Requirement for Good Standing

Students must complete 120 credits to earn the bachelor's degree. To continue enrollment in a full-time program of study, a student must maintain a cumulative average of at least 1.5 as the minimum standard of scholarship and must not fall more than 6 credits behind the total number of credits a student of their status is expected to have completed (15 credits each semester freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year).

Any student who is permitted by the dean to continue enrollment in a full-time undergraduate program is considered to be in good standing.

Academic Dismissal

At the end of each semester, students who do not meet the academic standards of the Carroll School of Management are dismissed. Possible grounds for academic dismissal include the following:

• Passing fewer than three courses (or 9 credits) in a semester
• Passing fewer than eight courses (or 24 credits) in an academic year (except senior year)
  
• Passing fewer than 18 courses (or 54 credits) by the end of sophomore year
  
• Passing fewer than 28 courses (or 84 credits) by the end of junior year
  
• A cumulative grade point average of below 1.5
  
• Students with any combination of 7 withdrawals and/or failures may be permanently dismissed

A student on probation may return to good standing by approved methods (e.g., make-up of credits via approved summer school work; students may make up no more than 12 credits in summer study). A student who incurs additional failures or withdrawals or carries an unapproved underload while on probation may be required to withdraw from the School at the time of the next review.

Enrollment Status

Undergraduate Full-Time Enrollment Status

To be considered full-time, students must be registered for courses totaling at least 12 credits per semester. At least 9 of the credits must be in courses of 3 credits or more. Ordinarily, students should average 15 credits per semester with a target of completing 30 credits per academic year.

Overloads

The standard semester course load for undergraduates is five 3-credit courses and a maximum of 20 credits, including labs and other 1- or 2- credit courses. Students are eligible to overload if they have earned at least a 3.0 overall cumulative GPA or a 3.0 GPA in the semester immediately prior to the one for which the overload is sought, in which case they may register online for a sixth course of 3 credits or more and a maximum of 24 credits, including labs and other 1- and 2-credit courses, during the first seven class-days of the semester.

Students are not permitted to take a sixth course of 3 credits or more during their first semester at Boston College. Second-semester freshmen who wish to overload with a sixth course of 3 credits or more must obtain permission from their Academic Dean.

Students with an overall cumulative GPA between 2.0 and 3.0 may, under exceptional circumstances, be allowed by their Academic Dean to enroll in a sixth course.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend classes regularly, take tests, and submit papers and other work at the times specified by the professor on the course syllabus. Students who are absent repeatedly from class or practica will be evaluated by faculty responsible for the course to ascertain their ability to achieve the course objectives and to continue in the course.

Professors may include, as part of the semester's grades, marks for the quality and quantity of the student's participation in class.

Professors will announce, reasonably well in advance, tests and examinations based on material covered in class lectures and discussions, as well as other assigned material. A student who is absent from class on the day of a previously announced examination, including the final examination, is not entitled, as a matter of right, to make up what was missed. The professor involved is free to decide whether a make-up will be allowed.

A student who is absent from class is responsible for obtaining knowledge of what happened in class, especially information about announced tests, papers, or other assignments.

In cases of prolonged absence, the student or a family member should communicate with the student's Academic Dean as soon as the prospect of extended absence becomes clear. The academic arrangements for the student's return to classes should be made with the Academic Dean's Office as soon as the student's health and other circumstances permit.

Absences for Religious Reasons

Any student who is unable, because of his or her religious beliefs, to attend classes or to participate in any examination, study, or work requirement on a particular day shall be excused from any such examination, or study or work requirement, and shall be provided with an opportunity to make up such examination, or study or work requirement, that may have been missed because of such absence on any particular day. However, students should notify professors at the end of the first class meeting or at least two weeks in advance of any such planned observances, and such makeup examination or work shall not create an unreasonable burden upon the University. No fees will be charged and no adverse or prejudicial effects shall result to any student who is absent for religious reasons.

Final Examinations

The final examination schedule for most courses is set before classes begin. It is available to the public, and students are responsible for consulting it. A student who misses a final examination is not entitled, as a matter of right, to a make-up examination except for serious illness and/or family emergency. No student should make travel arrangements to return home which are at odds with his or her examination schedule. Students who schedule a departure without regard to their schedules risk failure in their final examinations.

Courses with multiple sections may have common departmental final examinations at a date and time determined by the Office of Student Services. Students with three final examinations scheduled for the same day are entitled to take a make-up exam at a later date during exam week. If one of the three exams is a common departmental exam, this is the exam that is taken at the later date.

No exams or final assignments are to be scheduled during the Study Days designated on the Academic Calendar.

