Academic Policies, Registration, Enrollment

A. Academic Standards
Academic standards at The King’s College are established to develop students who are capable of achieving their personal and professional goals and objectives. The goal of the college is to uphold academic and personal standards that are in keeping with the college’s role as a leadership institution. The King’s College faculty are committed to teach, model and enforce the academic standards of this college in their teaching, grading and advising of students. Students admitted to King's are expected to commit themselves to the academic standards of The King's College by giving their academic performance high priority.

In order to allow students to progress in their studies at a pace that is appropriate to their particular circumstances, The King’s College offers a fall and spring semester each calendar year. The college offers summer sessions and may offer other flexibly scheduled programs.

Upon matriculation, a student is free to choose whether to take courses during one or more semesters each year. However, to maintain active enrollment status a student is required to take at least one course in a calendar year.

Declaring a Major
Some students come to The King’s College knowing exactly what they want to study before they arrive. Others profit from a year of studies before they decide. In some programs, the students begin taking specific classes related to their major as early as their second semester of study. Most students should declare their major by their third semester at the latest.

To declare a major a student must submit a Declaration of Major form (obtainable from the Advising Center) to the Registrar’s office. The request to enter the major will be reviewed by the appropriate Dean who will make the decision to admit students in good academic standing (2.0 cumulative GPA or higher) into the program.

The college is committed to producing leaders of excellence. Therefore, all students must maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA in Freshman and Sophomore classes as well as those course that are a part of the Common Core during the last two years. In order to graduate, students much achieve a minimum 2.7 GPA (B-) in all courses specific to their major beginning with their Junior year. They must also earn a grade of C or higher in all the courses taken in their major beginning with their Junior year.

Students transferring from other colleges will have their transcripts evaluated to ensure that the content meets the expectations of the college. Where it does not, students will be expected to complete requirements before being enrolled in a major. Similarly, students who wish to take classes at other colleges should get approval in advance from the Registrar in order to be sure those classes will be accepted toward their major.

B. Awards

Academic Honors
Dean’s List: A regular student shall be eligible for Dean’s List standing if a GPA of 3.5 (on scale of 0—4.0) or above has been achieved in the preceding term and the student has carried at least 15 hours at The King’s College.

Graduation Honors: Graduation honors are awarded to students whose final GPA meets the 3.5, or higher, cumulative average and the successful completion of a senior thesis if required. “With honors” shall be indicated on the record and diploma of the graduate.

The Wilberforce Leadership Award
Each spring one graduating student is given the Wilberforce Leadership Award by the Office of Student Development. William Wilberforce served as a Christian in the English Parliament during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Wilberforce spent over forty years fighting to bring an end to the institution of human trade. One month after his death in 1833 parliament passed a law abolishing slavery in the British Empire . The King’s College strives to impart the highest of ideals to its students. Many of these ideals are exemplified in the life of William Wilberforce. These values have been distilled into the Seven Ideals that the college seeks to pass on to all its graduates. They are: life transformation, world focused, cause centered, leadership building, idea guided, risk taking, and results oriented. This award is given to the graduate that has most exemplified these ideals during his or her time at The King’s College.

C. Registration and Enrollment
Special times are set aside each semester for registering students for classes in the upcoming term. Students failing to register during this registration period will be charged a fee of $25. The registration process is completed electronically with the help of the staff of the advising center. Students may not attend classes until all tuition and fees are paid or the Office of Financial Services has approved a payment plan and received the first scheduled payment. Students are responsible to insure that they accurately complete electronic registration. Penalties incurred because of student errors are the responsibility of the student.

Permitted Academic Load
While 12 hours constitutes full-time status, the normal academic load for a semester at King's is 16 hours. To register for more than 18 hours, students must obtain special permission from the Academic Dean.

Adding and/or Dropping a Class
During the fall and spring semesters students may add a course to their schedule during the first week of the semester. Students may drop a course during the first week of a regular semester and no notation will appear on their transcript. During the next five weeks of the semester, students may drop a course with the grade of W (withdrawn) recorded on their transcript. After this six week period, students may only withdraw from courses, and will receive a grade of WP (withdrawn passing) or WF (withdrawn failing) based on what they have earned. Please consult withdrawal and refund policies to determine any refund which might be warranted.

During shorter terms these time constraints will be prorated for that term and could be as short as a single class meeting. Students and faculty should consult the calendar for that term to find these deadlines.

Withdrawals are effected by using an add/drop form obtained from the Registrar. Withdrawals will be effective from the date received in the Registrar’s office.

Failure to attend classes does not constitute withdrawal. Students who fail to attend classes will be subject to the usual King's attendance policies.

