Academic Policies | Academic Standing | Curriculum Information | Alternative Credit Programs

Definition of Academic Terms

The following terms are provided for clarification.

Undergraduate Student – one who has not attained a baccalaureate degree, but is taking courses for credit.

Tuition – the money charged students for academic courses.

Semester Hour – the basic unit of measurement in determining the time spent in class. For example, a course giving one semester hour of credit usually meets for one hour of instruction each week during the semester.

Credit – the unit of academic value placed on every university course. A student is given a credit for each semester hour of academic work satisfactorily completed.

Quality Points – units for measurement to determine the quality of work a student does. See page 61 for quality point equivalency for letter grades.

Grade Point Average – The average quality point earned per semester hour. It is computed by dividing the total number of quality points earned by the number of hours attempted 4.0 is a perfect GPA.

Advisors

Each student is personally responsible for completing all requirements established for his or her degree by the university and department. It is the student's responsibility to inform herself/himself of these requirements. A student's advisor may not assume these responsibilities. Any substitution, waiver, or exemption from any established requirement or academic standard may be accomplished only with appropriate approval.

Advisors help students with their schedules, but the primary obligation for knowing and meeting all graduation requirements rests with the student.

Class Load

The normal class load for a university student during the fall or spring semester is 16 hours of course work per week. The minimum load for full-time status is 12 hours of course work per week, and the maximum load is 19 hours of course work per week. To register for more than 19 hours, the student must gain permission from the Appeals Committee before he/she registers. The student must present to the committee: 1) a properly signed ³Petition to Take an Overload² form; 2) a letter of endorsement from his/her major advisor; 3) a written statement specifying the amount of extracurricular activity including work to which he/she will be committed during the overload semester. Any student who enrolls for more than 19 hours without proper authorization will be required to reduce the load to 19 hours or less. Students on probation may register for no more than 13 hours. Further, such students are required, when at all possible, to repeat courses in which they received a grade of D or F.

During each summer term, the minimum load for full-time status is 6 hours for undergraduates and the maximum is 7 hours. To register for more than 7 hours, the same procedure must be followed as for an overload in a regular semester.

Class Attendance

Belmont University is committed to the idea that regular class attendance is essential to successful scholastic achievement. Absence is permitted only in cases of illness or other legitimate cause. Attendance is checked from the first class meeting, so late registrants will have some absences accrued when they first meet a class.

In cases of legitimate absence from the class, the student has the opportunity and responsibility to make up all class work missed. If a class absence is necessary because of an activity by another class or university organization, the sponsor of the activity will give the Provost a list of participants in advance, and the students involved will obtain from the Provost an excuse to present to the instructor. In case of absence for any other reason, the student will present his reason directly to the instructor. Students on the Dean's List of Honor Students, based upon the record of the previous semester at Belmont, may be granted unlimited absences by the instructor for which only the excused ones carry make-up privileges.

When the number of absences for any reason exceeds four times the number of scheduled class meetings per week (25% of class meetings during Summer term), the student is involuntarily dropped from the course with a grade of ³WF.² Appeal is to the Provost.

Be advised that certain departments and individual professors enforce policies which differ from the above policy. See the departmental section of this catalog for the attendance policy for each department and the syllabus for each course for that course's specific attendance requirements which may be different from those stated here.

Changing a Schedule

A $5 fee is charged for each change in schedule during the drop/add and late registration period at the beginning of each semester.

Courses dropped after the date specified in the calendar are not subject to refunds. Courses may not be dropped in the 30 calendar days immediately prior to the end of the semester.

Change of Name or Address

Any current student needing to change pertinent personal data during a semester should fill out ³Personal Data Change Request² at Belmont Central or fill out a request on the web and email to the appropriate university office. Changes of address must be made prior to exam week each semester. In order for a name change to be processed, the student must bring an official document for a copy to be made in Belmont Central. An official document includes: a marriage certificate, a court order, a driver's license with a picture ID, or a social security card.

Course Policies

Belmont University reserves the right not to offer any course in which fewer than 10 students enroll.

Any department may offer special studies courses under the number 199-499 for 0-3 hours credit. In these courses an opportunity is provided for the student to pursue an area of special interest under the supervision of a faculty member. Approval of the appropriate department chairperson, the dean, and the Provost is required before enrolling in these courses.

This bulletin is a listing of courses. The mere listing of a course does not guarantee its offering any particular semester or year. Certain courses may be offered only when demand warrants their offering.

Course Numbers

At Belmont, the first digit in the course number indicates the year level of the course, as follows:

Courses which begin with number 1 are primarily for freshmen; those beginning with 2, primarily for sophomores; 3, primarily for juniors and seniors; 4, primarily for seniors. Certain courses are numbered below 100 and are offered as remedial courses.

Courses which end in an odd number are more likely to be offered in the fall and/or in odd years. Courses which end in an even number are more likely to be offered in the spring and/or in even-numbered years. For the purpose of determining course offerings, both the Fall and Spring semesters of the 2001-2002 school year are considered odd years.

Withdrawal from the University

Students wishing to completely withdraw must obtain a withdrawal form from Belmont Central. Upon completion of the form, it is returned to Belmont Central for processing.

No financial credit will be given after the fifth week of classes. Withdrawals must be handled in person. A telephone call giving intent to withdraw does not constitute an official withdrawal. Students may not withdraw during the last 30 days of a semester.

