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Graduate Bulletin

Academic Rules & Regulations

Graduate Bulletin

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ACADEMIC RULES & REGULATIONS

ADVISEMENT AND REGISTRATION

In addition to the three classes of graduate students described above (graduate status, pre-candidacy, and candidacy), there are special auditors who receive no credit for courses attended, and students taking post-baccalaureate courses for professional development. All types of students must pay tuition and fees.

Degree students should, in all cases, consult with their advisor at least twice per term, especially before registration. The Graduate Admissions Office and the offices of the school/college deans are sources of consultation. These offices will maintain special hours during registration periods. The student should not accept advice contrary to clearly stated regulations. The student alone is responsible for meeting all requirements and for being familiar with academic regulations and degree requirements in this Bulletin and other supplements thereto.

UNDERGRADUATES IN GRADUATE COURSES

No undergraduate student may register for or receive credit for graduate courses except under the following circumstances. Before registering for a graduate course, the student must:

  1. Procure the “Request by a Senior to Take a Graduate Course Form” from the Records Office;
  2. Complete the above form and present it to the Registrar’s Office, which will certify that the student is a senior with a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better and is in the semester prior to graduation. If the credits are counted toward a baccalaureate degree, they may not also subsequently be counted toward a graduate degree;
  3. Then obtain the signature of his/her advisor or major department head and school/college dean.
  4. Present the “Request Form” to the Graduate Admissions Office.
  5. Grading will be on the same basis as that of the graduate students.

GRADUATE STUDENTS RETURNING TO UNDERGRADUATE STATUS

A graduate student may withdraw from Graduate Studies at any time upon the presentation of written notification of his/her decision to the Graduate Admissions Office. If the student then decides to apply for undergraduate status, he/she will be subject to all undergraduate procedures.

Undergraduate courses taken while a graduate student may or may not count toward an undergraduate degree with the rules for second baccalaureate found in the Undergraduate Catalog. Graduate courses taken while an undergraduate student may or may not apply to an undergraduate degree depending on the choice of the student. If the student elects in writing to have graduate courses apply as upper-division credits to an undergraduate degree, graduate credits will be lost. Otherwise, they will be retained on the transcript as graduate credits.

Whether or not these credits will be applicable toward a specific degree program will be determined by the appropriate program faculty.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS (BULLETIN IN FORCE) FOR GRADUATION

Students will be allowed seven calendar years of continuous enrollment from their first enrollment at the University of Guam to the date of certification of completion of degree requirements for the major to fulfill degree requirements of the bulletin in force at the time of entrance. The student must meet all the requirements of the catalog in force, and the seven-year timeline will be dated from the time when either of the following two situations occurs:

  1. A student returns after not attending the University of Guam for two consecutive regular semesters. (Finakpo’ sessions are not regular semesters.)
    • A student who returns after not attending the University for two consecutive semesters or more MUST follow the new bulletin in force for the term of re-entry.
  2. A student changes majors by filing a new “Graduate Program Entry Form.”

COURSE LOAD

Graduate students who are enrolled in at least nine credit hours of coursework or one credit hour of thesis credit shall be considered full-time graduate students. Students enrolled in thesis must make satisfactory progress in their research to maintain full-time status, signified by a grade of “In Progress (IP)” as opposed to “No Progress (NP).”

MAXIMUM COURSE LOAD

The recommended maximum course load for a graduate student who is employed for more than 20 hours per week will be nine credit hours during a regular semester and six credit hours during the finakpo’ (June–Aug.) session. The maximum course load per semester is no more than 15 credit hours.

GRADING SYSTEM

A grade is given as recognition of a certain degree of accomplishment in a course and is to be interpreted as follows:

Letter Grade Grade Point Value Definition
A+ 4.00 Oustanding
A 4.00 Excellent
A- 3.70 Very Good
B+ 3.30 High Average
B 3.00 Average
B- 2.70 Low Average
C+ 2.00 Below Average
C 2.00 Marginal
F 0.00 Failure
UW 0.00 Unofficial Withdrawal (see section on Withdrawal Polices and Procedures)

Students may re-register for courses in which they received a grade of C+ or below or for courses that are more than seven years old. In these instances, all grades will become part of the permanent record, but only the grade in the course in which the student has most recently registered will be computed in the total cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA).

Special Projects (690) and Thesis (695 and 696) use different grades. The usual grades listed above normally awarded for the completion of a course are not used for these courses. Grades of “T” (terminated) and “P” (pass) are given for thesis and special project courses.

*An A+ grade is a qualitative grade difference from an A, but both grades carry the same quantitative points.

POLICY AND PROCEDURES FOR “INCOMPLETE” AND “IN PROGRESS” GRADES

Students may not complete all of their work within the timeframe of the semester. At the discretion of the faculty member teaching the course, and upon approval of the dean, extensions may be granted using the Incomplete (I) grade. In special project (690), thesis (695), or internship (698) courses, the grades In Progress (IP) and No Progress (NP) will be used. These grades only apply to 690, 695, and 698 courses.

INCOMPLETE

In most courses, an “I” may be given to a student who has failed to complete a small, but important part of the course if the reasons for the incomplete are justified in writing by the student and instructor and approved by the dean of the college/school. To receive credit for a course marked “I,” the student must satisfactorily complete the unfinished work by the end of one calendar year (or sooner as agreed by student and instructor) from the last day of the semester in which the student received the “I.” Should the student fail to complete the specified work to the satisfaction of the instructor, no credit will be recorded and the symbol “I” will be changed to an “F” on the transcript. All grades of “I” must be resolved prior to graduation. For those courses carrying an “I” for which a “Change of Grade” form has not been submitted according to the policy for submission of grade for graduating students, or at the time of certification that degree requirements have been met, the “I” will change to an “F” and be used for the final calculation of the GPA. No request for time extension will be approved.

