Tag: academic

Course Overload

A class schedule containing more than 18 credit hours in one semester is considered a course overload. Students who wish to register for an overload must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and must be in good academic standing. Permission to take above 18 credit hours in one semester is granted by the academic advisor.

Class Level

Undergraduate Students

Class level is determined at the time of admission and at the end of each subsequent semester during which the student is enrolled based on the number of credits earned. Degree-seeking students are classified as follows:

For students following the 2024/2025 catalog year (or later):

  • Freshmen up to 29.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Sophomores 30 – 59.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Juniors 60 – 89.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Seniors 90 or more credits completed or in progress

For students following the 2023/2024 catalog year (or prior):

  • Freshmen up to 29.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Sophomores 30 – 62.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Juniors 63 – 92.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Seniors 93 or more credits completed or in progress

All students, regardless of catalog year, will be eligible for assigned priority registration following the class levels defined for the 2024/2025 guidelines. 

Financial Aid eligibility will factor in a student’s current assigned catalog year to determine class level. 

Graduate Students

Class level is determined at the time of admission and at the end of each subsequent semester during which the student is enrolled based on the number of credits earned. Degree-seeking students are classified as follows:

  • First Year up to 29.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Second Year 30 – 60 credits completed or in progress

Internship Program

The Internship Program allows qualified students to earn academic credit while gaining first-hand experience in their chosen fields. Internships are available to BFA students with a junior or senior ranking and MFA students who completed one year of course work– although it is never too early to begin researching opportunities.  

Benefits Students Gain by Participating in an Internship

  • Using classroom skills in a real-world employment situation
  • Learning new skills from professionals in one’s chosen field
  • Gaining first-hand work experience prior to graduation
  • Networking with professionals, which may lead to future employment opportunities

Steps to Pursue an Internship for Credit 

Internships for credit are intended to replace a studio or elective course in your major. Course placement will be determined and approved by the department chair.  Students may earn 3 or 6 credits for an internship, depending on internship structure and contact hours.

BFA Requirements:  

  • Student must be a Junior or Senior in studio courses.   
  • Student must meet the College’s Junior Status Policy requirements.  
  • Student interns must have a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or higher. 
  • Portfolio Approval Form signed by Department Chair or full-time faculty member.
  • All students pursuing an internship must have their portfolio approved by their department chair or full-time faculty member. 

MFA Requirements:  

  • Complete one year of course work.
  • Grade Point Average of 3.0 or better.
  • Portfolio Approval Form signed by Department Chair or full-time faculty member.
  • All students pursuing an internship must have their portfolio approved by their department chair or full-time faculty member.

Students may search for internships in the following ways:

  • Visit CCS Handshake to view internships and jobs that have been vetted by the Office of Partnerships 
  • Job Search sites such as the ones listed in the Additional Resources section on the  Office of Partnerships departmental page
  • Visit websites of companies of interest to research internship opportunities and the application process.  
  • Schedule an appointment with the Office of Partnerships if additional assistance is needed.   

Once you have secured your internship location:

Considerations:

  • For credit internships are only $450 for 3 credits.
  • A student may take ONE 6-credit internship or TWO 3-credit internships. 
  • The contact hour requirement for a three-credit internship is 135 hours over the course of the semester; six-credit internships require 270 contact hours over the course of the semester.
  • You must register for your internship when you register for classes. The last day to add a class is the same for internships. Contact the Office of Partnerships to get the paperwork necessary to register for a for credit internship.

Requirements:

BFA

  • Must get approval from your Department Chair
  • Portfolio approval form required on file
  • Must be a Junior or Senior in studio courses
  • Must  meet the College’s Junior Status Policy 
  • Must have a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or higher

MFA

  • Must complete one year of course work
  • Must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher

Onboarding Process:

  • Share an update with your Chair to identify a Faculty Supervisor
  • Share an update with your Academic Advisor for credit approval 
  • Collaborate with Office of Partnerships to complete necessary paperwork:
    • Portfolio Approval Form (if needed)
    • Internship Site Information Form and Learning Contract (In collaboration with your Internship Site Supervisor)  Link to form: Fillalble Internship Site Information Sheet AND Learning Contract
    • Provide GPA, Student ID, name of faculty supervisor and which course will be replaced with Office of Partnerships
  • Provide Weekly Journal Entries
  • Two check-ins with Faculty Supervisor
  • Final Presentation with Faculty Supervisor
  • Submit all information to Office of Partnerships before drop/add date each semester

For more information contact Shannon McPartlon – smcpartlon@collegeforcreativestudies.edu

Internship Cost and Billing

Internships for credit are billed at a lower per-credit hour rate ($150 per credit hour) than other CCS coursework. 

