2004-05 Greenville College Catalog

Academic Information

Academic Honesty | Grading System | Quality Points | Grade Point Average | Classification of Students | Class Absences | Graduation Application Procedure | Final Honors | Earning a 2nd Degree | Career Services Center | Academic Enrichment Center | Grade Reports | Transcripts | Access to Educational Records |

Academic Honesty

Students on a Christian college campus are expected to do all academic work with integrity. This means that they should practice academic honesty without exception. The College takes this so seriously we ask all incoming students to sign a statement guaranteeing that they understand the notion of academic integrity and will conform to the policies described below.

All forms of academic dishonesty, which include cheating and plagiarism, are inappropriate on our campus. Cheating and plagiarism are variations on a theme: both involve offering the work of another as one's own. Students cheat and/or plagiarize when they:

• Give or receive aid from another student or another person during a test, quiz, or homework assignment when they were told to work alone.
• Use notes or books when taking a quiz or test (either in a class or on-line) unless an instructor has given permission to use them.
• Copy all or part of another student's work—an exam, worksheet, homework assignment, essay, speech, musical composition, web production, etc.—and submit it as their own work.
• Copy all or part of any published or copyrighted source such as a book, periodical article, or musical composition and submit it as their own work.
• “Cut and paste” information from a digital source such as a CD-ROM or web page and submit it as their own work.

• Steal ideas or conceptual frameworks from another source and submit them as their own without giving proper credit to the source.
• Submit other people's work as their own (e.g., a roommate's term paper or one purchased over the Internet).
• Ask someone else to complete a writing project for them and revise and edit the work in such a way that they are not really the one responsible for the final document. (Please note: GC's faculty often encourage students to share their work in progress with others, in fact, the College even pays writing tutors to help students think through revising an assignment. This is simply a good habit for any scholar that we fully endorse. What we do not want students to do is let another person take over and complete an academic task that is their own responsibility.)

This list is not exhaustive, but should give a clear idea of what constitutes academic dishonesty. In general terms, academic dishonesty occurs when people knowingly or unknowingly take credit for words or ideas that are not their own in work that is produced for a class, presentation, publication, or other public domain. All forms of cheating and plagiarism involve intellectual theft, and thou shalt not steal!

Students are responsible to use appropriate quotation marks whenever they use words from another source. They must cite sources for ideas that originated with others. They are responsible to learn the specific documentation methods required in their chosen academic disciplines. Whenever they are in doubt about how to cite sources or use others' writings in their own, they should ask a professor.

Grading System
Students receive letter grades in most courses. The letters correspond with the following descriptions:

A— Superior scholarship
B—Scholarship distinctly above the average
C—Satisfactory achievement
D—Passing quality
F—Failure

Audits: Audited courses appear on the transcript with either a grade of T (successful audit) or N (unsuccessful audit). Students who audit courses receive no college credit and grades for audited courses do not affect the student's GPA. See “Auditing" for more information.

Incompletes: Faculty may assign grades of “I” when work for a course is incomplete at the end of the term and the cause of the delay was out of the student's control. Incompletes may only be given when the instructor and the student have arrived at a plan for work to be completed. A written plan for completion of all work must be submitted to the Records Office at the end of the term. The grade may be changed to any other grade by the end of the following semester. Unless the instructor submits another grade, a grade of F will automatically be assigned. The registrar must approve extensions beyond the close of the following semester.

Pass/Fail Courses: Some courses such as student teaching or other practica are graded on a pass/fail basis. Students may also elect to take other courses on a pass/fail basis. This option may be used in only one course per year, and the course may not be a general education requirement or part of the student's major. To take a course on this basis, a form must be filled out in the Records Office during the first two weeks of the semester.

A passing grade is indicated by the letter S (for satisfactory), and may be assigned when academic work was at least at the C- level. A failing grade is indicated by the letter U (for unsatisfactory) and indicates work at the F or D level. All courses recorded with S grades count toward graduation; courses with U grades do not. In either case, the credits do not affect the GPA. 

Withdrawals: Students withdrawing from a course receive a grade of W regardless of the quality of their work. (top)

Quality Points
For the purpose of determining scholastic standing and awarding honors, the following number of quality points for the grade indicated is recorded:

Grade Point Average
Grade point average (GPA) is a standard measure of academic achievement in courses a student has completed. GPA may be computed for a student over any number of semesters or any subset of courses, such as those in a major.

