General Information

Pages 19-21

Maximum Credit Load

Generally, an undergraduate student should register for no more than 21 credits during a semester, including physical education activity courses, and courses which carry no credit such as Mathematics 005.

Permission to enroll for more than the maximum credit load given above may be approved by the student's faculty advisor.

Full-Time Student Defined

An undergraduate student must register for a minimum of 12 hours credit a semester to be classified as a full-time student; however, in most baccalaureate programs a student must earn slightly more than 16 credits per semester to graduate in a four year period. One- and two-year programs usually require between 15 and 19 credits per semester.

Classification of Undergraduate Students

The undergraduate student is classified as a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior based on the number of credits earned. The student who has earned fewer than 30 credits is a freshman. The student who has earned at least 30 credits but fewer than 60 is a sophomore, and the student who has earned at least 60 credits but fewer than 95 credits is a junior. The student who has earned 95 or more credits is classified a senior.

Dean's List (Honor Roll)

To qualify for the Dean's List, students must be undergraduates, must earn a semester grade average of 3.50 or higher, and receive grades of A or B in at least 9 credits. No grades of C, D, F, NP or NCR are allowed.

Repeating a Course

All courses repeated remain on the permanent record but only the last grade received is used to calculate the cumulative grade average unless the last grade is I, W, NP, N, NCR or AUD. These grades do not repeat other grades.

The repetition of a course in the School of Law is governed by a different policy. See the School of Law section of this catalog.

University Omnibus Option for Independent Work

Under the "University omnibus option" credit is allowed for independent work in topics or problems that are proposed by the student and approved both by the instructor or instructors under whose supervision the work is to be done and by the chairperson or chairpersons of the department(s) involved. Such independent work may require as many weeks as the instructor(s) shall stipulate. The work may be on campus or off campus, as the nature of the study requires, although prior approval of all arrangements and faculty supervision must be assured.

All fees must be paid during a regular registration period in advance of beginning independent work. The student may not receive a larger number of credit hours than he or she is registered for, although a smaller number may be completed and credit obtained with the approval of the instructor or instructors. No more than 10 credit hours may be received in a single topic or problem. A maximum of 26 credit hours of independent work for a bachelor degree and 13 credit hours of independent work for an associate degree is permitted under the University omnibus option.

For each course taken under the University omnibus option, the student's transcript will show the departmental prefix, the level of the course, the number of credit hours, and the exact title of the topic. Students obtain course request numbers through the departments.

Credit By Examination

Under certain circumstances, a currently registered student may receive credit by examination for a course in which he or she has not been regularly enrolled. The student must have a minimum cumulative grade average of 2.00 and an entering freshman must present a high school scholastic record equivalent to a 2.00 grade average to be eligible to earn credit by examination in any course.

Each school or department may determine those courses, if any, for which credit may be earned by examination. The dean of the school or the chair of the department must approve any arrangements prior to testing for such credit. On the successful completion of an examination, the department notifies the Registrar's Office. There are no fees for this type of credit by examination and grading may be pass/not pass or traditional letter grade.

For information regarding other types of credit by examination, consult the College Level Examination Program in this catalog. See index.

Course Numbering System

001-099Courses below college level. Credit not allowed toward a degree.

Senior (5th year) courses in Pharmacy are numbered 500 to 599.

Undergraduates in Graduate Courses

Undergraduate students with senior standing who have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 may petition to enroll in 500 level courses for undergraduate credit. The petition form must be signed by the course instructor, chair of the department or coordinator of graduate studies, and the graduate dean.

Credit

Credit is defined in terms of semester hours. In general, 1 semester hour credit is allowed for 1 hour of lecture each week of the semester, or an average of 2 hours of laboratory each week of the semester.

Prerequisites and Corequisites

"Prereq." indicates the course or courses to be satisfactorily completed before enrollment in the course described. "Coreq." indicates a course which must be taken concurrently with the course described.

Cross-listed and Equivalent Courses

Some courses are offered jointly by two or more departments. Thus, the notation "Same as Ling 373," included in the course description for Anthropology 373, indicates that Anthropology 373 and Linguistics 373 are the same course. A student may enroll for such a course under the department in which she or he wishes to receive credit, but credit is not allowed toward a degree for both courses.

In certain cases, a course description indicates credit is not allowed for that course and for another course offered by a different department. These courses are very similar in content, although offered separately, and credit is not allowed toward a degree for both courses.

Technical Courses

Courses in the College of Technology with a course number suffix of "T" are primarily technical in nature and apply to the certificate programs and associate of applied science programs in the College but generally do not apply toward the associate of arts or baccalaureate degrees. Refer to vocational-technical credits in the Admissions section or Credit Maximums in this section. See index.

Cancellation of Courses

The University reserves the right to cancel any course for which fewer than five students are enrolled as of the beginning of the course.

Final Examinations

Except in the College of Technology, the final examinations for the semester are scheduled in two-hour segments, one for each course. The segments should be considered as class meetings to be treated by the instructor as he or she thinks educationally appropriate. Final exams in the College of Technology usually are given within the regular class meeting times of the final week of the semester.

The time scheduled for final examinations is the only time period during which final examinations are to be given. If an instructor elects not to give a final examination, under no circumstances are final examinations to be given during the week preceding the scheduled final examination days.

Students may seek relief from writing more than two examinations during the same day. Students who are scheduled for more than two examinations may contact the appropriate faculty to arrange an alternate testing time during the scheduled final examination period. If satisfactory arrangements cannot be made, the student should seek the assistance of his or her dean.

Transcripts of Academic Records

Transcripts of the academic record of a student may be obtained from the Registration Center of the Lodge or the Registrar's Office in the College of Technology upon the written request of the student. In compliance with federal and state laws designed to protect privacy, transcripts are not released without the student's authorizing signature.

Transcripts are usually available within two to five working days after receipt of the request. There is a charge of $3.00 for each transcript. Payment must be received before transcripts are released. Transcripts are withheld if the student owes a debt to the University.

Academic Policies and Procedures | 95-96 UM Undergraduate Catalog