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Academic Regulations and Policies

Drug-Free Campus Policy

Students are prohibited by Indiana University from using or possessing alcoholic beverages, any drug or controlled substance, or drug paraphernalia on university property or in the course of a university or student organization activity. Students are responsible for acquainting themselves with this policy and with sanctions for violation of the policy.

Emergency Closing

The primary person responsible for making the decision to close or cancel classes at IU South Bend is the chancellor. In the chancellor’s absence, the executive vice chancellor for academic affairs will make the decision.

The campus is notified of any closing or emergency situation through the IU South Bend IU Notify system which includes telephone calls, e-mail, and text messaging. Information is also delivered by the administration through telephone trees, switchboard messages, the campus electronic bulletin board, the IU South Bend website, and local news media. 

Enrollment Restriction

No undergraduate student, except those who declare business as their major, is allowed to take more than 23 percent of his or her coursework credit hours in business courses under any circumstances. The undergraduate business program has the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of this requirement. Any minor in business is subject to approval by the undergraduate business program office.

Final Examination Scheduling Policy

Students are to be notified by the instructor of any deviation from the published final examination schedule no later than six weeks prior to the beginning of the final examination period. In the event a student is scheduled to take more than two final examinations on the same day, the student may exercise the following options:

• Take final examinations as scheduled.
• Consult with the instructor or academic program giving the final examination to determine if any make-up examination(s) is or can be scheduled. If no make-up examination is available, then the student must notify the instructor or academic program of the course scheduled for the third (and additional) final examination of the day. That instructor or that academic program is then obligated to adjust the student’s final examination schedule, provided the student has notified that instructor or academic program 30 calendar days or more prior to the date on which the final examination scheduling conflict exists.

Grade Grievances

If a student disputes his or her final course grade, the student must obtain a Student Initiated Grade Change Request Form from the Office of the Registrar, prepare a personal statement documenting the reason(s) for the change of grade, and discuss the matter with the faculty member assigning the grade no later than 3 years from the end date of the semester in question. The student should provide copies of applicable supporting documentation as part of the appeal process. After the student has met with the faculty member and has received their recommendation of yes or no, they will need to obtain recommendations from the faculty member’s department chair or area coordinator (if applicable) and dean. Completed Student Initiated Grade Change Request Forms, personal statements, and supporting documentation need to be returned to the Office of the Registrar for review by the Academic Affairs Committee (AAC). The AAC will review the appeal and forward a recommendation to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for a final decision.

Grade Replacement Policy

The IU South Bend Grade Replacement Policy modifies the current Indiana University Faculty Council FX policy by broadening the replacement option to courses in which an undergraduate student receives any grade except a W, I, or NC. The purpose of this expansion is to allow an IU South Bend student who has done poorly in a course, even if he or she has not failed the course, to repeat the course and remove the weight of the earlier grade from the student’s cumulative grade point average. This modified grade replacement policy applies only to courses taken on the IU South Bend campus. Courses taken on other Indiana University campuses can still be replaced, but only under the old system. That is, only if the original grades in those courses were F’s. This grade replacement policy follows the Indiana University system’s general rule that a student can replace (i.e., FX) a maximum of three courses or a maximum of 10 credit hours (whichever comes first). Any FX courses prior to the fall of 2004 are included in this 10 credit hour maximum. A student can repeat a course for which grade replacement is sought only once.

A student who wishes to apply for grade replacement must obtain the approval of his or her academic unit. Some IU South Bend academic units may not honor the grade replacement policy when they consider, for example, admission to the academic unit, the granting of honors and academic distinction, and other matters. Therefore, each student is advised to check beforehand with his or her academic unit regarding the rules and restrictions that may apply. Furthermore, every student should recognize that other higher education institutions may not honor this grade replacement policy. Some particularly competitive undergraduate programs and most graduate-level programs in medicine, law, and other fields may use the original grades for the purposes of determining the grade point average required for admission.

The grade replacement option is subject to the following considerations:

1. The IU South Bend grade replacement policy applies to undergraduate courses taken by students who do not have a bachelor’s degree. If a bachelor’s degree has been awarded, in no case may a grade be replaced for a course taken prior to the awarding of that degree.
2. This policy merely excludes certain grades from the calculation of the cumulative grade point average (CGPA). All grades remain a part of a student’s academic record; a notation on the transcript indicates if a grade is not included in the GPA calculation. In determining admission, the meeting of degree requirements, the granting of honors and academic distinction, and other matters, each academic unit may use a GPA calculation that does not honor grade replacement. The GPA earned after grade replacement is subject to each academic unit’s rules regarding academic probation and dismissal. In short, each academic unit retains the right to consider, for internal purposes, a student’s complete academic record.
3. Under this policy, a student can replace the grades in any course taken at IU South Bend, except courses in which the student received the grades of W, I, or NC. However, courses taken at any other Indiana University campus can be replaced only if a student received the grade of F.
4. A student may exercise the grade replacement policy for a maximum of three courses or 10 credit hours (whichever comes first). The 10 credit hour limit includes any courses previously replaced under the FX policy prior to 2004 and any previously FX’d courses that were approved for academic renewal. A student may exercise the grade replacement policy only once for any single course.
5. Grade replacement under this policy ordinarily is available for undergraduate courses with fixed credit hours and fixed topics. The course in which the student reenrolls must be the same course for which grade replacement is sought. Grades in courses that have different titles or variable topics may be replaced only if the content in both courses is the same. In such cases, a student may petition to replace a grade in one course with the grade earned in another course, provided the two courses are equivalent. To determine equivalence, a comparison of course descriptions alone is not adequate. In making this determination, the faculty offering the course shall apply the same criteria as used in evaluating courses for transfer purposes.
6. Once invoked, a student may not subsequently request reversal of the grade replacement granted to a particular course.
7. Subject to the restrictions set out in earlier paragraphs, a student who received academic renewals may still use grade replacement for work taken subsequent to the granting of academic renewal.
8. Grade replacement does not happen automatically. It is the responsibility of the student who wishes to repeat a course in order to replace the grade to consult with his or her academic unit regarding its policies.
9. Enforcement of the grade replacement policy is the responsibility of the academic unit that certifies a student’s fulfillment of degree requirements. Problems relating to the policy are referred to the academic unit’s dean or equivalent.
10. IU South Bend joins all other campuses in honoring the principle that the grade policies on the degree-granting campus are applicable to each student. Hence, if an IU South Bend student transfers to another Indiana University campus, IU South Bend honors requests from that campus, on behalf of the student, to replace a grade earned at IU South Bend. Were the student to return to IU South Bend for graduation, however, the student must check with their academic unit for their policies regarding grade replacement.
11. This policy is inapplicable to any grades issues owing to academic dishonesty. As a precondition of any student receiving academic renewal, the registrar’s office formally evaluates the student’s record to identify any grades resulting from academic dishonesty.

Grading Code

The official grade code of the university is as follows: A (highest passing grade), B, C, D (lowest passing grade), F (Fail), I (Incomplete), P (Pass), S (Satisfactory), and W (Withdrawn). I, P, S, and W are not calculated in a student’s GPA, but the grade of F is calculated as 0 points.
Quality points are assigned for purposes of determining the CGPA as follows:

Grading Code Scale

A+  /  4.0  
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

Grade Point Average

A minimum CGPA of 2.0 (C) is required for undergraduates. Transfer students admitted from other institutions with deficiencies in credit points are expected to overcome those deficiencies with IU South Bend grades.

Photo credit | Teresa Sheppard