Auditing Course
Students may audit classes on a space available basis with the permission of the Registrar and the professor. Auditors receive no credit for the class and must pay the appropriate fee ($80 per credit hour for students taking 12 or less credits and $15 per credit hour for students not on Academic Probation taking 12 or more credits). Note: While instructors are not required to grade any assignment submitted by auditors, they may, at their discretion require regular attendance and/or work to be submitted for the privilege of attending the class. Check with the professor for details.

Incomplete Grades
The grade of “I” is given only to the student who, because of personal illness, or because of death or serious illness in his or her immediate family, is temporarily excused by the Registrar from the final examination (or final major assignment such as a term paper where there is no examination). An “I” cannot be given because other course work has not been turned in or work is late or for any other reason, except by permission of the Academic Dean. It is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor immediately of any situation that would cause his or her absence from a final examination or inability to submit a final project.

Requests for granting an “I” must be in writing from the faculty member to the Registrar, and must include adequate relevant documentation of the circumstances justifying the incomplete grade. The student who has been granted an “Incomplete” must complete all requirements within the first 6 weeks of the next semester. The final grades will be due when mid-term grades for that next semester are due. If a student fails to complete an exam or other item within the specified six-week period, his or her course grade will be calculated by assigning a zero to that exam or item.

Academic Transcripts
Transcripts of student records are available from the Registrar’s Office upon written request of the student. To release transcripts, student accounts must be paid in full. There is a $5 fee per transcript, which must accompany the request.

D. Class Attendance and Punctuality
Students are expected to punctually attend all regularly scheduled sessions of each course. Students who are absent for more than 15 minutes (either by arriving late or leaving early) in a regularly scheduled class are recorded as absent. A student who misses 25% of their class sessions for any reason is administratively withdrawn from the course with an Administrative Withdraw (AW) grade recorded on the transcript (calculated as an F in the GPA). Students who are administratively withdrawn from a class will receive no refund of any fees to which they may otherwise be entitled. An excused absence (illness as indicated by a doctor’s note or death in the immediate family) may improve or protect the grade a student earns in class but it does not extend the amount of days they are allowed to be absent. Students should guard their days carefully. Note: In classes that meet only once a week the maximum number of days a student can be absent for any reason is three. In classes that meet more often, the maximum number of days absent is six.

Academic Honor Code:
As college students, the degree of honesty and integrity employed when creating and preparing work is expected to be of the utmost quality. Dishonest preparation and submission of work assigned—and in particular, plagiarism—will not be tolerated and may lead to failure of the course and dismissal from the institution. In the MLA Style Manual (New York: MLA, 1998), Joseph Gibaldi writes that “to plagiarize is to give the impression that you wrote or thought something that you in fact borrowed from someone, and to do so is a violation of professional ethics.”

In addition, it is understood that student participation in this and all courses implies a knowledge of and agreement with the Honor Code.

E. Grading Policies

Unit of Credit
Unit of credit: The unit of credit is the semester hour. Each semester credit hour represents the equivalent of 750 minutes of instruction.

Grading Scale
The following grades and their grade-point equivalents apply:

Grade Reports
Grade reports are issued at the end of each term. The report will indicate the cumulative GPA, the grade point average earned for the semester, and any academic status such as probation or suspension. All students will receive a grade report following each term for which they were enrolled in courses.

A warning is issued at mid-term if academic work at that time endangers a student’s academic standing for the term. Any student earning a D or lower at the mid-term evaluation (in any course) will be sent a warning.

It is the practice of The King’s College to send copies of grades and other reports of students’ academic progress to parents of undergraduate students who are listed as dependents on their parent’s federal income tax return. Students who are dependent on their parents may write to the Dean of Students and request that information concerning their academic progress not be shared. The Dean of Students will then notify the parents of the request and consequent reports will not be sent to parents.

Grade appeals and/or Grade Corrections
Student complaints concerning a grade must be filed with the Office of the Registrar (in writing) within thirty days of issuance of the grade report. A copy of the complaint must also be sent to the instructor who reported the grade. The instructor must authorize any change in a grade issued for a course.

Grade corrections may be made solely on the basis that there was an error in the computation or recording of the grade. Under no circumstances will a grade be changed later than ten weeks after the end of a semester.

If the student’s complaint is based on alleged unfairness by a faculty member, the student may appeal to the Academic Affairs Committee. In extraordinary circumstances and at the discretion of the Academic Dean, an independent faculty committee may be convened to adjudicate academic disputes. The decision of the faculty is final.

F. Repeating Classes
Classes in which a student scored below a C may be repeated one time. Previous grades for the class will remain on a student’s transcript. The grade for each class will be entered on the transcript. The highest of the grades for that course will be used in computing a student’s cumulative grade point average. However, both grades will count toward the term GPA in the semester the course was taken. Courses taken at other institutions will not be used in computation of King's grade points.