Convocation

In addition to the academic requirements, all degree-seeking students at Belmont must complete requirements for Convocation in order to graduate.

These requirements include a variety of cultural, social, academic, and spiritual experiences which will enable the Belmont graduate to develop a well-rounded perspective on life. Through these common Belmont experiences, students are reminded that education is not confined to the classroom, but that learning can and should be a lifestyle.

Convocation programs are scheduled at various times throughout the semester to accommodate students' schedules. Be aware that students are not exempt from the Convocation requirement for reasons of employment or class schedule.

Specific requirements are posted in The Guide, Belmont's student handbook.

Convocation events are publicized through the VISION, BTV (Belmont Television), Convocation Line (460-5005), and the Student Affairs web page (www.belmont.edu/studentaffairs/convocation).

If you have questions about Convocation requirements or about the Convocation program in general, contact the Office of Student Affairs at 460-6407.

Honor System

The members of the Belmont University community seek to provide students with a high-quality education while encouraging in the entire community a sense of ethics, social responsibility, and interdependence. We believe that trust is a vital part of this enterprise and that self-discipline and responsibility to one another are also essential elements. We also believe that any instance of dishonesty is a violation of the entire Belmont University community. Therefore, the Belmont University Honor System aims to cultivate a community based on trust, academic honesty, and social responsibility that promotes the following:

• to ensure that students, faculty, staff, and administrators understand that the responsibility for upholding honor at Belmont University lies with them;
• to ensure that all members of the Belmont University community understand that all forms of dishonesty represent a profound violation of the entire community;
• to clarify what constitutes academic dishonesty and to define standards of behavior expected of all members of our community;
• to promote an environment at Belmont University where honor is expected and respected and where dishonesty is not tolerated;
• to define a statement of expectations at Belmont University regarding behavior, as well as a mechanism for a consistent and reasonable adjudication process for violations of our community.

Affirmation of Academic Integrity

The Belmont community values personal integrity and academic honesty as the foundation of university life and the cornerstone of a premiere educational experience. Our community believes trust among its members is essential for both scholarship and effective interactions and operations of the university. As members of the Belmont community, students, faculty, staff, and administrators are all responsible for ensuring that their experiences will be free of behaviors which compromise this value. In order to uphold academic integrity, the university has adopted an Honor System. Students and faculty will work together to establish the optimal conditions for honorable academic work.

Student Honor Pledge

I will not give or receive aid during examinations; I will not give or receive false or impermissible aid in course work, in the preparation of reports, or in any other type of work that is to be used by the instructor as the basis of my grade; I will not engage in any form of academic fraud. Furthermore, I will uphold my responsibility to see to it that others abide by the spirit and letter of this Honor Pledge.

Standards for Academic Integrity

Generally, academic fraud and dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following categories: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, multiple submissions, obtaining unfair advantage, aiding and abetting, and unauthorized access to academic or administrative systems.

Cheating: using unauthorized notes, aids, or information on an examination; altering a graded work prior to its return to a faculty member; allowing another person to do one's work and submitting it for grading.

Plagiarism: submitting material that in part or whole is not one's own work without properly attributing the correct sources of its content.

Fabrication: inventing or falsifying information, data, or citation; presenting data gathered outside of acceptable professorial guidelines; failing to provide an accurate account of how information, data or citations were gathered; altering documents affecting academic records; forging signatures or authorizing false information on an official academic document, grade, letter, form, ID card, or any other university document.

Multiple Submissions: submitting identical papers or course work for credit in more than one course without prior permission of the instructor.

Obtaining Unfair Advantage: a) gaining or providing access to examination materials prior to the time authorized by an instructor; b) stealing, defacing, or destroying library or research materials which can deprive others of their use; c) unauthorized collaboration on an academic assignment; d) retaining, possessing, or circulating previously used examination materials without the instructor's permission; e) obstructing or interfering with another student's academic work; or f) engaging in any activity designed to obtain an unfair advantage over another student in the same course.

Unauthorized Access: viewing or altering in any way computer records, modifying computer programs or systems, releasing or distributing information gathered via unauthorized access, or in any way interfering with the use or availability of computer systems/information.

Aiding and Abetting: providing material, information, or other assistance which violates the above Standards for Academic Integrity; providing false information in connection with any inquiry regarding academic integrity.

For a full printed version of the Honor System, consult The Guide. For additional information regarding procedures for upholding the Honor System, including sanctions for violation of the System, contact the Office of Student Affairs.

Assessment Program

At Belmont, we are beginning to implement a comprehensive and coordinated Assessment Program. The purpose of the program is two-fold. The first purpose of the program is to identify areas in the university which need improvement. Several surveys during a student's years of enrollment here will focus on ideas, opinions, and values as they impact the institution. In this way, through the Assessment Program students will help us to identify both what works and what does not, so that together we can continually improve the quality of the institution. Assessment results instruct us on how we are meeting our educational and institutional mission to be a premier teaching university, and we use assessment to ensure that the educational experience is the finest that we can provide.

The second purpose of the Assessment Program is to provide students and faculty advisors with valuable information on student strengths and development while they are here at Belmont. As an active learner, these results help students to share the responsibility for continued growth as well as monitor a student's progress. We want to determine not only how much and how well students learn, but also how and where students learn. Consequently, Belmont University invites each student to be a part of its growing tradition in the assessment of student learning and growth.