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Classification
An indication that a student is making progress toward a degree is the change in
classification. Classification is determined by the number of credits completed and
reported to the registrar prior to the beginning of the term; and is based on credit hours
earned, not merely hours attempted. The grades F and NP and the marks I and X do not count
in this classification system.
Classification in all colleges
except Veterinary Medicine is as follows:
Sophomore: 30 credit hours earned
Junior classification: 60 credit hours earned
Senior classification: 90 credit hours earned
Students who have a bachelor’s
degree and are working toward another undergraduate degree, licensure, or admission to a
specific graduate or professional program, may be classified as a senior.
Transfer students without a degree
are classified on the basis of credits accepted by Iowa State University.
Veterinary medicine students are
promoted from the first- to the second-, third-, and fourth-year classes based upon
satisfactory completion of the required courses for each year. To be promoted to the
second-year class, students must have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 1.67
for all courses in the first year of the veterinary medicine curriculum. To be promoted to
the third- and fourth-year classes, students must have a cumulative grade point average of
at least 2.00 for all courses in the professional curriculum.
A student who is attending Iowa
State and decides not to work toward an undergraduate degree, will be classified as a
special student. Admission requirements and academic standards regulations are the same as
regular students. Credits taken as a special student are applicable for undergraduate
degree purposes if the student is admitted later as a regular undergraduate. Credits
obtained as a special student may not, however, be applied toward a graduate degree.
Students enrolled in the Intensive
English and Orientation Program (IEOP) are classified as special students in the College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences and usually are not permitted to enroll in academic courses
until they have satisfied requirements for admission as regular students. Permission to
enroll in one academic course may be granted under special circumstances.
Transfer
of Credits
Credits presented from another institution are evaluated initially by the Office of
Admissions to determine whether the courses are acceptable for transfer credit. Credits
applied toward a degree will be determined by the student’s college, based on
relevance to the students’ program requirements as well as the level of performance
deemed necessary for successful progress in that program. Courses that are deemed
important to a program but were earned with less than a C grade may or may not be approved
for a program. This policy also applies to students already enrolled at Iowa State
University. Grades earned in courses transferred to Iowa State University will not be used
in calculating a transfer student’s Iowa State cumulative grade point average.
A student who is admitted as a
transfer from another college or university is required to have at least a 2.00 cumulative
grade-point average for all transferable work taken elsewhere. If, due to special
circumstances, a student is admitted with less than a 2.00 average, that student has a
transfer quality-point deficiency. This deficiency will be added to any deficiency
accumulated at Iowa State University and will be used to determine whether satisfactory
progress toward a degree is being made. To graduate, students must earn sufficient quality
points above a 2.00 at Iowa State University to offset any deficiency at time of entrance.
Students should consult with their
academic advisers and the Office of Admissions before taking coursework at other colleges
and universities to be certain it will be applicable to their program of study. Students
who believe that any transfer credits have not been correctly evaluated should consult
with their academic adviser and with the Office of Admissions. Questions concerning
transfer credits applied toward a degree program should be referred to the academic
adviser and college office.
No more than 65 semester or 97
quarter credits earned at two-year colleges can be applied to a bachelor’s degree
from Iowa State University. While there is no limit to the number of credits that may be
transferred from a four-year institution, the last 32 semester credits must be completed
at Iowa State.
Iowa State University students who attend one of the other Iowa Regent universities under
the Regent Universities Student Exchange Program will have the credits earned at the other
university counted as resident credit and grades received included in their Iowa State
University cumulative grade point average. For information on applying to the program see Index,
Regent Universities Student Exchange Program.
Degree
Planning
In addition to being properly registered, students are responsible for knowing the
requirements for their degree and planning their schedule to meet those requirements. Each
college has a procedure to determine whether a student will fulfill all degree
requirements for graduation.
