Graduate Students

This policy addresses academic integrity violations of undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate students should read inside the parenthesis below to identify the appropriate entities in charge of that step of the process.

Students, faculty, staff, and administrators of Western Carolina University (WCU) strive to achieve the highest standards of scholarship and integrity. Any violation of the Academic Integrity Policy is a serious offense because it threatens the quality of scholarship and undermines the integrity of the community. While academic in scope, any violation of this policy is by nature, a violation of the Code of Student Conduct and will follow the same conduct process (see ArticleVII.B.1.a.). If the charge occurs close to the end of an academic semester or term or in the event of the reasonable need of either party for additional time to gather information timelines may be extended at the discretion of the Department of Student Community Ethics (DSCE).

Violations of the Academic Integrity Policy include:

• Cheating. Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise
• Fabrication. Creating and/or falsifying information or citation in any academic exercise.
• Plagiarism. Representing the words or ideas of someone else as one’s own in any academic exercise.
• Facilitation. Helping or attempting to help someone to commit a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy in any academic exercise (e.g. allowing another to copy information during an examination).

Application for Graduation. Students must apply to graduate to have a degree conferred. The application for graduation can be found online in myWCU. Students should apply to graduate during the semester prior to the semester in which they will complete degree requirements. Students should pre-register for their final courses and review their degree audit to verify all requirements have been met before they apply to graduate. A graduation fee will be charged. Specific deadlines for filing degree applications are listed in the Academic Calendar.

Graduation Attendance. Candidates for degrees are required to be present at the commencement exercises in the prescribed academic dress. Requests for exceptions to this policy should be addressed to Dr. Carolyn Callaghan, Executive Director of Educational Outreach.

Enrollment. All students must be enrolled for credit during the semester in which they complete their graduate work or are scheduled to receive their degrees.

Courses listed in this catalog are open to graduate students only. At least half of the credit hours applied toward a master’s degree must be from courses numbered 600 and above. At least half of the credit hours applied toward the education specialist degree must be from courses numbered 700 and above. All of the credit hours applied toward a doctor of education degree must be from courses numbered 700 and above.

Course Loads. Full-time course load for graduate students per term is nine hours. The maximum course load is fifteen hours per term. The maximum course load during summer term is twelve hours.

Class Attendance. Graduate students are expected to attend all class meetings. Specific attendance regulations are announced by the instructor.

Grading System. The grades which may be assigned to graduate credit courses are as follows:

• Grade: A - Interpretation: Superior / Quality Points Per Hour: 4
• Grade: B - Interpretation: Good / Quality Points Per Hour: 3

• Grade: C - Interpretation: Passing / Quality Points Per Hour: 2

• Grade: F - Interpretation: Failure / Quality Points Per Hour: 0

• Grade: I - Interpretation: Incomplete / Quality Points Per Hour: -

• Grade: W - Interpretation: Withdrawal / Quality Points Per Hour:-

• Grade: AU - Interpretation: Audit / Quality Points Per Hour: -

• Grade: IP - Interpretation: Grade Pending / Quality Points Per Hour: -

• Grade: S - Interpretation: Satisfactory / Quality Points Per Hour: 0

• Grade: U - Interpretation: Unsatisfactory / Quality Points Per Hour: 0

Incomplete Grades. Instructors may give an incomplete grade when students are unable to complete a course for nonacademic reasons. An incomplete is not a satisfactory grade and may lead to an academic warning. All incomplete grades must be removed and a grade of A, B, C, F, S, or U must be submitted to the registrar by the last day of classes in the next semester, excluding the summer, an F being automatic if the student has not completed the coursework. A student may not register for the course again until the incomplete has been removed. All incomplete grades in courses taken as part of the degree program must be removed before graduation.

A grade of incomplete will be awarded only when there is a reasonable prospect that the student can pass the course by making up the work missed. The instructor is required to send to the department head a list of the conditions for removing the grade of incomplete. If the instructor is no longer in the employ of the university, the department head will remove the grade of incomplete upon completion of the stated requirements.

Grade Pending. An IP is assigned only for thesis research or similar courses to indicate that a grade is pending until the sequence of courses is completed. A grade of A, B, C, F, S, or U is then assigned to each course by the instructor.

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading. The use of S/U (pass/fail) grading is limited to selected courses in which standard or traditional grading is rendered difficult by the nature and purpose of the courses. The courses are identified in the master class schedule and in the course descriptions in this catalog. S (satisfactory) and U (unsatisfactory) are the only grades assigned in courses approved for pass/fail grading.

There are two levels of academic dismissal:
(1) Dismissal from a graduate program; or
(2) Dismissal from the Graduate School. Individual programs set criteria and make decisions related to program dismissal.

The Graduate School sets criteria and makes decisions for dismissal from the Graduate School.

Dismissal from the Graduate School:
A graduate student who accumulates three grades of C or any grade of F will be dismissed from the Graduate School. A student who has been admitted provisionally and fails to meet the terms of the provisional admission will also be dismissed from the Graduate School. Students will be informed in writing by the Graduate School at the time of dismissal.

Request for Readmission after Dismissal from the Graduate School:
A student may be readmitted to the Graduate School only once following academic dismissal. A student must contact the Graduate School in writing to request readmission after dismissal from the Graduate School. A request for readmission after dismissal from the Graduate School will be evaluated by program faculty and the Graduate School, taking into account the student’s performance in graduate school and the student’s potential for improved performance. Program faculty will make a readmission recommendation to the Graduate School which will be used in the Graduate School’s decision to approve or deny the student’s request for readmission. The Graduate School will notify the student of the readmission decision. Approval of readmission may be accompanied by additional requirements. Upon readmission the student must meet all requirements under the catalog in effect at the time of his/her readmission unless the program requires the student to meet the requirements of a previous catalog. A readmitted student who receives an additional grade of C or F will be permanently dismissed from the Graduate School.  

Dismissal from a Graduate Program:
Individual programs may have program-specific grounds for program dismissal, including but not limited to failure to adhere to technical standards, failure to pass comprehensive examinations, professional misconduct, or failure to successfully pass other programmatic requirements. The Program Director will notify the Graduate School in writing of the decision to dismiss a student from the program. Students will be informed of the program dismissal by the Graduate School. Program dismissal does not automatically result in dismissal from the Graduate School; the student may apply to another WCU graduate program as long as he/she is in good academic standing (GPA of 3.0 or better and fewer than three Cs or one F). However, registration for future terms will be dropped and a registration hold will be applied to the student’s record until s/he applies for and is accepted into another program.  

Request for Readmission after Dismissal from a Graduate Program:
A student may be readmitted to a program only once following dismissal from that program. A student must contact the Graduate School in writing to request readmission after dismissal from a program. A request for readmission after dismissal from the program will be evaluated by program faculty, taking into account the student’s potential for improved performance in the program. The Program Director will inform the Graduate School of the decision to approve or deny the student’s request for readmission and the Graduate School will notify the student of the readmission decision. Approval of readmission may be accompanied by additional requirements. Upon readmission the student must meet all requirements under the catalog in effect at the time of his/her readmission unless the program requires the student to meet the requirements of a previous catalog.