Final Exam Schedule

Pass/Fail

Sophomores, juniors, and seniors may elect to designate a course as pass/fail during the first seven class-days of the semester. Only electives can be taken pass/fail. Courses being used to fulfill major, minor, Core, or corequisites cannot be taken pass/fail.

Second-semester freshmen who have been approved by their Academic Dean for an overload of a sixth course of 3 credits or more may take that course on a pass/fail basis, in which case the course may not be used to fulfill a major, minor, Core requirement, or corequisites.

No more than one course of 3 or more credits may be taken pass/fail in any semester. No student may take more than six pass/fail courses of 3 or more credits for credit toward a degree.

Courses in the Carroll School of Management may not be taken on a pass/fail basis. Departments may designate some courses as not available in general for pass/fail enrollment.

Any foreign language course being used to fulfill a major, minor, Core, or corequirement cannot be taken pass/fail.

A student enrolled in a course on a pass/fail basis who earns a grade of D- or higher will receive a grade of Pass for the course.

Pass/Fail Option for 1-Credit Courses in the Major

At the discretion of the school or department, some 1-credit courses that are required for a major or minor may be offered on a pass/fail basis only (e.g., practica, performance).

External Courses

After admission to Boston College, the only courses that a student may apply towards a degree will be those offered at Boston College in a regular course of study during the academic year. Any exceptions to this rule must be approved in writing by the Academic Dean before the courses are begun. Exceptions may be granted by the Academic Dean for official cross-registration programs, external summer study abroad and certain special study programs at other universities.

A student must earn a grade of C- or better to receive credit for any course taken at another university. In some instances, the Academic Dean may stipulate a higher grade. After the course has been completed, the student should request that the registrar at the host university forward an official transcript to the Office of Student Services at Boston College.

Summer Courses

As of summer 2018, summer courses taken at Boston College count for academic credit and all grades earned are factored into students’ GPA as regular BC courses. Courses may satisfy Core or major/minor requirements as specified by the department, and will count toward the 120 credits required for the degree. A maximum of 4 courses (12–13 credits total) can be taken in the summer.

BC Summer Courses Abroad

BC summer courses taken abroad through the Office of International Programs (OIP) are factored into students' GPA as regular BC courses, and count for academic credit.

Summer Courses at Other Institutions

Summer courses taken at another university—local, national, international—, must be pre- approved from the Academic Dean using the Course Approval Form. Students will also need departmental approval if they want the summer course to fulfill a Core, language, major, or minor requirement. These summer courses may count for academic degree credit and grades will factor into the GPA if students have credit deficiencies. Students will receive enrichment credit if there is no prior credit deficiency. Enrichment credit means that the course may satisfy Core or major requirements with department permission, but will not count toward the 120 credits required for the degree. Courses, grades, and credits will be listed on the transcript but will not be calculated into the GPA. With the approval of the Academic Dean, students who incur deficiencies may use enrichment courses in previous summers to make up for deficiencies incurred subsequently.

Leave of Absence

A student in good standing who desires to interrupt the usual progress of an academic program may petition for a leave of absence. The process begins in the appropriate Academic Dean’s Office and will be extended for no more than one year, although petition for renewal is possible. Students on leave of absence may not take courses to advance their status at Boston College without obtaining prior approval from the appropriate Academic Dean’s Office. Students may not participate in extracurricular activities while on a leave of absence. Normally, students returning from a leave of absence may not regain their original graduation year.

To assure re-enrollment for a particular semester following a personal leave of absence, students must notify their appropriate Academic Dean’s Office no later than four weeks in advance of the start of the next semester.

Medical Leave of Absence

If a student is unable to complete the coursework or other course of study for a semester due to medical reasons, the student may request a medical leave of absence. Medical leave, whether requested for mental health or physical health reasons, must be supported by appropriate documentation from a licensed care provider and be approved by the student’s Academic Dean.

The University reserves the right to impose conditions on readmission from a medical leave, which may include: length of time on leave; the submission of documentation from the student’s health care provider; the student’s consent for the provider to discuss the student’s condition with University clinicians, and/or an independent evaluation of the student’s condition by University clinicians; and/or making use of University or outside professional services.

The conditions will be specified at the time of leave, and students will be asked to acknowledge their acceptance of them.

Students seeking to return from a medical leave should contact the appropriate Academic Dean’s Office. All documentation pertaining to returning from a medical leave of absence must be submitted no later than August 1 for the fall semester or December 15 for the spring semester. However, students seeking to return to a practicum, clinical or field education placement must contact the appropriate Academic Dean expressing the intent to seek readmission at least a full semester before the desired return.

Students on Boston College’s medical insurance policy may be eligible to continue their health insurance the semester in which they take a medical leave of absence and the following semester. Students should consult with Student Services and can learn more about this policy at: bc.edu/medinsurance. Students granted a medical leave may be entitled to a semester’s tuition credit to be provided upon readmission, and should consult their school’s policy regarding the tuition credit and their financial aid advisor.

