Policies and Procedures

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Privacy of Student Records — The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (Buckley Amendment) gives students and former students certain rights, consistent with the privacy of others, to review records, files, and data about them held on an official basis by the College. The Act also gives students and former students a right to challenge the content of those records, files, and data which they believe is inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of their privacy and other rights. Individuals may directly request review of the records maintained about them from the appropriate offices. Any challenges to the content of the records, files, and data that cannot be resolved directly should be made in writing to the Office of Academic Affairs.

Information assembled prior to January 1, 1975, under promises of confidentiality, explicit or implicit, will not be made available for review by the concerned students without the written consent of the authors.

Course start dates unless otherwise noted will be the last day of the month, and most course end dates will be calculated as 15 weeks from the start date, with some program-specific variations. The start date for GoArmyEd courses will be posted as the 1^st day of the month.

For most courses offered at a distance, students have flexibility in scheduling coursework. For certain circumstances, this may include an extension of the course completion date for a small fee. However, the specific format of the course delivery method will determine the course enrollment period as well as the availability of an extension. This information is detailed in the following table:

* Enrollment period begins at official course start date, which once established, can not be changed. Students who participate in tuition assistance programs through the military or other sources, who receive financial aid or who may be deferring student loans, may have certain restrictions on course enrollment periods. These students are advised to consult their financial aid/tuition assistance source for details.

**Certain State regulations may dictate the length of these capstone/practica courses. See course description for specific enrollment period.

Course Load

In general, a student may enroll in a maximum of two courses simultaneously.  After the student’s first two courses are completed and as long as the student maintains, satisfactory academic performance and progress, the two course maximum load may be exceeded with the advisor’s approval.  Satisfactory academic progress is defined as regular weekly participation in a course, submitting an assignment according to posted schedule or for independent study courses, completing a Course Unit, on average, every 2-3 weeks.

Submission of Work, Independent Study
On average, a student enrolled in an independent study course, should be completing a Course Unit every two to three weeks. A Course Unit is a grouping of assignments and may consist of two or more individual lessons. A  typical independent study course consists of 4-6 units. After each submission of work, a student should wait for instructor feedback before submitting additional work for review, unless the instructor establishes different submission standards. Specific instructor expectations/standards are found in the online course syllabi.

Students’ scholarship rating in each subject is determined by the combined results of examinations and course work. The following system of grading is used by Saint Joseph’s College:

Criteria for Evaluating Student Assignments

The College has prepared a guide to be used by students and faculty for the preparation and evaluation of student assignments. For students, the criteria for reading, reasoning, arguing, documenting, organizing, and writing comprise guidelines for the most effective completion of a given assignment. The guide enables faculty to provide specific evaluation and focused feedback to each student and promotes a consistent approach among faculty in their review of students’ written work. In addition, the criteria may facilitate student-faculty dialog about the strengths and weaknesses of assignments. The guidelines are available in the on-line Student Handbook:
online.sjcme.edu/pdf/Student-Handbook-Jan2011.pdf

Grade Appeal Procedure

Students are encouraged to resolve any discrepancy in the course grade with the instructor. If resolution is not reached:

1. Students must submit the Student Request for Review of Grade form and supporting documentation to the appropriate Program Director within 30 days after the date recorded on the student’s grade report.
2. The Program Director will render a judgment and inform the parties within 30 days.
3. If the student informs the Program Director within 15 days that the decision is not accepted, a Request for Review and supporting documentation must be submitted to Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies.
4. Within 15 days the Dean of Graduate & Professional Studies will render a judgment that is final and the decision is filed and conveyed to the parties.

Grievance Policy

A copy of the student grievance policy and the appropriate forms may be obtained by contacting the Office of the Dean of Graduate & Professional Studies at 207-893-7803, or by mail at 278 Whites Bridge Road, Standish, ME 04084.

In most programs of study, students may substitute one course for another through the drop/add process. The following table details the types of courses in which drop/add may take place and important timing considerations.

Students who do not register for subsequent courses within 15 weeks of the completion date of their last course will be declared “inactive” and withdrawn from active status.

All students who receive or have received financial aid in the past will be considered as “withdrawn” for federal reporting purposes if no new courses are started within 15 weeks of the official completion date of the most recent course.

Students may request evaluation for a possible program change at any time. Requests must be made in writing to the student’s academic advisor.

Inactive status subjects students to any new admissions/program requirements instituted by the College since their original enrollment. Inactive students, therefore, are subject to re-evaluation. All delinquent accounts must be settled with the Office of the Treasurer before enrollment in subsequent courses can occur.

