Admission - Academic Policies

[Registration and Courses] [Examinations and Grades] [Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress] [Standards of conduct] [Miscellaneous]

Registration and Courses

Orientation

At the beginning of every term, each campus conducts an orientation program especially designed to assist incoming students in adjusting to a new country. Lectures are planned to introduce students not only to some of the customs and cultural heritage of the host country, but to the practical aspects of living in that country as well. Students receive information on train and bus schedules, banking procedures, student discounts, restaurants, local customs etc. Every effort is made to ease the transition to life in a new country and to answer all questions students may have about the school and the host country.

Registration
Students are required to register in person on the date indicated in the Academic calendar.
Students who register late will be charged a late fee and may find some of the courses already closed. Students should consider their program requirements with care. Course descriptions can be found at the Director of Studies Office or with the Advisor. They will inform you if you must have a pre-requisite in order to register for certain courses. If you may need counselling, feel free to see the academic counsellor before registration day.
Summer session students must register for at least one course and may not enrol in more than 10 credit hours.

Add-drop
During the first 2 weeks of the semester (first week summer session) a student may add or drop a course by completing an Add/Drop form available at the Registrar's Office or in front of the Academic Advisors Office. Students should carefully read the add-drop instructions on this form. Add/Drops are not automatically given, the Academic Advisor must make the decision in each individual case.

Course Load
A full-time student takes between 12 credits (4 courses) and 18 credits(6 courses) each semester, the average being 15 credits. Further credits up to 21 may be taken by students with a good overall grade point average and approval by the director.
Credits over 19 are subject to a Credit Overload Fee.
A part-time student takes between 3 credits (1 course) and up to 10 credits (3 courses) per semester. Part-time students are not permitted to take independent studies nor can they register at an outside institution.

Credit
Credit is measured at the rate of one semester credit for every 15 academic hours of lecture-discussion. The academic hour is 50 minutes.

French Exams
These exams will be offered for non-native speakers on request during the student's first semester. You may sit for more than one language exam for placement, but may receive credit for only one of the exams; 16 credits being the maximum possible. There will be a fee for each examination. These exams may only be taken for credit during the students first semester at Schiller.

[top]

Examinations and Grades

Examinations
Final examination period is the week before the end of each semester.
All examinations are obligatory and students are required to take their examinations at the time indicated on the examination schedule. Exceptions are only made upon presentation of medical excuse. There is a fee for every specially scheduled exam.
Mid-term examinations are scheduled during regular class periods by each instructor.
Students are duly given the examination rules and regulations prior to their exams.

Grade Reports
At the end of the eighth week of each semester, as well as any other time deemed necessary, instructors report to the campus Registrar the names of students who are not doing satisfactory work. Reports are then sent to the students whose work has been reported as unsatisfactory. All students receive grade reports at the end of each term from the Main Registrar's office.

The work of each undergraduate or graduate student in a course is evaluated as follows:

The lowest grade that an undergraduate student can receive credit for a course is D.
The lowest grade that a graduate students can receive credit for the course is a C-.

Once a course grade has been submitted to the campus Registrar, it becomes a part of the student's permanent record.

NC Grade: students who have not completed the necessary requirements for a specific course will receive "No Credit" (NC).
This grade is considered final. Under no circumstances are students permitted to do additional work to receive more credit where an NC has been earned. In order to change an NC, students must retake the course in a subsequent semester and receive a satisfactory grade. The grade NC is averaged into the students Grade Point Average (GPA). If a student repeats a course in which an NC was received, only the new grade is calculated in the GPA.

I Grade: Incomplete grades are given only when a student has an official excuse.
Students must petition and receive written approval from the Academics Committee in order to receive an incomplete for a course. The students will have 8 weeks after the end of the semester, which the course was taken, to finish the required work and receive a grade for credit. When the work is completed, the instructor reports the semester grade. If the work is not completed within this period of time, the Incomplete (I) will automatically change to a NC (No Credit).

R Grade: students may repeat a course in which they have previously taken in order to raise their grade, but credit is only granted once. The original grade remains on the transcript, but only the second grade is used in calculating the GPA. This policy does not apply to those courses which, because of their content changes, may be repeated for credit.

W Grade: Students are permitted to withdraw from a course at any time during the
semester.
- Students may drop courses during the Drop-Add period without notation on the student's
transcript.
- Students who withdraw from a course after the two-week add-drop period but before the midterm exam will receive a "W" grade.
- Students who withdraw after the beginning of midterm exams and before the beginning of final exams must have the signature of their instructor indicting that they were passing the course, to be able to receive the "W" grade. After finals week has started there will be no "W" grade option offered.
Students who find it necessary to withdraw from SIU must consult the Campus Director and Registrar in order to be granted withdraw, in good standing. The date of withdrawal and the notation of "W" for each course in which the student is enrolled are recorded on the student's
permanent transcript. Students who withdraw during the semester may be eligible for a partial refund of their tuition.

AU Audit: a student may attend a course without taking it for university credit by auditing. Full-time students wishing to audit a course must obtain the permission of the course instructor and the study Registrar.

Independent studies
Independent Study projects must be discussed with the student's Academic Advisor, who will assist in selecting an appropriate supervising instructor.
During the first 2 weeks of the semester, the Independent Study Petition (available at the Registrars Office) must be completed, as well as the reading list and/or work study program submitted. Only full-time students who have completed at least 30 semester credits and have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 are eligible to pursue independent studies. Independent Studies are usually approved, only if the student needs a course to graduate that is not offered that semester and if it was not possible to take that course in a previous semester.
An additional fee is charged for each independent study project.