G. Academic Status
A student at King's is considered to be either “In Acceptable Standing” or “On Probation.” Such a determination is made on the basis of the student’s GPA for the previous semester. A student is in “Acceptable Standing” if his or her GPA for the previous semester is greater than or equal to 2.0. Students should note that being in “Acceptable Standing” at the time of application does not guarantee him or her to entry into any of the baccalaureate degree programs (majors) at King's. Students should refer to the academic requirements for entry into the programs of interest to them.

Student Classification – at the end of any given semester

Any student whose Semester GPA is less than 2.0 will be placed on academic probation. Notification of this change of status is sent by the Registrar to the student and to the Advising Center on a date no later than the first day of the term following the term in which the probation was earned.

Students who fail to follow the restrictions of their probation will be placed on Academic Suspension. The Advising Center is responsible to notify the Academic Dean of any students who fail to follow the conditions of their probation.

Removal from Probation
Students on Probation must successfully complete 12 consecutive credits with a GPA of 2.0 or higher in order to remove themselves from Probation. These 12 credits must be completed before the next two regular (spring and fall) semesters elapse. A student on Probation may take some of these courses during a summer or J-term, and doing this does not diminish the time allowed for completion of the full 12 credits. This policy applies both to full-time and part-time students.

Academic Suspension
Suspension from The King’s College for academic reasons is for a period of at least one regular (spring or fall) semester. Students who are suspended retain none of the privileges or security clearances of King's students. Academic suspension will occur in any of the following situations:

• A student on Probation who does not complete 12 consecutive credits with a GPA of 2.0 or higher within two regular semesters from being placed on probation
• Any student who fails to pass 32 credits after attempting 48 credits or to pass 64 credits after attempting 80 credits (including transfer credits)
• Any student on probation who fails to follow the restrictions of his or her probation.

At the end of each college term, the Registrar is to notify the Academic Dean of students whose academic performance meets the criteria for suspension. The Academic Dean will then bring these cases to the Academic Affairs Committee for their review and recommendation.

Readmission After Academic Suspension
In order to be readmitted to King's after academic suspension, a student must petition the Office of the Registrar for reinstatement. The petition will be considered by the Academic Affairs Committee. Reinstatement may be granted at the discretion of the Committee. If the student is reinstated, he or she will be placed on probation. Should the student again meet the criteria for Academic Suspension, he or she will be dismissed from The King’s College. Dismissal is considered final.

Retention Rates
The King’s College year-to-year retention rate is 74%.

H. Study and Other Institutions
Students matriculating at The King’s College may attend on a pre-approved basis, another institution and have such credits acknowledged on their transcript at King's. Approval needs to be obtained in advance using the form available from the Registrars office or the Advising Center. Acceptance of credit will be on a transfer basis with grades and grade points not recorded on the student’s King's record.

I. Student Responsibility
Students may confer with the Advising Center Staff to discuss graduation requirements, curriculum choice and order of study. However, it will always be the responsibility of the student to fulfill graduation requirements and promptly submit required forms to the Registrar’s office.

J. Exceptions to Official Policy
Exceptions to regulations concerning requirements for graduation are not valid unless they are approved by the Academic Affairs Committee or are given in writing, signed by the Registrar and are part of the student’s permanent college record. Requests to the Academic Affairs Committee for such exceptions or for other exceptions to academic policies must be submitted on a special petition form available from the Office of the Registrar.

K. Student Records and Privacy
The King’s College recognizes and desires to protect the rights to privacy of the student, to protect the student from inappropriate access to their educational data and to protect the right of the student to challenge the contents of his record(s) for inaccurate or misleading information.

L. The Academic Affairs Committee
The Academic Affairs Committee is comprised of a faculty chair appointed by the Academic Dean, faculty representatives, the Registrar, and a representative from the Student Development office. The committee does not set policy but makes recommendations to full faculty meetings and/or to the Academic Dean who may refer the recommendations to the Executive Team or to the President as appropriate.

The Academic Affairs Committee deals with issues relating to admissions standards and exceptions, learning outcomes, curriculum, assessment tools, library issues, graduation requirements and candidate approval for graduation, course registration, grading, attendance, required study hall and other academic interventions, probation, suspension, and readmission following suspension. This committee also reviews nominees for academic awards including the Dean’s List and the President’s List. Other topics that normally come to this committee include permission to make exceptions to add/drop deadlines; permission to take more than the allowed number of credits in a given semester; and any other academic irregularities relating to registration, attendance and grading.

Students, staff, or faculty who wish to bring an issue before this committee should write a petition stating the nature of their concern and forward it to the Academic Dean.