Academic Policies and Procedures

Academic Standing is determined by the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at the end of each semester/term (fall, winter, spring, summer). Appeals to academic standing are heard each June/July and January by the Admission Readmission Committee.

Undergraduates

• Good Academic Standing - Students whose SU cumulative grade point averages (GPAs) are at least 2.0. Students who are not in good academic standing are either on academic probation or on restricted status.
• Academic Probation - Students who are not in good academic standing, but who are still admitted and pursuing degrees. Such students have academic (and other) limitations placed upon them.
• Restricted Status - Previously admitted students whose admissions have been revoked because of poor academic performance and who are thereby neither admitted nor pursuing a degree. These students are allowed to register for up to eight credits as non-degree students.
• Dismissed Students - Previously enrolled students who are no longer allowed to attend the University.
• For additional information visit: Undergraduate Student Standards

Graduates

• To remain in good standing, graduate students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 for all graduate courses. Students who receive more than six credit hours of C or C+ and have utilized their allowable course repeat option will be dismissed from the program regardless of their GPA. Students should consult the policies of their specific graduate programs for further information about program academic standards.
• For additional information visit: Graduate Student Standards

Students who leave the University with a poor academic record and have not attended the University for at least five years may wish to receive academic clemency upon their return. Clemency can be granted for up to 16 credit hours of D and/or F. To be considered for clemency, students must apply during the initial semester, term, or session that they return and register. If granted, courses will still show on the transcript but will be removed from attempted hours (AHRS), earned hours (EHRS), quality hours (QHRS) and the grade point average (GPA) calculations. The Academic Clemency Form is available from the Registrar's forms page.

Undergraduate: While 12 to 19 credits is considered full time for tuition purposes, 15 credits is considered by the University to be an average load for a fall or spring semester. Students registering for more than 19 fall/spring semesters, 8 summer terms and/ or 7 winter term credits must receive written approval of their advisor and the dean of the school housing their major by completing a Request to Enroll in More Than a Normal Load form from the Registrar's forms page.

Enrollment Limit

 

Graduate: Full-time status during the fall and spring semester requires enrollment in a minimum of 9 graduate semester hours (6 hours for graduate assistants). Full-time status in the winter and summer terms requires enrollment in a minimum of 6 graduate semester hours.

Overload requests for course loads in excess of 12 hours during the fall or spring semester, 9 hours during the summer term or 6 hours during the winter term, must be approved by the program director

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. FERPA affords eligible students certain rights with respect to their educational records. An “eligible student” under FERPA is a student who is 18 years of age or older or who attends a postsecondary institution.

View the Registrar's FERPA webpage for more information.

Undergraduate Grading System

The following grades are used to indicate undergraduates’ achievement in individual courses:

• A - Excellent
• B - Very good
• C - Satisfactory
• D - Passing
• F - Failure
• I - Incomplete
• PS - Pass
• NP - No Pass
• S - Pass
• U - Unsatisfactorily
• AU - Audit
• W – Withdrawal (Official withdrawal from a course during the schedule adjustment period.)
• WP/WF - Withdrawal Passing/Withdrawal Failing (Official withdrawal from a course after the schedule adjustment period, denoting passing or failing status at the time of the withdrawal.)
• NR - Grade Not Reported by Instructor
• IP - In Progress
• X - Clemency Grade

Undergraduate Grade Point System

Only courses completed at Salisbury University or through certain approved cooperative programs, and assigned grades of A, B, C, D and F, are used in the grade point average (GPA) calculations.

Quality points are assigned to letter grades, such that A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1 and F=0. Quality points for individual courses are computed by multiplying the quality points assigned an individual letter grade by the credit hours received for the course.

The cumulative GPA is calculated by dividing the total quality points earned (QPTS) for all semesters by the total applicable credit hours (QHRS).

Graduate Grading System

A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on all graduate work taken at the University is required for graduation. Grades will indicate academic achievement as follows:

• Requests to be added to a course after the drop-add period require signatures from the instructor, chair, and Academic Advising Center and are then processed by the Registrar’s Office.
• Appeals for a Retroactive Withdraw are submitted through the Academic Advising Center and reviewed by the deans.
• General Policy Waivers are submitted through the Registrar’s webpage and are reviewed by the Academic Affairs Office.

Undergraduate

Unless otherwise indicated in the course description, undergraduates may not receive credit more than once for courses covering the same or similar content or topics.

Students repeating a course covering the same or similar content will receive credit for the last occurrence of the course only, provided the course is graded A, B, C, D, F or I. Repeated coursework is noted as such on the student record, remains in the student’s attempted hour calculations, and is removed from the earned hour, quality point and GPA calculations.

Henson School of Science and Technology and School of Health Sciences Course Repeat Policy

Students may repeat courses offered by the Henson School of Science and Technology and the School of Health Sciences one time at SU without special permission. This policy applies to all undergraduate courses with the following prefixes: AHPH, ATTR, BIOL, CHEM, COSC, DSCI, ENGR, EXSC, FTWL, GEOG, GEOL, HLSC, HLTH, MATH, MDTC, PHYS, RESP and URPL.

Perdue School of Business Course Repeat Policy

Pre-professional courses in the Perdue School of Business may only be repeated one time. If a student fails to satisfactorily complete the course or does not reach the minimum gate GPA for admission, the student may not continue in the business program. Courses repeated to fulfill a Perdue School major or minor requirement must be repeated at Salisbury University.

Graduate

While students may not receive credit more than once for courses that cover the same content, it may be possible for students to repeat courses in order to improve their grade point average. However, the last grade received for a course (whether the grade is higher or lower than the original grade) is used to compute a student’s cumulative grade point average.

All graduate programs have strict limitations on the number of courses that may be repeated. No program permits more than two course repetitions for the purpose of grade improvement. Some permit fewer than two. Students should consult their specific graduate program for policies concerning the repeating of courses.

In some instances, students may repeat special topics courses offered under like course codes if allowed by the department.

Salisbury University has established the Student Academic Grievance Policy to give students a forum in which to address concerns related to academic matters (e.g., grade disputes and professional program dismissals when they do not involve an academic integrity violation). For additional information visit: Student Grievance Policy | Salisbury University.

The Tuition Residency Office is responsible for determining the eligibility of current and prospective students to be billed at the in-state tuition rate. The office is in Holloway Hall 223 and has normal University operating hours of 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Policy on Student Classification for Admission, Tuition and Charge-Differential Purposes is used for tuition residency decisions. For additional information, visit: Tuition Residency Office | Salisbury University.

Classes can be dropped during the Drop/Add period for any term, and the course will not appear on a transcript. After this deadline, students can only withdraw from a course through midsemester, and it will appear on the transcript with a grade of W; it will not affect their GPA.

• To drop or withdraw from a course, click on the Enrollment tile in GullNet and select “Enrollment: Drop Classes.”

After midsemester, the student can withdraw from the entire semester until 5:00 PM on the second to the last day of classes but not from an individual course. The student will receive a “WP” (withdraw while passing) or a “WF” (withdraw while failing) grade for each course. Grades of "WP" and "WF" do not affect their GPA.

• To withdraw from the semester, submit a Withdrawal Form in GullNet under the Enrollment Tile and then Withdraw from University.

View the Academic Calendar for specific deadlines for each semester.

Appeals for a backdated withdrawal are initiated by the student through the Academic Advising Center.

For additional information, visit: Withdrawal FAQ