2008–2009 (PDF, 6 MB) - LAU Publications - Lebanese American ...

ACADEMIC RULES AND PROCEDURESFOR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMSACADEMIC RULES AND PROCEDURESFOR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMSViii. TESTS AND EXAMiNATiONSA. REgUlATiONS AND PROCEDURES1. Final examinations are held at the end of eachsemester and Summer module. Final examinationsshould not count for more than 40 percentof the course grade. At least two tests, and/orgraded projects, should account for the remainingpercentage of the course grade.2. If a student absents himself/herself from a finalexamination, a grade of zero will be given for thatexamination. Accordingly, the course grade willbe calculated, and reported, with a “missed final”note. If, within one week, the student submits anexcuse, which is acceptable to the Instructor and/or the Division/Department concerned, then thestudent will be given a makeup final examination.If an excuse is presented after the lapse of aweek, and within one month, the student maypetition the School concerned to have his/hergrade changed to an “I”, and to be allowed to sitfor an examination, and have the final gradeadjusted accordingly, within a deadline set by theSchool concerned, but not exceeding the deadlineof Incomplete grades (refer to section IX-AGrading System). If a valid excuse is presentedbefore the course grades are out, the Instructor ofthe course may give an Incomplete grade, if theconditions stated in Section IX-A are met.3. Any incomplete work (refer to section IX-AGrading System) must be made up at a timeplanned with the Instructor, but no later than theeighth week of the following semester (Fall orSpring) in which the student is enrolled at theUniversity. Otherwise, the grade of “I” is changedto an “F” (or an NP). It is the responsibility of thestudent to contact the Instructor to make thearrangements for the completion of the incompletework. In the case of Senior Study andInternship courses, as well as final year projects,the incomplete work must be completed no laterthan one full year after the end of the semester,or module, in which the grade of I was received.In no case may such work be made up after alapse of one year from the end of the semester,or module, in which the grade of “I” wasreceived.4. Final examinations will not be scheduled ondates outside the stated examination period. Incase of an emergency, a student may request anearly final exam. Such a request needs theapproval of the Instructor of the course, and theDivision/Department Chairperson.5. No more than three final exams will be scheduled,per day, for any student. In case a studenthas more than three scheduled final exams inthe same day, the student is entitled to have thefinal exam of the highest course numberrescheduled.6. When there are final examination conflictsbetween an LAU course, and a course at anotherinstitution, the student involved must resolvethe conflict with the LAU instructors in advance.7. When there are final examination conflictsamong LAU courses, students must inform theRegistrar’s Office by the deadline indicated onthe examination schedule.8. Students are entitled to review their final examinationpaper in the Instructor’s office (or theDivision/Department Chairperson’s office, in caseof the absence of the instructor concerned). Finalexamination papers will be retained by theInstructor, or the Division/Department Chairpersonfor the following two regular semesters.9. Some of the above rules, namely rules 1, 4, and 8,may not apply to the Design, Studio, Project,Seminar, and Research type courses. In suchcases, School-specific regulations may apply, asspecified in the course syllabus, and approved bythe Academic School Council.10. In case of illness, or major emergency leading toabsence from an announced examination, astudent must notify, within a week, the GuidanceOffice, and the instructor/Division/Departmentconcerned.B. CODE Of CONDUCT DURiNgEXAMiNATiONSStudents are expected to abide by the Code ofConduct during all the examinations. For moredetails on the conduct during examinations, kindlyrefer to the Student Code of Conduct.iX. SCHOlASTiC STANDiNgA. gRADiNg SYSTEMThe University Grading System uses a series ofletters to which grade quality points are assigned.The Grade Point Average (GPA) is calculated accordingto a procedure outlined in the following section.A 4A- 3.67B+ 3.33B 3B- 2.67C+ 2.33C 2C- 1.67D+ 1.33D 1f 0PNo quality pointsNPNo quality pointsUNo quality pointsWNo quality pointsiNo quality points> grade A indicates work of excellent quality. It isvalued at four quality points for each credit hour.> grade B indicates work of good quality. It is valuedat three quality points for each credit hour.> grade C indicates a satisfactory achievement. It isvalued at two quality points for each credit.> grade D indicates the minimum passing grade,and is indicative of poor performance. It is valuedat one quality point for each credit hour.> grade f indicates an unsatisfactory performancein the course. It has zero quality points. No creditwill be added to the student’s record.> grade P indicates a passing performance in acourse taken on a Pass/No Pass basis. The creditsif any, will be added to the number of creditspassed, but will not be included in the average. Ithas no quality points.> grade NP indicates a failing performance incourses taken on a Pass/No Pass basis. No creditswill be added to the student’s record, nor will theaverage be affected. It has no quality points.> grade U indicates a course taken on an auditingbasis. It has no quality points, and the credits willnot be added to the passed credits.> grade W indicates an official withdrawal from acourse, after the Late Registration Period, andbefore the end of the 14 th week of the Fall andSpring semesters, and before the last two teachingdays of the Summer modules. It has no qualitypoints. It does not count in the average, and nocredits will be added to the student’s record. AWithdrawal Form must be submitted by the studentto the Registrar’s Office.> grade i indicates incomplete work. This grade isexceptionally given by the Instructor when a student,with a valid excuse, did not sit for the finalexam, and/or did not present the final project.Students will not be entitled to an “I” grade, unlessthey have a passing grade of the completed material,throughout the course, and so long as theyhave not exceeded the allowed number ofabsences.The “I” grade does not count in the average, andit adds no credits to the student’s record.Section VIII. A-3 of this document explains how tohave the grade of “I” changed to a different grade.gENERAl iNfORMATiONACADEMIC CATALOG [ 2008-2009 ]39Lebanese American University | page 38