At each fall and spring
registration, students receive an advisement/degree audit printout. This printout shows in
a degree program format those courses that have been completed and those courses in which
the student is currently enrolled. Also shown are the graduation requirements that have
not been completed.
Students should use the information
on this printout to help them select courses for the next term and to evaluate their
progress toward their degree. Graduation evaluators in the Office of the Registrar use a
similar printout during the term a student will graduate to evaluate a student’s
graduation status.
For information about how completed
courses fulfill degree requirements or how other courses will apply toward their degree
requirements, students should see their adviser.
Two
Bachelor’s Degrees
Students may receive two bachelor’s degrees if the requirements for each major
(curriculum) are met and the total number of semester credits earned is at least 30 more
than the requirements of the curriculum requiring the greater number of credits. The same
rule applies to degrees that are not awarded at the same time. Students should have an
academic adviser in each major (curriculum), with one adviser being designated as the
registration adviser. Students should request approval to pursue two degrees by completing
the form, Request for Double Major/Curriculum or Two Degrees. This form is available from
advisers and classification offices. Each adviser will receive grade reports and schedule
information after this form has been processed. The appropriate department and college
must approve each degree program.
Students who have earned advanced
degrees and wish to earn a second Bachelor's Degree may be eligible for a college waiver
of certain basic and general education requirements. Students should contact the
department offering the major for advice and appropriate planning.
Double
Major/Curriculum
A double major is a program for a single degree in which all requirements for two or more
majors (curricula) have been met. The majors (curricula) may be in different colleges or
within the same college or department. The diploma and permanent record will designate all
majors (curricula) that are completed at the same time.
To declare a double major
(curriculum), students should complete the form, “Request for a Double
Major/Curriculum or Two Degrees.” This form, available from advisers and
classification offices, should be completed no later than the beginning of the senior
year. One major (curriculum) should be designated as primary and the other secondary for
purposes of record keeping, but the student’s rights and responsibilities are the
same in both majors. The adviser of the primary major will serve as the student’s
registration adviser, but both advisers will receive grade reports and schedule
information. Degree programs must be approved for each major (curriculum) by the
appropriate department and college. One of the majors may subsequently be canceled using
the same form.
In addition to their engineering
degree, students in the College of Engineering may earn majors in other colleges of the
university. A major must meet all requirements of the offering department or program and
its college and contain a minimum of 15 additional credits beyond the requirements for a
B.S. degree in engineering for each major area of study. Within the College of
Engineering, only double degrees are permitted.
Students with a primary major in
another college who wish to take a second major in the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences are not required to meet the Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education
requirements. They must, however, meet all requirements for the major, including
complementary courses. Students in the B.L.S. curriculum in the College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences do not have majors.
Second
Major (Curriculum) Completed after the Bachelor’s Degree
After receiving a bachelor’s degree, a person may wish to complete all requirements
for another major (curriculum). Approval of the department of the second major
(curriculum) is needed before study for the program is begun. At the completion of the
program a notation will be made on the permanent record (transcript), but no change will
be made on the diploma received at the time of graduation. A degree program must be
approved for the second major/curriculum by the department and by the dean’s office.
Changing
Curriculum or Major
A student’s freedom to change their major, and the procedure that should be followed,
depend on the student’s academic standing as well as on policies of
individual colleges as approved by the provost.
1. If students are not on temporary
enrollment and have never been dismissed and reinstated, they may change their major by
consulting first with their adviser. (If, however, they have been on temporary enrollment
in the past, they may also be subject to regulation 4, below.) Beyond that, they should
follow these procedures:
a. If the change involves majors within the same college, they should check with the
college office to obtain instructions as to how to make the change.
b. If the change involves majors in different colleges, they should obtain a Change of
Curriculum/Major form and their file from their adviser, present these materials to the
classification office of their present college, then to the classification office of the
college to which they are transferring, and finally to the office of their new major.