Grade point averages take into account three things: grades in each course, the number of credits in each course, and the total number of graded credit hours. To compute GPA, grades are converted to g rade points and then multiplied by the number of credit hours in a course. This allows courses carrying more credit to impact GPA more heavily than courses carrying little credit. For example, an “A” in a four credit course has more of an impact on GPA than an “A” in a one credit course. The product of grade point multiplied by course credit creates a value referred to as a quality point. GPA is the sum of quality points divided by the sum of credit hours that have been graded:

The College GPA is computed only on courses taken in residence at Greenville. For courses that are repeated, only the highest grade received affects GPA. If a course is repeated outside of Greenville College and transferred back, only the grade taken at GC (even if it is lower) will affect GPA. GPA is not influenced by grades in audited or pass/fail courses, those courses currently incomplete, or courses from which students have withdrawn. (top)

Classification of Students
Students who have earned:
FRESHMAN: 0-29.5 credits
SOPHOMORE: 30-59.5 credits
JUNIOR: 60-92.5 credits
SENIOR: 93 or more credits
GUEST: Any student taking courses but not seeking a degree
FULL-TIME: Any student taking at least 12 credits per semester
PART-TIME: Any student carrying less than 12 credits per semester (top)

Class Absences
Students at Greenville College are expected to comply with the attendance policy established for each course. Instructors are responsible for clearly communicating the attendance policy in each course, and may consider attendance in evaluating students' performance, or as a source of information for use in counseling individual students. (top)

Graduation Application Procedures
Degrees are awarded and diplomas are distributed three times during the year: May, August, and December. All students wishing to earn a degree from Greenville College must complete a graduation application. Applications are distributed during class meetings to eligible students by the program director, typically in December or January. Students may also request an application directly from the Office of Adult and Graduate Studies.

Students expecting to participate in commencement ceremonies, which are held each May, must submit an application no later than February 15 prior to graduation. An application for graduation must be submitted, even if the student is not participating in commencement ceremonies.

Students planning to graduate in August must apply for graduation prior to March 15 and December graduates must apply before October 15. Students wishing to participate in a ceremony should wait for the following May graduation. Additional graduation information and details regarding participation in commencement and the receipt of diplomas are found in the Student Handbook for each program. (top)

Final Honors
Students in the GOAL program are eligible for academic honors. Honors are not awarded at the graduate level.

Final honors are determined when all requirements have been met for the degree. Students who complete the 38 credits required of the organizational leadership major with a 3.50 or higher grade point average will be awarded honors of cum laude. Magna cum laude is awarded to students who earn a 3.85 or higher grade point average in all college work, including work from all other institutions. Students who earn at least a 3.85 GPA in the GOAL program but whose GPA for all college work is less than 3.85 will receive cum laude honors.

If special permission is granted to participate in commencement with some coursework pending, honors will be held until all work is completed. Honors will be recorded on the transcript to recognize outstanding academic performance. (top)

Earning a Second Degree
Students occasionally wish to earn more than one degree (e.g. both a B.A. and B.S.). In order to earn two degrees, the following requirements must be met:

1. All of the regular requirements for the degree must be met.
2. The major for the second degree must be from a different department or the requirements for the second major must be substantially different and lead to a different degree.
3. At least 16 credits must be earned beyond the minimum 126 credits to receive a second degree (for a total of at least 142 credits).

Note that earning multiple degrees is not the same thing as having multiple majors. Students having multiple majors in programs that lead to a single degree (e.g. bachelor of arts ) would not receive multiple degrees. For example, a student majoring in both English and religion would not be earning two degrees, as both of those majors lead to a B.A. The only time that multiple majors can lead to multiple degrees is when all three criteria above are met. The earning of multiple degrees, therefore, is based on different (and generally more extensive) requirements than those that lead to the completion of multiple majors.

Some examples:
•  A student wishes to earn a B.A. with a major in psychology and a B.S. with a major in management. The student must complete at least 142 total hours, 126 hours minimally required to receive one of the degrees plus an additional 16 hours. If the student earned fewer than 142 total credits, he or she would not receive both degrees, though both majors would be noted on the transcript.

•  A student wishes to earn a B.S. degree with a major in accounting and a B.A. degree with a major in management. If the total credit hours are sufficient (126 + 16), and the requirements for both majors have been fulfilled, the student can receive both degrees.

•  A student wishes to earn both a B.A. degree and a B.S. degree with a major in management. This is not acceptable, because the degrees are not in different majors.

