis advisor is not authorized to extend either of these deadlines more than five days under any circumstances. Continuous enrollment at the College is required for all students working on the thesis. If a student completes all degree requirements except for the thesis, and is no longer enrolled in courses at the College (excluding the thesis course itself, 512), he has one calendar year in which to complete the thesis. If the work is not completed during this period, the student will be awarded the A.A. degree but will not be eligible for the B.A. degree. The student is responsible for providing two (2) copies of the final draft of the senior thesis, one to be submitted to the thesis director and the other to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The latter copy, after the student's graduation from Christendom College, will be bound and placed in the permanent College Library collection. A senior thesis accepted in partial fulfillment of the academic requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree becomes the property of Christendom College. It should be noted that, by accepting a senior thesis, Christendom College does not thereby endorse the opinions expressed therein. A graduate who wishes to publish his senior thesis may not use the name of Christendom College in that publication without the express written permission of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. If the thesis is
not completed during any given semester, the student cannot under normal
circumstances be given an Incomplete, but will receive an F and must re-register
for the thesis course in the next semester. Petition for an Incomplete
on a senior thesis due to serious incapacity must be made to the Academic
Dean.
Academic Honors Graduation
with Honors Incompletes Under normal circumstances a student cannot be given an Incomplete for the senior thesis (512) but will receive an F and must re-register for the thesis course in the next semester. Petition for an Incomplete on a senior thesis due to serious incapacity must be made to the Academic Dean.
Academic
Difficulties A student with a semester grade point average below 1.700 is on Academic Probation for the following semester. He may be placed in a special program under the supervision of the Academic Dean, involving certain restrictions, enforced study times, and academic counseling. These same restrictions apply to students who are on Academic Probation because of two consecutive semesters of Warning-category averages.
A student with any consecutive combinations of warnings and probations totaling two probations (e.g., WWWW, WWP, PWW, PP, PWP, WPW) will ordinarily be dismissed. After an absence of one year he may reapply, but will be readmitted only if he shows evidence that he is more capable of completing the College program. At the discretion of the Academic Dean, a student with the combinations WPW or PWW may be allowed to continue if a pattern of considerable improvement has been demonstrated. A student on probation may be dismissed during or at the end of a probationary semester for failure to abide by the rules governing probation. Also, as noted above in Repeating Courses, if a student fails a core course twice, the student will be dismissed from the College and may not reapply. Further, a student may not graduate in a semester in which he receives an action of academic dismissal.
Records Policy Christendom College adheres to the following policies concerning student records: • Only such
records as are demonstrably and substantially relevant to the educational
purposes of the College shall be generated or maintained. Students have supervised access to records in their academic and student life files. Academic files are kept by the Registrar and will routinely contain the student's course and grade transcript, copies of report cards, curriculum and transfer worksheets, transfer transcripts, and copies of correspondence pertaining to academic actions. Student life files are kept by the Dean of Student Life and will routinely contain housing and medical questionnaires and correspondence pertaining to disciplinary actions. In the case of dependents as defined by the Internal Revenue Service, parents and legal guardians have similar access. Access to the student academic files is permitted to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the President, Executive Vice President, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Academic Dean, and any other administrative officials whom the Registrar determines to have a legitimate educational interest. Access to the student life files is permitted to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the President, Executive Vice President, and any other administrative officials whom the Dean of Student Life determines to have a legitimate educational interest. Transcripts of courses and grades, academic dismissals, and disciplinary expulsions are matters of permanent record. Academic transcripts contain semesters of attendance, records of course credit and grades received, grade point averages and notices of academic honors or academic warning or dismissal. Notices of disciplinary expulsion are not contained on the academic transcript. Academic and student life files are released only with the written permission of the student. Transcripts Academic transcripts will be released only with the written permission of the student, or in the case of a dependent a parent or legal guardian. The normal processing time for a transcript request is within 7 days of receiving permission in writing and a $3.00 service charge. A processing time greater than 7 days is possible during peak times for the registrar (August registration and May graduation). All transcripts are sent by first-class mail. Only unofficial transcripts will be released directly to the student. No student's transcript will be released if the student is not in good financial standing with the College.
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