Academic Policies & Procedures

Absences

From Final Examinations Students are required to adhere to the policies regarding final examinations as published in the Schedule of Classes.

From Scheduled Classes Illness or equivalent distress is the only acceptable excuse for absence from class. Other absences must be explained to the satisfaction of the instructor, who will decide whether omitted work may be made up.

Credit for Correspondence Courses

With prior approval, the School of Informatics will accept a maximum of two courses (6 credit hours total) by correspondence study to count toward the degree requirements. Only general elective courses may be taken by correspondence. Distance learning courses and courses conducted online are not considered correspondence courses and, therefore, do not have a credit hour limit associated with them.

Degree Application

Candidates for graduation must file an application with the school by March 1 for December graduation and October 1 for May, June, or August graduation. Credits for all course work, except that of the current semester, must be recorded on the candidate’s Indiana University transcript at least one month prior to the date of graduation.

Statute of Limitations

Candidates for the bachelor’s degree in informatics have the right to complete the degree requirements specified by the bulletin in effect at the time they entered Indiana University, provided that the required courses are available and that no more than eight calendar years have elapsed since the date of entry.

Grading Policies

The School of Informatics follows the official grading system of Indiana University described in the front of this bulletin.

Pass/Fail Option

Students in the School of Informatics may elect to take a maximum of 12 credit hours total under the Pass/Fail option. The procedure for declaring this option may be found in the Schedule of Classes. Special regulations affecting the Pass/Fail option for School of Informatics students are as follows: (blank line after this?)

  1. Only one course per semester or one course per summer session may be taken under the Pass/Fail option.
  2.  School of Informatics students may not take any informatics course Pass/Fail. In addition, the Pass/Fail option may not be used for any course that satisfies an admission or general education electives requirement or for any course in the student’s cognate area. Only university elective courses may be taken on a Pass/Fail basis.
  3. A grade of P is not counted in the grade point average; a grade of F is included. Grades of P cannot be changed to any other letter grade.
  4.  Pass/Fail forms are available in the school of informatics office.
FX Option

FX denotes an undergraduate level course originally failed and subsequently retaken. The School of Informatics will calculate FX grades as grades of F for internal purposes and degree requirements. This calculation will apply to all categories of academic standing (good standing, probation, and dismissal), class rank, and all grade point average requirements in the degree, including cumulative, semester, and major concentrations.

A student may use the FX option for purposes of the university transcript. An undergraduate student who has repeated a course previously failed may request to have only the second grade in that course counted in the student’s grade point average as entered on the student’s transcript. A student may exercise this FX option for no more than three courses, totaling no more than 10 credit hours. A student may use the FX option on the transcript only once for a given course. Requests for approval of FX courses should be made in consultation with the student’s advisor.

Withdrawals

A grade of W (Withdrawal) is given automatically to the student who withdraws from courses during the automatic withdrawal period as specified in the Schedule of Classes. After the automatic withdrawal period a student may withdraw only with the permission of the dean. This approval is given only for urgent reasons related to extended illness or equivalent distress. The desire to avoid a low grade is not an acceptable reason for withdrawal from a course.

Upon notification from the IUPUI registrar’s office that a student has accumulated eight (8) or more Ws, the School of Informatics will send a letter of concern to the student, requesting an explanation. This notification will likewise remind students that their record of withdrawals from courses may jeopardize financial aid. Students with 10 W’s may be regarded as not making the “reasonable academic progress” required to maintain eligibility for financial aid, and lack of such progress constitutes grounds for denying further financial aid.

Academic Standing

A student is in good academic standing for an Indiana University bachelor’s degree when his or her semester grade point average is a minimum of 2.0 (C) for the last semester’s course work and when his or her cumulative grade point average is at least 2.0 (C). Students must be in good academic standing to graduate.

Academic Probation

Students will be placed on academic probation if their cumulative or semester grade point average (semester grade index) is below 2.0. After one semester on probation, students who fail to return to good academic standing will be placed on critical probation. At the discretion of the dean, these students can be dismissed. If a student is given the opportunity to enroll under critical probation, the School of Informatics will establish strict conditions that must be met before that student will be allowed to register for future classes.

Dismissal

Students can be dismissed if they fail to return to good academic standing after one semester on critical probation. Students may also be dismissed if, in the opinion of the dean, they are not making satisfactory progress toward their degree.
Students eligible for dismissal will be notified in writing that they have been dismissed and will be withdrawn from classes for which they have registered.

Readmission

Dismissed students must petition the dean of the School of Informatics for readmission. A Petition for Readmission form must be filed by July 15 for fall, November 15 for spring, and April 15 for summer readmission. A student who has been dismissed for the second time is eligible to return to school only after being out of school for one regular semester and having petitioned successfully. A third dismissal is final. Dismissed students whose petitions are denied will not be allowed to register.