Career Services Center
The Office of Career Services provides comprehensive services to help students and alumni gain self-knowledge and develop a better understanding of the world of work in order to implement career goals. Career counseling is available to assist students with life/career issues such as choice of major, career alternatives, career transitions, and preparation for the job search. Orientation sessions are offered to help acquaint students with all the services provided. Workshops are offered each semester on résumé writing, interviewing skills, and job search strategies. In the Career Resource Center, students can obtain information about occupations, career fields, résumé writing, job search strategies, interviewing techniques, graduate schools, labor market trends, employer information, and job openings. Full-time, part-time, co-op, internship, and summer employment opportunities are coordinated and posted by the office. Students interested in exploring career related interests, and in gaining professional work experience, can participate in the resume referral program for co-op, internship, and full-time positions. The Office coordinates job fair activities to assist students in obtaining professional employment. In addition, the Office coordinates on-campus recruiting and interviewing with a wide variety of employers. The Office also coordinates the Illinois Board of Higher Education Cooperative Education Program Grant. Important information and links are available on the College web page at http://www.greenville.edu/career. The Office is located in the Ruby E. Dare Library. (top)

•  Peer Tutoring for General Education Courses
•  Writing Lab Tutors
•  Academic Counseling
•  Study Skills
•  Reading Assessment
•  Accountability
•  Limited Services for Students with Disabilities
•  Off campus Study Opportunities (top)

Transcripts
Upon the written request of a student, the Records Office will issue an official transcript of credits. The first transcript is issued without cost while a fee of $1.00 must accompany each succeeding request for currently enrolled students or $5.00 for former students. Students with an unpaid account or note with the College, or any other College authorized agency including local banks, will not be furnished a transcript of credit or receive a diploma until the account or note has been paid in full.

Transcript requests along with appropriate payment may be sent to:

Records Office
Greenville College
315 E. College Avenue
Greenville, IL 62246-0159

Alternatively, a faxed request will be accepted with adequate credit card information for charges. The fax number is 618-664-9775. (top)

A federal statute called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) grants students certain rights with regard to their educational records and governs the release of and access to educational records. Greenville College accords students all rights granted under FERPA.

FERPA gives students the right to inspect and review information contained in their educational records, to challenge the contents of their educational records, to have a hearing if the outcome of the challenge is unsatisfactory, and to submit explanatory statements for inclusion in their files if they feel the hearing panel's decisions are unacceptable. The Records Office at Greenville College has been designated by the institution to coordinate the inspection and review of procedures for student educational records, which include admissions, personal, and academic files. Students wishing to review their educational records must give a written request to the registrar listing the item or items of interest. Only records covered in FERPA are made available within 45 days of the request.

Students may not inspect and review the following as outlined by the Act: financial information submitted by their parents; confidential letters and recommendations associated with admissions, employment or job placement, or honors to which they have waived their rights of inspection and review; or educational records containing information about more than one student, in which case the institution permits access only to that part of the record which pertains to the inquiring student.

Students, parents, and other interested parties should be aware that not all educational records are treated alike. Some are confidential and some are not. Information that is not confidential is called directory information. In contrast to confidential information, directory information can be freely published or made available to interested parties.

The College has defined the following as directory information: the student's name, parents' names and addresses, campus and home addresses, electronic mail address, telephone numbers, date and place of birth, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, dates of attendance, enrollment status (e.g. undergraduate or graduate, full time or part time), major field of study, degrees and awards received, denominational or religious preference, the most recent previous school attended, and for members of athletic teams, height, weight and position played. The College also considers photographs (non-captioned) to be directory information. As such, release of photographs also is permitted.

Students may restrict the release of their directory information to third parties by annually submitting a signed and dated statement to the Records Office within the first two weeks of a semester. Signed statements restricting the release of directory information expire at the beginning of each fall semester. If students do not restrict the release of directory information, Greenville College may make public or release such information to third parties at its discretion.

All educational records that are not considered directory information are confidential. Confidential information is released or accessible only to certain parties. According to FERPA, these confidential records may be released only to the student him- or herself, parents of students who have demonstrated that they claim the student as a dependent on their federal income tax form, other parties when a student requests a release of such information to the College in writing, or in compliance with a subpoena. Parents can demonstrate that they claim a student as a dependent on a federal income tax form by providing a copy of federal tax form 1040 to the Records Office for the most recent tax year. Parents must supply the tax form to the College annually. Evidence that a parent claims a student as a dependent expires on April 15 of each year.

Under FERPA confidential records are accessible to personnel acting in the student's direct educational interest or to others in the case of an emergency in which access to educational records may help protect the health or safety of students or other person. Personnel acting in the student's educational interest may include those employees in administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff positions; a person or organization with whom the College has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; a student serving on an official committee such as a disciplinary or grievance committee or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. No other party shall have access to, nor does the institution release any confidential information from students' education records without the written consent of the student.

Students have the right to file a complaint concerning alleged failures by Greenville College to comply with the requirements of FERPA with the U.S. Department of Education at the following address:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202-5901

Last updated: August 9, 2004