All enrolled courses, including internship courses for credit, will be billed the same tuition rate .  The Financial Aid Office will be notified that a student is taking an internship for credit and will apply the Internship Grant to the students account, reducing the internship course cost to $150.00 per credit hour or $450.00 for a 3-credit internship course or $900.00 for a 6-credit internship course. 

A student can review their semester billing statement through Self Service and contact the Financial Aid Office to discuss any further financial aid eligibility. 

Steps to Pursue a Non-Credit Internship

Non-credit internships are another option for students to pursue a professional experience. Non-credit internships do not require a specific GPA, class standing or a mandated number of contact hours.  There is no tuition cost for a non-credit internship and there is no limit on the number of non-credit internship opportunities that a student can take.

Students who will be on hiatus or enrolled less than 6 credits during their internship should contact the Financial Aid Office in order to fully understand any financial implications.

Declaring or Changing Majors

If you are an undeclared student and need to declare your major, or you are a student who wishes to change your major, you must:

  1. Meet with a staff advisor in the Academic Advising and Registration Office (AARO)to discuss your plans. Complete and sign the Change of Major form. It is best to make any changes before registering for the upcoming semester.
  2. Meet with the chair of the department you intend to enter and have him/her approve the transfer of any credits from your old major to the new major (if applicable) and sign and date the Change of Major Form.

    The Program Manager will forward the completed form to the Academic Advising and Registration Office.

If a student decides to change majors, all classes already taken will count in the maximum timeframe SAP evaluation. It is possible a change of major could impact your SAP standing.

Grade Appeal Process

Students who have concerns about their grades should discuss those concerns with the instructor who issued the grade. If a solution cannot be reached, the student should meet with the appropriate Department Chair to discuss and resolve the issue. If resolution still cannot be reached, students may then submit a written request for an appeal to the Office of Academic Affairs identifying the course and instructor, along with an explanation of the circumstances and reason for the request. Students must submit this documentation within 60 days after the last day of the semester in which the student was enrolled in the course. The Office of Academic Affairs will appoint a Hearing Officer (an academic Dean, the Provost, or a Department Chair other than the Department from which the appeal originates) and will schedule an academic hearing to be attended by the instructor, the student, the Department Chair, and the Hearing Officer. The Student Ombudsman may attend the hearing, at the student’s request. No other persons will be allowed in the hearing. The Hearing Officer will chair the hearing.

Students have the right to appeal the results of this hearing. These appeals must be initiated in writing either via email or in hard-copy to the Office of Academic Affairs within seven business days following the findings of the hearing. The appeal will be submitted to the Academic Performance Committee who will review it and render a final decision or conduct an appeal hearing before reaching a final decision. If the Committee is unable to meet in a timely manner, the appropriate Dean or the Provost may serve as the Hearing Officer. The appeal decision will be communicated to the student in written form and documentation will be placed in their file. The ruling of the Academic Performance Committee (or the Provost or appropriate Dean, as applicable) is final.

Grade Changes

Any grade dispute must be addressed with the instructor that issued the grade. Should the instructor agree to change the grade, he or she must complete a Grade Change Form. If the dispute is not resolved, the student may initiate the Grade Appeal Process.

Grade changes must occur within 60 days of the last day of the semester in which the student was enrolled in the course. The Office of Academic Affairs must approve all grade changes beyond a 60-day period.

Students who have a grade change or incomplete grade changed after Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) has already been processed for any semester must notify Academic Advising and Registration of the change. At that time SAP will be recalculated to determine if the SAP status needs to be modified and the Office of Academic Advising and Registration will notify the Office of Financial Aid.