Military Leave Policy

Boston College supports the participation of our students in all branches of the United States Military, both active duty and reserve, and recognizes that military obligations for such students may occasionally conflict with academic responsibilities. In such cases students who are in good academic standing and are called to duty for more than 30 days may take a leave of absence for up to three years and be guaranteed readmission to the same academic program and status they held at the start of the leave. The expected graduation date will be adjusted appropriately by the dean upon readmission. The student may qualify for a full tuition credit to be applied upon return from the leave, but will still be responsible for any board and room fees incurred.

The process for initiating the Leave is the same as that for a Medical Leave of Absence and will require official documentation of the student’s service obligation.

Students desiring to return after three years should apply for readmission through the Dean’s Office in their desired program to determine if programs or program requirements have changed.

For students whose military obligation will require fewer than 30 days away from classes, it may be possible to complete some or all of the registered coursework required to complete a successful semester. In such cases, students may be able to maintain their original graduation dates but would need to consult with the Dean’s Office and individual faculty instructors to determine if this is possible. If it is not possible to complete sufficient coursework for the semester, students may apply for a military leave of absence with the process outlined above.

Academic Integrity (Undergraduate)

Policy and Procedures

The pursuit of knowledge can proceed only when scholars take responsibility and receive credit for their own work. Recognition of individual contributions to knowledge and of the intellectual property of others builds trust within the University and encourages the sharing of ideas that is essential to scholarship. Similarly, the educational process requires that individuals present their own ideas and insights for evaluation, critique, and eventual reformulation. Presentation of others' work as one's own is not only intellectual dishonesty, but it also undermines the educational process.

Standards

Academic integrity is violated by any dishonest act which is committed in an academic context including, but not restricted to, the following:

Cheating is the fraudulent or dishonest presentation of work. Cheating includes but is not limited to:

• the use or attempted use of unauthorized aids in examinations or other academic exercises submitted for evaluation;
• fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation of data, results, sources for papers or reports, or in clinical practice, as in reporting experiments, measurements, statistical analyses, tests, or other studies never performed; manipulating or altering data or other manifestations of research to achieve a desired result; selective reporting, including the deliberate suppression of conflicting or unwanted data;
• falsification of papers, official records, or reports;
• copying from another student's work;
• actions that destroy or alter the work of another student;
• unauthorized cooperation in completing assignments or during an examination;
• the use of purchased essays or term papers, or of purchased preparatory research for such papers;
• submission of the same written work in more than one course without prior written approval from the instructors involved;
• dishonesty in requests for make-up exams, for extensions of deadlines for submitting papers, and in any other matter relating to a course.
  

Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas, data, illustrations, or statements of another person or source, and presenting them as one's own. Each student is responsible for learning and using proper methods of paraphrasing and footnoting, quotation, and other forms of citation, to ensure that the original author, speaker, illustrator, or source of the material used is clearly acknowledged.

Other breaches of academic integrity include:

• the misrepresentation of one's own or another's identity for academic purposes;
• the misrepresentation of material facts or circumstances in relation to examinations, papers, or other evaluative activities;
• the sale of papers, essays, or research for fraudulent use;
• the alteration or falsification of official University records;
• the unauthorized use of University academic facilities or equipment, including computer accounts and files;
• the unauthorized recording, sale, purchase, or use of academic lectures, academic computer software, or other instructional materials;
• the expropriation or abuse of ideas and preliminary data obtained during the process of editorial or peer review of work submitted to journals, or in proposals for funding by agency panels or by internal University committees;
• the expropriation and/or inappropriate dissemination of personally-identifying human subject data;
• the unauthorized removal, mutilation, or deliberate concealment of materials in University libraries, media, or academic resource centers.

Collusion is defined as assistance or an attempt to assist another student in an act of academic dishonesty. Collusion is distinct from collaborative learning, which may be a valuable component of students' scholarly development. Acceptable levels of collaboration vary in different courses, and students are expected to consult with their instructor if they are uncertain whether their cooperative activities are acceptable.

Promoting Academic Integrity: Roles of Community Members

Student Roles in Maintaining Academic Integrity

Students have a responsibility to maintain high standards of academic integrity in their own work and thereby to maintain the integrity of their degree. It is their responsibility to be familiar with, and understand, the University policy on academic integrity.

Students who become aware of a violation of academic integrity by a fellow student should respond in one of the following ways:

• Students may discuss their concerns with the student whom they suspect of a violation. Direct contact by another student may be the best means of resolving the problem. Repeated demonstration of student concern for academic integrity will, in the long run, build a peer-regulated community.
• If the incident is a major violation or part of a repeated pattern of violations, students should bring their concerns to the attention of the instructor or to the appropriate department chairperson or associate dean. Suspected violations by students reported to members of the faculty or to an associate dean will be handled according to the procedures set forth below.