Withdrawal

Students desiring to withdraw from the program or a course must submit a written withdrawal request to their academic advisor. Students withdrawing from courses with the required approvals prior to the Deadline Withdrawal without Academic Penalty Date will receive grades of “W,” which are not computed into student GPAs. After the specified Deadline Withdrawal without Academic Penalty Date, students may withdraw from course(s) with the required approvals, but these withdrawals will result in failing grades of “WF,” which are computed in the students’ GPA.

Administrative Withdrawal

Within six months of acceptance into the program, students who have not completed at least one course with a satisfactory final grade may be withdrawn from the program. Students who exceed two administrative withdrawals may be withdrawn from the program for unsatisfactory progress and denied future reinstatement to the program.

Involuntary Withdrawal Policy for Active Duty Students

The college will consider a retroactive refund of tuition and fees on a case-by-case basis.

In order to be eligible for a refund under the conditions below, the student must submit the required written notification of withdrawal with sufficient authoritative evidence to document the reason for withdrawal to their Academic Advisor. A decision will be made based upon the documentation and conditions presented.

Specifically, involuntary withdrawal requests, from students who are called to active duty into the armed services, must be substantiated with copies of military orders that show proof of date of entry. The individuals commanding officer or another appropriate official must sign the orders.

Students may repeat courses taken at Saint Joseph’s College in the event the initial grade for a course is either an”F” or “WF”, or fails to meet the minimum grade required by the student’s academic program of study. Courses may only be repeated once at Saint Joseph’s College and once elsewhere (for a total of three attempts). Nursing students may only repeat nursing classes once. All course attempts will appear on the student’s academic transcript. In such instances, all grades will remain on the student’s transcript, with only the latter grade used in computing the grade point average. In the event a course is repeated to meet a minimum grade requirement, the initial grade(s) will be excluded from the GPA and duplicate credits removed from the cumulative total earned. In all other cases, all grades will remain on the transcript and be used in the grade point average computation. Pursuant to the College’s transfer credit policy, courses repeated at other institutions will not calculate into a student’s grade point average. 

Each student is expected to complete course work within the allotted course enrollment periods stated earlier. One of the strengths of the distance education program at Saint Joseph’s College is the recognition that extenuating circumstances may occasionally require a student to either request an extension to complete a course, or a leave of absence for a longer period of time. For that reason, formal policies have been adopted to meet these adult student needs. Students should contact their academic advisor for more information.

Extension

Students with extenuating circumstances, who have maintained satisfactory academic progress, may be eligible for a paid course extension.  Satisfactory academic progress is defined as regular participation in a course, submitting a unit according to posted schedule or for independent study courses, on average, every 2-3 weeks.  Eligibility and approval for an extension is based upon:  the specific course format, the satisfactory completion of a minimum of three units prior to the official completion date, the receipt of a written extension request and the accompanying per course extension fee http://www.sjcme.edu/gps/tuition.htm received prior to the official course completion date. Extensions cannot be used to extend financial aid and/or deferment eligibility

Leave of Absence

With appropriate documentation, students with extraordinary circumstances may be granted a temporary leave of absence from their program of study. An approved leave will ensure that the student keeps their “active” program status. Students will not be granted a leave from a course. Students enrolled in one or more courses who request a leave of absence will work with their academic advisor to determine what options are available to them.

Students active in the military who are subject to deployment should contact their academic advisor to discuss course extensions and leave of absence options.

All members of the Saint Joseph’s College community are expected to adhere to the principles of academic honesty central to the College’s mission. Plagiarism, collusion, falsifying the results of ones research, cheating on examinations and any form of misrepresenting ones own work, or collaborating in the misrepresentation of another’s work, are contrary to the traditions and goals of the institution. Instances of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action and/or academic sanctions.

You are expected to cite any sources upon which your work is based through the use of bibliographical lists, footnotes, end-notes, and the like. All uses made of the content, style conceptualization, organization methods, and factual materials of others, or of other work you may have produced must also be documented.

As an educational institution, our primary goals regarding plagiarism are to help students understand the ethics of information in today’s world and to give them the tools and knowledge they need to remain academically honest. Faculty may use plagiarism detection services, such as Turnitin.com, to help identify potential plagiarism in students written work.

Procedure in Cases of Academic Dishonesty

When a breach of the Academic Honesty Policy is suspected (or determined), the instructor shall contact the student and discuss the details of the charge. Subsequent disciplinary action shall be at the discretion of the instructor. For a minor violation, the instructor shall either:

1. Decide to take no further action, or
2. Require that the student’s work be resubmitted with appropriate changes.
   Beyond a minor violation, the instructor shall either:
3. Assign a failing grade for the work submitted, or
4. Assign a failing grade for the course.