IN PROGRESS

In courses where the work is designed to go beyond a semester, such as a special project, thesis, or internship, the grade should indicate whether sufficient progress has been obtained. If the student has made good faith efforts to work on his or her special project, thesis, or internship, met with his or her professor, and achieved milestones identified at the beginning of the semester, the grade “In Progress” has been achieved. At the end of the term, the committee chair (for 690 or 695) or internship course instructor (for 698) will submit a grade of “IP” when satisfactory progress has been made at the end of any semester in which the student is enrolled until the special project, thesis, or internship has been completed. If the student has not made satisfactory progress, the grade of “NP” or No Progress should be recorded. An “NP” grade may affect a student’s academic status and financial aid standings because it does not demonstrate adequate progress required by federal law. The conversion to “F” does not apply to IP grades. In these cases, the grade of “IP” (satisfactory progress) and/or “NP” (no progress) will remain on the permanent record until a grade of “P” or “T” is received or seven years has passed, whichever comes sooner. Internship course instructors may assign letter grades for internship (698) course completion instead of “P” or “T,” based in part on the evaluation of the professional internship supervisor.

WITHDRAWAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Since the University must operate as efficiently as possible, and since withdrawal from courses usually occurs after it is too late for other students to take the place of those who have withdrawn, the University has adopted policies and procedures that will discourage withdrawals and encourage more careful selection of those courses which the student has maximum assurance of completing.

  1. Admissions Office-Initiated Drop: The registrar may administratively drop a student from any class for which he or she does not have the prerequisite courses, or exemption from the prerequisites, whether the student enrolls in such a class during the regular registration period or the drop/add period.

  2. Administrative Drop: Students are responsible for registering only for those courses for which they have met the stated prerequisites. Students who register for classes without the proper prerequisite courses or without written exemption from the prerequisites and are administratively dropped after the refund period are not eligible for a refund of tuition or fees.

  3. Student-Initiated Schedule Adjustment/Add/Drop: Students may drop from a class or classes during the first week of instruction of a regular semester and the first day of a finakpo’ session without anything being recorded on their transcripts. See the “Cancellation Fee” section for applicable charges.

  4. Student-Initiated Official Withdrawal: From the second through the eighth week of instruction of a regular semester and from the second day of classes for each finakpo’ session through the third week of each finakpo’ session, students may withdraw by filing a withdrawal form in the Records Office. This form must be signed by the student’s advisor. A “W” (indicating an official withdrawal) will be recorded. After the eighth week of instruction of a regular semester and after the third week of a finakpo’ session, students may NOT withdraw from individual courses without submitting to the Records Office a “Petition to Withdraw” form that has been approved by the class instructor and the student’s advisor. Students requesting a complete withdrawal from the University must file a withdrawal form available at the Records Office and obtain the required signatures. See “Cancellation Fee” section for applicable charges.

ACADEMIC PROBATION, SUSPENSION, AND DISMISSAL

  1. Any student taking graduate courses who fails to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better at the end of a session, i.e., fanuchanån, fañomnåkan, or tinalo’, will be placed on academic probation for the following one full calendar year. Unofficial withdrawals are counted in the GPA calculation. Extension of the probationary year will not be granted due to an Incomplete (grade of “I”).

    The graduate student will be removed from probationary status when his/her cumulative GPA in all graduate courses reaches the required minimum of 3.00 or higher when computed at the end of a session, i.e., fanuchanån, fañomnåkan or finakpo’. If the student does not attain the required cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher at the end of the probationary period, i.e., after one full calendar year, the student will be suspended from graduate studies and will not be allowed to enroll in courses granted graduate credits for one full calendar year.

  2. Upon the recommendation of the graduate program chair, an individual suspended from graduate studies may petition to the respective dean for re-admittance. If the petition is approved, the student will be readmitted on a probationary status for one full calendar year and must raise his/her cumulative GPA to 3.00 or higher in all graduate courses within this period. Failure to attain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher in courses granting graduate credits at the end of the probationary period will result in dismissal from graduate studies.

  3. An individual whose petition for re-admittance to the graduate studies has been denied may petition again for re-admittance after waiting one full calendar year. A second denial of a petition by the respective dean will constitute permanent dismissal from Graduate Studies. 4. An individual who is suspended or dismissed from graduate studies may be allowed to enroll in undergraduate courses if he/she complies with undergraduate admission policies. Under no circumstance will the student be allowed to enroll in 400G, 500-, or 600-level courses.

PROGRAM DISCONTINUATION AND TEACH-OUT POLICY

(Board of Regents Resolution No. 15-15)

Academic programs may only be removed upon approval of the Board of Regents after an extensive consultation process as per policy 15-15. As part of the process, a teach-out plan will be developed, to ensure that all currently enrolled students have the opportunity to complete the program and that the integrity of the academic quality of the program is maintained during the teach-out period.

Students will be notified of the plan for discontinuation, the expected timetable for phasing-out, and any planned changed in the overall study options that will be available to them. The program faculty will be available for academic advising for those students who need advice on their specific completion pathway.

During the phase-out period, special arrangements will be made when there are students needing to take a discontinued course when it is no longer viable to run the course with a very small number of students. When special arrangements are required, the student follows existing University procedures (i.e., course substitutions or change in program contract). Students seeking to resolve a dispute or question arising under this policy must do so in accordance with the Student Discipline and Appeals Committee and related procedure.

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