Undergraduate Catalog 2008-2010 - Immaculata University

Academic Policies and
Procedures
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY
The pursuit of truth and the exercise of honest, intelligent
inquiry are values which guide academic freedom. Without them
knowledge is corrupted and academic freedom undermined. The
following basic principles are inherent in academic honesty:
• Each student’s work must be wholly his or her own.
• Each student will give appropriate acknowledgement of
other’s work when incorporating that work into his or her own.
• Students may not supply or receive unauthorized information
about the form or content of an examination prior to its first
being given.
• Students may not bring into a testing environment any written
material containing that information.
• Students may not use electronic devices (calculator, cell
phone, etc.) during testing unless specifically required for the
examination.
• Students may not submit the same, or essentially the same,
paper or report for credit on two different occasions without
the approval of all instructors involved.
• Students may not take for his or her personal use, study or
research, materials or equipment intended for common use in
assigned work.
• Students shall not log into another student’s, faculty’s or staff
member’s computer account or take information from another
account.
• Students may not plagiarize.
PLAGIARISM
Using, without proper citation or acknowledgement, the words,
ideas, or original research of others is plagiarism. When one relies
on someone else for phraseology, even for only two or three words,
one must acknowledge indebtedness by using quotation marks and
giving the source, either in the text or in a footnote. When one
borrows facts which are not matters of general knowledge—
including all statistics and translations—one must indicate one’s
indebtedness in the text or footnote. When one borrows an idea or
the logic of an argument, one must acknowledge indebtedness either
in a footnote or in the text.
The University considers plagiarism by a student a serious
violation of professional ethics and standards. Plagiarism is defined
as the presentation as new and original an idea or product derived
from an existing source. Cheating is defined as the deliberate
violation of the rules of academic honesty. Such violations may
result in the imposition of a serious academic penalty such as but not
limited to, suspension, transcripted F, non-continuation, or exclusion.
Whenever an alleged infraction of academic integrity occurs, the
student and the teacher are to discuss the matter and attempt to
resolve the difficulty while maintaining the standards of Immaculata
University. If student and faculty member are not able to reach a
satisfactory solution, the matter is brought to the chair of the
department. If the problem needs further discussion, it should be
brought to the attention of the dean of the appropriate college. If
the student does not accept the decision of the dean of the college,
the student may request to implement the University Grievance
Policy as outlined in the Student Handbook.
ACADEMIC STANDING AND PROGRESS
The baccalaureate degree program at Immaculata University
requires a minimum of 126-128 credit hours. Normal progress
toward achieving a degree in four years for a student in the College
of Undergraduate Studies requires eight semesters of 12 to 18
credits, depending on the curriculum sequence of each major.
Immaculata has a fixed comprehensive tuition rate for full-time
College of Undergraduate Studies students. The tuition rate will
remain fixed for the four year program (eight fall and spring
semesters). Full-time students taking more than 18 credits per
semester will be charged the current per credit rate for each
additional credit. Music lessons will be billed separately.
To be classified as full-time, a student in the College of
Undergraduate Studies must carry a minimum of 12 credit hours
each semester. A student carrying 11 or fewer credit hours is
considered part-time. Part-time status impacts billing, financial aid
and eligibility for residence.
As listed below, a student’s academic status is determined by the
number of credit hours earned:
Credit Hours
Completed Class
0-23 Freshman
24-53 Sophomore
54-89 Junior
90 or more Senior
A student’s academic progress is evaluated at the end of each
semester. Since a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 is the
minimum requirement for graduation, a student whose GPA falls
below 2.00 at the end of any semester will be cautioned that this
level of performance is insufficient to satisfy the requirement for
graduation. A student with a GPA below the minimum levels
indicated in the table below will be placed on academic probation.
Semesters Completed Minimum GPA
1 1.60
2 1.70
3 1.85
4 or more 2.00
Ordinarily, a student may not be on academic probation for more
than two consecutive semesters. A student may receive federal,
state, and/or university financial aid during the probation period. A
student on academic probation must show improvement during the
following semester to remain at the university. In some cases, a
student may be dismissed without any previous probation if the
student’s academic standing is so poor that probation would not be
in the student’s best interest.
In addition, Financial Aid requires that the student maintain
satisfactory academic progress, which means that a full-time student
must earn at least 67% of credits attempted. Part-time students
must be enrolled in at least six credits per semester to remain
eligible for aid. For further explanation, see Financial Aid.
ACADEMIC DISMISSAL AND READMISSION
A student who has been academically dismissed from the
University must meet standards for re-admission set by the dean of
the appropriate college. Transcripts documenting acceptable work
must be presented in the office of the appropriate dean prior to
application for re-admission. If all standards for re-admission have
been met, then the student must follow the normal admission
process for the appropriate college as a transfer student.
CHANGE OF STATUS
Students in the College of Undergraduate Studies who wish to
transfer to the College of LifeLong Learning, must follow procedures
for withdrawal from the College of Undergraduate Studies and then
apply to the College of LifeLong Learning. Similarly, students who
wish to transfer from the College of LifeLong Learning to the College
of Undergraduate Studies must withdraw from the College of LifeLong
Learning and apply to the College of Undergraduate Studies.
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