Class Audit

Students, graduates and visitors may audit a class on a space-available basis. No academic credit is awarded for audited courses. Those wishing to audit a course may register by adhering to the policy and following the procedures and guidelines listed below:

  1. Matriculating (B.F.A.) and nonmatriculating (e.g., visitors, CCS graduates) students who wish to audit a class must elect to do so at the time of registration by submitting a completed Audit Registration form, available in the Academic Advising and Registration Office.
  2. Students electing to audit a class may not register for that class until the first week of class for the semester. Students may not register for a class after the first week of any semester.
  3. Once the election has been made to audit a class, the student may not change the registration to receive credit for the class.
  4. Audited courses carry no credit and do not satisfy degree requirements. Upon completion of the course, the audit grade of X will appear on the student’s transcript. (The grade of X is not used in the calculation of cumulative grade point average or course completion rate.)
  5. Regular tuition rates are charged for audited courses. The refund policy for audited and credit courses is the same and is outlined in the Course Schedule.
  6. Matriculating (B.F.A.) students are permitted to audit one course each semester during their B.F.A. tenure at CCS, with a staff advisor’s approval.
  7. Nonmatriculating students (visitors, CCS graduates) are limited to three classes per semester.

Incomplete Grades

This policy details the criteria and process for an “I” or Incomplete grade.

An incomplete or grade of “I” may be given to a student when a minimal number of course assignments have not been completed due to unavoidable and legitimate circumstances (i.e., injury, hospitalization, jury duty, death of a family member, or other reasons beyond a student’s control).Completion of at least 75% of course work at passing levels is recommended before an “I” grade is assigned.

Unless otherwise indicated, students have one semester to finish any work necessary to complete the course (i.e. Incompletes assigned for the fall semester must be completed by the winter semester; Incompletes assigned for the winter/summer semester must be completed by the fall semester). If work is not completed within this timeframe the Incomplete Grade will default to the grade earned.  Any student receiving an “I” grade in their anticipated semester of graduation, will graduate in a later semester after all unsatisfied credits are confirmed. 

Important: Faculty may exercise the grade change form for situations where the incomplete grade is not warranted, but late assignments have been approved (see Grade Change policy).

Incomplete Grade Verification

The Instructor should submit the current “grade earned” (A-F) for their student during final grading submissions for their course, in the grading module.

  • For students approved to receive an “I” grade: the instructor must submit a completed Incomplete Grade Verification Form to the Academic Advising & Registration Office (AARO).
  • The reason for the incomplete grade and outstanding assignments must be identified on the form and agreed upon by the student.
  • The instructor, student and department chairperson must sign the form.
  • All forms must be received by the final grading deadline of the current semester for “I” grade processing. Incomplete grade submissions will be entered/updated by AARO staff.
  • Forms not received by the deadline will maintain records displaying the “grade earned”.

Updating an Assigned “I” Grade

  • Once the required coursework is completed by the student, the instructor must submit a Grade Change Form with all required signatures, to the AARO, by the “I” Grade Expire Date (or by the final grade due date for the subsequent semester).
  • Assigned “I” grades that do not have grade change submissions , will revert back to the student’s original “grade earned”.
  • The Office of Academic Affairs must approve all standard grade changes beyond a 60-day period and any grade changes for Incompletes.
  • The final assigned grade is calculated into the student’s cumulative GPA and SAP (see Satisfactory Academic Progress for Undergraduate Students and Satisfactory Academic progress for Graduate Students).

Resolving “I” Grades if the faculty is no longer teaching at CCS:
Incomplete Grades assigned by a former faculty member will be handled by the Department Chair of the course; who will review the required assignments and submissions to determine a final grade. The required grade change form must be completed and submitted by the Department Chair to the AARO.

Campus and Facility Access

Students working on Incomplete Grades are not granted automatic access to CCS facilities (studios, labs or classrooms). Departments are not obligated to ensure access to CCS facilities if a student is not registered and/or if a registered student has day/time conflicts during hours of facility open access.

If access to a CCS facility is required (or desired) to complete coursework for an incomplete grade, it is the student’s responsibility to:

  • communicate with the Instructor to understand expectations for completing the coursework;
  • and to confirm If open access to facilities are available through the affiliated department, before agreeing to the incomplete grade.

If campus facilities are approved for use, each department can determine arrangements for reasonable access, which should be verified in advance with appropriate campus offices as required (i.e. registration, security, etc); and included on the Incomplete Grading Form.