When either of these last two options is chosen, then notification, along with supporting documentation, should be sent to the Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies where a record of the infraction will be kept. Depending on the particulars of the case and/or the student’s prior history of infractions, the Dean may decide to extend the sanction to include:

1. Temporary suspension from the College, or
2. Permanent expulsion from the College.

A student accused of academic dishonesty may appeal his/her case in writing to the Dean of Graduate & Professional who will then convene the Academic Review Panel. The role of this Panel is to evaluate the accusation in light of the circumstances bearing upon the case, and then to advise the Dean. The decision of the Dean shall be final.

Plagiarism occurs when a person uses the words, ideas, opinions, research, or creative expressions of another as if they were her or his own.

Plagiarism can take many forms. One common type of plagiarism occurs when a person uses another’s words without adding quotation marks around the words and clearly stating the source. The words of another may be used only when both of these conditions are present (quotation marks and clear citation of the source). Not using quotation marks implies that the words are created by the student.

Another common example of plagiarism is when an individual uses another person’s ideas or opinions and expresses them in his or her own words (called paraphrasing) but fails to cite the source. Although in this case, the words may be the student’s, the ideas have been borrowed from another, and that borrowing must be acknowledged.

Plagiarism can involve unacknowledged borrowing from any number of places, including published articles, a classmate’s paper, graphs, charts, the Internet or a video production. To take anything owned by another without proper acknowledgment is theft, and plagiarism is intellectual theft. Plagiarism occurs in research papers through failures of documentation, but it also can happen in class reports, essays, tests, and in any other situation in which a student may use the words or ideas of another.

Plagiarism is a serious violation of academic integrity; it always involves deceit, whether that deceit is intended or not. Ignorance and carelessness sometimes lead to plagiarism, but they are not acceptable excuses. Each individual student has the responsibility to understand and avoid plagiarism. Opportunities to learn about proper use of documentation include English Composition I, II courses and any number of college handbooks or research paper style guides.

The Wellehan Library’s home page, maintains a Ready-Reference page of useful links, including resources for reference citation formats.

Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA/Buckley Amendment), Saint Joseph’s College will not disclose “personally identifiable information” from a student’s educational records unless certain conditions are met or the student consents to disclosure. The College may, however, disclose “directory information” from a student’s education records, and the College may designate certain “personally identifiable information” as “directory information.”

The College has designated the following information as “directory information”:

• student’s name, address, telephone listing, and e-mail address
• date and place of birth
• major field of study
• participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• the weight and height of members of athletic teams
• dates of attendance
• degrees and awards received
• the most recent previous educational institution attended.

Students have the right to refuse to let the College designate as “directory information” any “personally identifiable information” such as their name, address, or other information that would make their identity easily traceable. If students do not want the College to disclose any personally identifiable information as directory information, they must notify the Office of Academic Records and Student Advising in writing and state the information they do not want designated as directory information. The College reserves the right to notify College officials and/or family members of formal actions taken regarding student academic and disciplinary matters when appropriate. 

Saint Joseph’s College requires that social security numbers be provided for a permanent and lasting record in accordance with the requirements of federal and state tax laws, certain laws that govern student financial aid, and various institutional policies that it has adopted under provisions of state and federal law that govern institutions of higher education.

Saint Joseph’s College will request that a student provide a social security number at the time of application to the institution. If not entered on the application, Saint Joseph’s College does require that a social security number be provided in advance of being enrolled in a course or courses at the institution.

The social security number will not be used as the student ID number but will be provided to entities requiring a social security number, including but not limited to the federal government for financial aid and Tax Relief Act (1997) reporting, Immigration and Naturalization Service and as required by court order in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Saint Joseph’s College of Maine uses social security numbers for various tax records and filings that are required under state and federal tax law. When possible, an alternative number will be assigned and used by the institution for all purposes, which do not require the social security number. Saint Joseph’s College is dedicated to insuring the privacy and proper handling of confidential information pertaining to students and employees. 

All forms of communications, written, e-mail, telephone, and face-to-face, within the Division of Graduate & Professional Studies shall be conducted with a mutual level of respect.  Adherence to the generally accepted norms for human communications, especially avoiding communications that are false or are likely to be considered as discourteous, malicious, unwanted or causing unjustified loss of prestige is asked of all students, faculty and staff.

Disruptive classroom conduct negatively affects classroom environments as well as the educational experience for all of the students enrolled in the course. The Division of Graduate & Professional Studies defines disruptive classroom behavior as “any behavior that a reasonable person would view as substantially or repeatedly interfering with the conduct of a class”. Disruptive classroom behavior will not be allowed. Faculty members have the ability to ask a student to leave a classroom for disruptive behavior; that student will be marked absent for the entire class time.

Students who exhibit disruptive conduct of any type may be put on notice and may be dismissed from the program.