[top]

Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students must show satisfactory academic progress according to the following criteria:

1. Students must successfully complete 55 % of all credits attempted at the first evaluation point ( 25 % of maximum time frame) and 60 % of all credits attempted at each evaluation point thereafter, as indicated in the evaluation table below.
2. Students must have earned the indicated minimum grade point average (GPA) at the evaluation points in their programs as noted in the table below.
3. Students whose cumulative GPA is below that required for the successful completion of their programs ( 2.0 for undergraduates, 3.0 for graduate students) but is above that noted in the following table, will be placed on probation unless mitigating circumstances apply.

Evaluations of academic progress will take place at the end of each academic year.
Programs with length of one academic year or less will be evaluated each term.

Evaluation points (credits) and Grade Point Average (GPA) required:

Time Frame

* Academic probation is mandatory
** Probation is allowed, extended enrollment status may apply

Academic years do not include summer sessions. Students may choose to shorten their study programs by attending summer sessions.
Part-time students are those students enrolled for fewer than 12 credits per semester or fewer than 5 credits per summer session.

At the end of each academic year (for one-year programs, at the end of each semester) the Campus Academic Committee will review the progress of all students whose records indicate that they are not meeting criteria of minimum graduation GPA and successful credit completion requirement (60% of all credits attempted and cumulative GPA or 2.0 for undergraduates, 3.0 for graduate students).
Unless the committee ascertains mitigating circumstances, such students will be placed on
academic probation. The academic records of students on probation will be examined by the Academics Committee at the end of each term. Students on probation are not eligible for financial aid and other entitlements and will not be allowed to register for more than 15 credits per term. Students will be expected to reach at least a GPA of: Undergraduate-2.00 and
Graduate- 3.00 and successfully complete at least 60% of all credits attempted each term.

Students may remain on probation no longer than 50% of the maximum time frame for the program in which they are enrolled. Students not meeting the minimum standards will be dismissed from the university.

Mitigating Circumstances: Serious illness and English language difficulties are mitigating circumstances.

Transfer Students: A transfer student, as any other student enrolling for the first time, will be expected to maintain satisfactory progress.
Subsequent records will be evaluated in terms of academic progress according to the above criteria and procedures.

Appeal: Students may appeal a grade of unsatisfactory academic progress by submitting a written petition to the Campus Academic Committee. If the student can demonstrate mitigating circumstances, an exception may be made. The decision of the Academics Committee may be appealed to the Vice President of Academic Affairs or to the President. Their decision is final.

[top]

Students accepted at SIU Paris are considered mature enough to value the educational and cultural opportunities that study in a multicultural environment affords. SIU students are expected to behave responsibly, to exercise good judgement, to respect the rights and feelings of others, and to consider the customs and manners of France. Academic honesty is expected and plagarism is not tolerated. Any student found cheating will automatically fail the exam, and the Academics Committee may impose further sanctions.

Grievance Policy
It is the policy of SIU to provide appropriate grievance policies and procedures to every student. Every campus has an Academics Committee to deal with grievances and questions of misconduct in the academic area and a Rules Committee to deal with the grievances and questions of misconduct in the social area.
Both Committees provide the students with procedural due process. This includes adequate notice of the charges against him/her, the right to present his/her case and any supporting evidence, and an impartial decision by the respective committee. In the event that the remedy imposed by the respective committee is expulsion from the University, the student has the right to present his/her case personally to the University President who may confirm the decision of the committee or return the case to the committee for further consideration. In all other grievances, the student may present his/her grievance to the Campus Director if it relates to a Campus matter or the University President if it relates to a Campus Director.
The Campus Director or President will provide the students with an opportunity to present his/her case, present any evidence, and shall, at the student's request, provide a decision in writing. Students who feel that the above procedure is not adequate may contact ACICS (Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools).

[top]

Attendance
All students are expected to attend classes and official school events. In cases of personal or medical emergency, the campus director or campus registrar can issue permission for absence. All other acceptable reasons for absence are determined by the individual instructor. In all cases, students are responsible for making up missed course work. A student may be dropped from a course when, in the opinion of the instructor and the Academics Committee, repeated absences for whatever reason (medical or otherwise) indicates that the fulfilment of course
requirements is not being met.

Student Identity Card
All students are required to request a student I.D. Card at the registration, which also enables them to get reduced entry into museums or cultural centers.

Graduate Regulations

Graduate students will be granted a Master's degree upon satisfactory fulfilment of the following requirements:

1. Completion of the courses and credit hours required for the degree. No credit will be granted for courses graded below C -
2. Successful completion of any prescribed English as a foreign language course
3. Submission of a thesis when required
4. A passing grade on the final comprehensive examination or oral defence of the thesis
5. Cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above

Graduation Petition
Petitions for graduation should be submitted at least one term before the proposed graduation date. The Main Registrar's office will approve these petitions if all degree requirements will have been met and if all required documents have been submitted.

Two semester courses
In courses lasting 2 semesters, students are normally permitted to enrol in the second semester regardless of the grade earned in the first semester. However, students who have received no credit in the first semester of French or a subject in which the first semester is a prerequisite to the second one, must repeat the first semester before going on to the second semester.

Course at Outside Institutions
Full-time students may take up to 9 semester credit hours at other institutions. These credits must be included in the 19 credit allowance per semester. Before enrolling at outside institutions students must receive approval from the Campus Director or Registrar, who may resolve the matter directly or refer it to the Committee. All formal appeals must be in writing to the Director of Studies and must be received within 8 weeks of the end of their relevant semester. The Academics Committee consists of the Campus Director, one or more program advisors, and one appointed faculty member. Appeals after 8 weeks will not be considered.

[top]