Students who have serious concern that a faculty member is not living up to his or her responsibility to safeguard and promote academic integrity should speak with the faculty member directly, or should bring their concern to the attention of the department chairperson or associate dean.

Faculty Roles in Fostering Academic Integrity

Faculty members should provide students with a positive environment for learning and intellectual growth and, by their words and actions, promote conditions that foster academic integrity.

Faculty should be concerned about the impact of their behavior on students. Students are sensitive to messages communicated in informal discussions and in casual faculty remarks about personal decisions and value judgments. Students are perhaps most sensitive to how responsibly faculty members fulfill their obligations to them in the careful preparation of classes, in the serious evaluation of student achievement, and in their genuine interest in and availability to students.

Faculty should promote academic integrity in the following specific ways:

• At the beginning of each course, instructors should discuss academic integrity in order to promote an ongoing dialogue about academic integrity and to set the tone and establish guidelines for academic integrity within the context of the course, e.g., the extent to which collaborative work is appropriate. Where relevant, instructors should discuss why, when, and how students must cite sources in their written work.
• Instructors should provide students with a written syllabus that states course requirements and, when available, examination dates and times.
• Instructors are encouraged to prepare new examinations and assignments where appropriate each semester in order to ensure that no student obtains an unfair advantage over his or her classmates by reviewing exams or assignments from prior semesters. If previous examinations are available to some students, faculty members should insure that all students in the course have similar access. Course examinations should be designed to minimize the possibility of cheating, and course paper assignments should be designed to minimize the possibility of plagiarism.
• Proctors should be present at all examinations, including the final examination, and should provide students with an environment that encourages honesty and prevents dishonesty.
• Faculty should be careful to respect students' intellectual property and the confidentiality of student academic information.
• Assignment of grades, which is the sole responsibility of the instructor, should be awarded in a manner fair to all students.

Academic Deans

Academic deans have overall responsibility for academic integrity within their schools. In particular, deans' responsibilities include the following:

• promoting an environment where academic integrity is a priority for both students and faculty,
• ensuring that students who are honest are not placed at an unfair disadvantage, and
• establishing procedures to adjudicate charges of academic dishonesty and to protect the rights of all parties.

Procedures

In each school a Committee on Academic Integrity with both faculty and student members is to be constituted annually.

When a faculty member determines that a student's work violates the standards of academic integrity, the faculty member is encouraged to discuss the matter with the student, but in any case the faculty member should notify the student of the substance of the violation and the action that the faculty member proposes to take. If the faculty member decides to impose a grading penalty, a letter of notification describing the incident and the proposed grading penalty is to be sent to the associate dean of the school or college in which the course is taught. On receipt of such a notification, the associate dean will notify the student of the allegation and the evidence. The student’s class dean will also be notified, if the course is outside of the student’s home school or college. The student will be given an opportunity to respond to the allegation in writing. While a case is pending, the student may not withdraw from or change status in the course.

Each reported violation of the standards of academic integrity will be reviewed by the Committee on Academic Integrity of the school or college of the course. This will ensure that in cases involving students from more than one school, or students in joint or dual degree programs, the process and penalty will be consistent.

A board chosen by the chairperson of the Committee on Academic Integrity from the full Committee will be assigned to each case, with one of the faculty members as chairperson of the review board. The associate dean to whom the case has been reported will serve as a non-voting administrative resource. For cases that are reported in summer courses, the associate dean of the school in which the course is taught will decide the case.

The associate dean will convey to the faculty member and the student the board's findings as to responsibility and recommended sanctions. The associate dean will compile a complete file of each case. After notifying the student’s class dean of the final resolution of the case, the file will be kept confidential in the Dean's office. Files on students found not responsible will be destroyed.

Penalties for students found responsible for violations will depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and the student's previous record of violations. The committee may simply affirm the faculty member's penalty and issue the student a "warning," which will be kept in a confidential file in the student’s Dean's Office until the student graduates and will not be reportable to professional schools or outside agencies; or it may recommend a different grading penalty and/or impose additional administrative penalties. Such penalties may include university probation, suspension, or expulsion, all of which become part of a student's academic record and are reportable to graduate/professional schools and outside agencies.

Appeal of the board's decision may be made by written request to the Dean of the school or college of the course not later than ten days following notice of the board's decision. The decision of the Dean will be final.

Academic Grievances

Any student who believes he or she has been treated unfairly in academic matters should consult with the chairperson of the undergraduate or graduate department or his or her Academic Dean to discuss the situation and to obtain information about relevant grievance procedures.