Graduation requirements mandate that a student receive no more than 12 credits with grades less than B-. Grades below C will not count towards graduation. Grades of C- or below are considered failing grades. Students with more than 12 credit hours of grades below B- in 400 level courses will not be permitted to continue in their program. Pass-fail registration is not permitted for graduate students. More stringent standards may be applied by an individual program.
Students in the MBA and MS in Accounting & Information Analysis programs must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or they will be placed on academic probation. Students who earn a GPA or less than 3.0 while on academic probation, will be dropped from the Program to which they were admitted. A GPA of 3.0 is required for graduation.
The Master ' s degree is granted to properly qualified students who complete satisfactorily at least two full semesters (30 credit hours) of advanced work. Candidates for the Master's degree have six (6) years in which to complete their programs. The time in which to complete the degree begins when the student first registers for courses. Students should confer with their advisors to be certain that specific department and program course requirements are met.
Program for Master's Degree
In meeting the requirements for the degree, the student complies with the following regulations:
1) Each candidate for the Master's degree must complete the form, "Program for Master's Degree", setting forth the courses proposed to satisfy the degree requirements. This program must have the approval of the advisor and the Associate Dean by March 1 for May graduation, July 1 for September graduation, or November 1 for January graduation.
2) The "minimum" program for the Master ' s degree includes:
• not less than 30 semester hours of graduate work;
• not less than 18 credit hours of courses numbered 400 or above (MBA students must take all courses at 400 level.);
• not less than 18 hours in the major field of which 15 hours must be at the 400 level
3) The Master's degree is not granted unless the candidate has earned grades of "A" or "B" in at least eighteen hours of the work on his or her program and in all 300 level courses.
4) No course in which the grade earned is less than “C” is credited toward the degree.
5) MBA and MSAIA students are required to have a cumulative grade point average 3.0 in all courses earned towards the MBA and MSAIA degrees in order to qualify for graduation.
6) 300 level courses may not be used toward the MBA requirements. All courses credited towards an MBA degree must be numbered 400 or above.
A student dropping a course within the first ten days of the semester (five days for summer sessions) will have no record of the course on the transcript. A student dropping all courses for which he or she is registered is considered to be withdrawing from the University. The grading policy for students withdrawing from the University is the same as the withdrawal from individual courses. Students wishing to continue their program after withdrawing should notify the Associate Dean.
A student who drops a course after the tenth day of instruction and before the end of the eleventh week of instruction will have a grade of "W" assigned to the course. A student who drops a course after the eleventh week of instruction and before the end of classes receives a "WP" or "WF" at the discretion of the instructor. A "WF" is considered to be a failing grade. An Add/Drop form with the advisor's signature must be submitted to the Registrar's Office before the deadlines noted above to be official.
A student must be registered in the semester in which the degree is conferred. A summer or fall registration will satisfy the registration requirements for the following September. Students must be registered in Spring for May graduation and Fall for January Graduation. A "Maintenance of Candidacy” of one credit hour ($630) will be assessed to students who are not registered in the term their degree is to be conferred.
Course grades and their weightings are as follows:
A (4.0), A- (3.7), B+ (3.3), B (3.0), B- (2.7), C+ (2.3), C (2.0), C- (1.7), D+ (1.3), D (1.0), D- (0.7), F (0).
An "incomplete" grade, "N" is used to indicate that one or more course requirements have not been completed. It is the obligation of the student to explain to the satisfaction of the instructor that there are extenuating circumstances which justify the use of the "N" grade. If the instructor feels that the use of the "N" grade is justified, he or she assigns a grade of "N" supplemented by a parenthetical letter grade (e.g. N[B]). In such cases, the instructor calculates the parenthetical grade by assigning an "F" for any incomplete work unless he or she has informed the class in writing at the beginning of the course of a substitute method of determining the parenthetical grade.
Graduate students have one (1) calendar year to remove incomplete ( " N " ) course grades unless an earlier deadline is specified by the instructor. Graduate student incomplete course grades which are not removed by the instructor remain as "N" grades on the student ' s record. Parenthetical grades are not required for thesis or research courses. Thesis or research project "N" grades may remain beyond one year until the work is completed.
The grade "X(grade)" is used to indicate absence from the final examination when all other course requirements have been met. The grade in parentheses is determined by including an "F" in the grade calculation for the missing final exam. The "X" grade may be removed by a make-up examination if the absence was for good cause. To be eligible for a make-up examination, a graduate student must file a petition, and the petition must be approved by the Graduate and Research Committee. The instructor schedules and administers the make-up exam. Parenthetical grades are not required for thesis or research courses. If the "X" grade is not removed, it will remain "X(F)" forever.
The "Z(grade)" is used to indicate both absence from the final exam and an incompletion of one or more other course requirements. The instructor calculates the parenthetical grade using an "F" for the final examination and an "F" or a substitute method of calculation for the incomplete work. The "Z" grade may be removed by the procedures described above for the removal of the "X" grade. Graduate students have one calendar year to complete all coursework unless an earlier completion deadline is specified by the instructor. "Z" grades which are not removed remain on the records of the graduate students. All petitions for exceptions are sent to the Graduate and Research Committee. Parenthetical grades are not required for thesis or research courses.