2. Students on temporary enrollment
must first obtain permission to enter the new major. Permission comes from the dean of the
college responsible for that major in consultation with the department head. If permission
is granted, students should then follow the procedures described above. If they are on
temporary enrollment and want to transfer to another college in the university, they must
do so before the last day to drop a course in period 2 (see Index, Making
Schedule Changes).
3. Students who have been
reinstated may not transfer to another college during the first term following
reinstatement, and they may not at any time transfer back to the college that originally
dismissed them without the permission of the academic standards committee of that college.
4. Students who transferred from
one college to another while on temporary enrollment, may not transfer back unless they
have the permission of the academic standards committee of the college from which they
originally transferred.
Declaring
a Minor
Many departments and programs in the university specify requirements for an undergraduate
minor. A record of requirements completed appears on students’ transcripts. All
minors require at least 15 credits, including at least 6 credits in courses numbered
300 or above taken at Iowa State. The minor must include at least 9 credits that are not
used to meet any other department, college, or university requirement. Courses taken for a
minor may not be taken on a pass-not pass basis. For additional information regarding
policies which govern minors, see Index, Minor. To declare a minor, students must submit a
completed Request for a Minor form to their college office at least one term before
graduation. The minor may be from the catalog under which the student is graduating or a
later catalog.
Graduation
Seniors must file a graduation application with the Graduation Office, 10A Alumni Hall, by
the Friday of the first week of classes for students who plan to graduate in fall and
spring semesters, and the last day of spring semester for students who plan to graduate in
summer. Applications may be obtained from the adviser; college office; for download
from www.~registrar/forms; the Student Answer Center, on the ground floor of
Beardshear; or the Graduation Office, 10A Alumni Hall. Students will be notified by mail
approximately four weeks after the semester begins of their graduation status.
Individual college ceremonies take
place at the end of fall and spring semesters. The formal commencement ceremony for
graduate students takes place on the Friday at the end of the semester, and the
undergraduate ceremony takes place on Saturday. A combined undergraduate and graduate
college commencement ceremony takes place at the end of the summer term.
Final grade checks will be made approximately two weeks after the end of the semester and
diplomas will be mailed to all successful degree candidates.
In order to graduate, students must
be certain:
1. Registration for the term has
been completed and their date of graduation is correct on their advisement/degree audit
printout.
2. They will have earned sufficient
credits, acceptable toward graduation, to meet the minimum requirements for their
curriculum. (Some examples of credit not acceptable toward graduation are: elective
credits beyond those allowed in a curriculum, credits earned in passing the same course
more than once, more than four credits of Athletics 101, and credit in two courses for
which the catalog states that only one may count toward graduation.)
3. They have been certified by
their major department as having achieved an adequate level of proficiency in written
communication.
4. They have attained a cumulative
grade point average of at least 2.00 in all work taken at Iowa State and have also met any
special grade point averages required by their college, department, or program in
specified groups of courses
a. If they were admitted from
another college or university with a quality-point deficiency, they must have earned
sufficient quality points above a 2.00 at Iowa State to offset the deficiency with which
they entered.
b. If they have taken work at
another college or university prior to or after having been a student at Iowa State, they
must have sub- mitted a transcript of all such college study attempted to the Office of
Admissions. This work must average 2.00 or the deficiency of quality points will be
assessed against them. Failure to submit such a transcript is grounds for dismissal.
5. Incompletes in courses required
for graduation have been removed by midterm of the term of graduation.
6. At least 32 credits have been
earned in residence at Iowa State University, and the final 32 credits were taken at Iowa
State. (Six of the last 32 credits may be transferred to Iowa State, with prior written
permission of their major department.) Iowa State University must receive a transcript of
all transfer work by midterm of the term of graduation.
7. They have paid all outstanding
financial obligations they owe the university. If they owe an outstanding obligation to
the university, a hold will be placed on their records and they will not receive their
diploma or transcript. If students have questions about this policy, they should contact
the graduation section of the Office of the Registrar, 10A Alumni Hall.
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