10 / Academic Policies
Academic Honors HONORS AT ENTRANCE
High school graduates entering Cypress College as first time college students may qualify for “Honors at Entrance” by having earned a 3.5 GPA in high school with physical education grades excluded. The High School transcript must be on file in the Admissions and Records Office. This achievement will be indicated on the college transcript. Application for Honors at Entrance should be made in the Admissions and Records Office during the student’s first semester of attendance.
Semester Honors Dean’s List
Academic Policies
Those students who officially complete (as shown on their transcript) 12 or more units in letter grade courses in a semester and earn a grade point average between 3.0 and 3.74 are placed on the Dean’s List for the semester.
PRESIDENT’S LIST
Those students who officially complete (as shown on their transcript) 12 or more units in letter grade courses in a semester and earn a grade point average of 3.75 or above are placed on the President’s List for the semester.
HONORS AT GRADUATION
In recognition of academic excellence for completion of the associate degree, students are awarded graduation honors as follows: Honors 3.30–3.74 High Honors 3.75–4.00 Graduation honors are calculated using all degree applicable work completed. This includes coursework completed at Fullerton College and all other accredited institutions for which an official transcript has been received. Graduation honors will be indicated in the commencement program and on the student’s diploma and transcript. However, for candidates (those students with final grades pending), the commencement program will note “candidate” as their degrees and honors have not yet been confirmed. When final grades are posted, a recalculation of grades will be completed and, if the student qualifies, the graduation honor will be noted on the diploma and transcript.
Academic Renewal Policy Under certain circumstances students may elect to have previously completed courses that resulted in substandard grades disregarded in the computation of their grade point average (GPA). To reduce the negative impact of past academic failure, Cypress College supports Academic Renewal defined in accordance with Section 55046, Title 5, California Code of Regulations. Courses used in awarding an associate degree, certificate or transfer certification will not be alleviated. • Only units taken at Cypress College may be disregarded. No more than twenty-four units of substandard grades (D, F, NC, and NP) may be disregarded. • A minimum of twelve months must have elapsed since the most recent coursework to be disregarded was recorded.
CYPRESS COLLEGE 2012–2013
• A minimum of twelve units must be completed at Cypress College or any other accredited college or university with a grade point average of 2.5 in all units since the last substandard grade to be disregarded. • Courses that meet the present educational goals of the student and that are appropriate for repetition may be exempt for consideration for alleviation. • The college may disregard particular previously recorded substandard work in the computation of a student’s cumulative grade point average according to the Academic Renewal procedures. • A student may be granted Academic Renewal only once and is irreversible once posted to the transcript. The substandard grade(s) alleviated will be subtracted from the grade point average; however, they will remain legible on the transcript and annotated to indicate Academic Renewal. • Academic Renewal by Cypress College does not guarantee that other institutions outside the District will approve such action. This determination will be made by the respective transfer institution. Students must file an Academic Renewal petition form with the Admissions and Records Office. The form is available in the Admissions and Records Office. If other college course work will be used to qualify for Academic Renewal, current and official transcripts from all accredited colleges must accompany the petition or be on file in the Admissions and Records Office at the time the petition is submitted.
Advanced Placement Credit Please refer to External Exam Credit Area of this catalog.
Attendance Regular attendance is expected of every student. Attendance at the first class meeting is especially important since a full period of instruction begins the first day of the class. Any student not attending the first class meeting may be dropped by the instructor. In the case where a class is taught entirely online, instructors may drop students who have not been in contact with the instructor by the end of the first day of classes for that semester or short-term session.
ABSENCES
Absences are handled as follows: • After a student accumulates in any class more than a week’s absences (more than the number of times the class meets per week), consecutive or nonconsecutive, an instructor may drop the student according to the drop deadline dates. • Absences in a Distance Education course are accounted for by monitoring academic attendance or attendance at an academically-related activity. A student will be considered to be “present” in a course if there is evidence of weekly participation in an academically-related activity including, but not limited to, physically attending in-person sessions of a hybrid course, submitting an academic assignment, taking an exam, substantively participating in a course online discussion, study group, or other synchronous or asynchronous activity, or by initiating contact with the instructor in matters related to the course. It is the responsibility of the instructor to define grounds for dismissal in the Distance Education course syllabus.