Academic Life: Undergraduate

Areas of Study

Major Areas of Study

By the end of the sophomore year, students generally confirm their field of special interest for study, i.e., a major. An academic major may require no fewer than 32 semester credits although some majors require as many as 56 semester credits. Approximately one-half of the courses are to be beyond the 200 level. Other requirements are determined by the major.

To be eligible for a degree, transfer students must earn at least 12 semester credits on the 300-400 level in their major from the University of Mary. In addition to fulfilling the required courses for a major, students must fulfill the competence requirements as well as all other degree requirements.

It is the student’s responsibility to seek admittance to a major area of study before the end of the sophomore year or, in the case of a transfer, after one semester at the University of Mary. Forms for this purpose are available from the program chairperson.

Minor Areas of Study

Students may add a minor to their major area of study. Minor programs are available to those who wish to study a subject beyond the introductory courses but not to the level required by a minor. To add a minor, transfer students must earn a minimum of six semester credits within the minor at the University of Mary of which three of the six semester credits must be upper level.

Concentrations

Students may add one or more concentrations to their major area of study. Concentrations are available to those who wish to place extra emphasis within the study of a profession to increase breadth and depth of a focused topic or area. Specific concentrations and the requirements are definined within the academic program listings for their respective schools.

Course Numbers

Courses numbered 100-299 are open to freshmen and sophomores, 300-499 are usually for juniors and seniors. The 328-428 course numbers in each division are provided for in-depth study of a special interest and of areas not covered in the existing curriculum.

In all divisions, the following numbers are used for specific courses:

Registration and Schedules

Calendar

The University of Mary operates on a trimester calendar which divides the academic year into three semesters of 16 weeks each: Fall, Spring, and an optional Summer. During a semester, a traditional undergraduate student generally enrolls in a program of five courses, each carrying three semester credits. Such a program provides time for the student to pursue a subject in-depth. During Summer Term, the student may enroll in a liberal arts course, engage in independent study, travel, or complete specialty areas in the major. Additionally, the University offers a Year-Round-Campus program, which allows students to continue their full-time enrollment through all three terms. Year-Round-Campus participants have the opportunity to complete their programs of study in a much shorter period of time; some as quickly as 2.6 years.

Adult and non-traditional students have the opportunity to complete many programs of study in an accelerated format. For many of our adult graduate and undergraduate programs, students can enroll in multiple five-week, seven-week, eight-week, or 10-week courses within a given semester. Adult and graduate programs are offered year-round, with full-time coursework available all three semesters for most programs.

Registration

In preparation for early registration, a schedule of classes will be published with the time, place of meeting, and instructor for the course. The schedule of classes can be found on the University of Mary website at www.umary.edu/registrar. The University is not bound to offer any elective course for which there is insufficient registration and reserves the right to withdraw any course described in this catalog.

Opportunities are provided during each semester for students to register early for the following term. Early registration forms are approved and signed by the student’s advisor. The student may then register online or manually at the Registrar’s Office. Students should take note that financial holds or lack  of prerequisites may block online registration. Incoming freshmen are encouraged to meet with an advisor for early registration on one of the days scheduled for this purpose (Student Orientation, Advisement, and Registration) prior to the beginning of the next academic term.

Incoming first-time college students who do not, or cannot, attend the early spring freshmen registration sessions may register by making an appointment with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Transfer students, readmitted students, and graduate students will work directly with the advisor to register for classes.

Students who are enrolled at the University of Mary but wish to take required courses elsewhere must seek prior approval for their applicability and acceptance as divisional requirements. Requests for approval are made through the respective chairperson and the registrar.

Changes in Schedule

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Administrative Drop Policy

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Final Examination

For full semester courses, final examinations are given during the last week of the term at the times indicated on the published final exam schedule, which is available online. Students should arrange to complete exams during the published times. Students with three examinations on one day may request to take the last scheduled examination on another day. Such a request to reschedule must be presented to the instructor one week prior to the test day. The instructor will make arrangements for the student to be tested on another day.

Accelerated courses will give the final examination during the last week of the class, usually on the final day of class. Individual instructors will notify course participants of the exact final exam date.

Credits, Student Classification, and Transcripts

Majors: There must be at least 15 credits of unique, non-overlapping professional/discipline coursework in each major. Interdisciplinary programs must have at least 12 credits of unique, non-overlapping professional/discipline coursework in each major.

Minors: There must be at least three 3-credit courses or two 4-credit courses of unique, non-overlapping professional/discipline coursework in each minor, or from major to minor. Minors may not be awarded when a student is concurrently pursuing a major in the same academic program. For example, a student may not major in biology and minor in biology. Minors may not be added retroactively to a student record after the degree is conferred.

Concentrations: At least half of the credits required for a concentration must include unique, non-overlapping professional/discipline coursework from all major/minor programs. An exception to this rule will be granted to students in the Pre-Healthcare Concentration.

Liberal Arts: Designated liberal arts courses may concurrently be counted toward the liberal arts requirements, major requirements, minor requirements, or concentrations; however, the above referenced requirements still stand.

Directed Study

Sophomores, juniors, seniors, and older-than-average students who have the necessary prerequisites and meet accepted standards may pursue courses through directed study. A minimum grade point average of 2.0 is required for a student to be eligible for directed study. Standard elective and required courses that are difficult for the student to access at regularly-scheduled times may also be available. A course for which a student has received a grade of “F” may not be repeated as a directed study. Tuition for a directed study is the same as that for a regular course.

A student wishing to pursue a course by directed study:

1. Confers with his/her advisor about the advisability of such pursuit.
2. Obtains the Directed Study Form from the Office of the Registrar.
3. Obtains the signature of his/her advisor indicating advisor approval of the directed study.
4. Secures the sponsorship of an appropriate faculty member, visiting with this faculty sponsor to outline course objectives, content, and requirements and to schedule meeting times and determine the final completion date.
5. Makes payment for the course in the Office of Student Accounts. Part-time students and students for whom this course constitutes an overload will pay additional tuition for this course.
6. Returns the completed Directed Study Form to the Office of the Registrar. To drop an independent study course, a student must complete a change in registration form (including necessary signatures) and submit it to the Office of the Registrar.

Transfer of Credit and Non-Classroom Opportunities for Credit

Transcript Evaluation: The Office of the Registrar evaluates transcripts and records transfer credits. The names of the transfer institutions accompany the courses and corresponding grades on the University of Mary transcript. Any preliminary reviews by other personnel are unofficial, not binding, and subject to change. Acceptance of transfer courses and the award of University transfer credit shall not express or imply that all transfer credit will be fully applicable toward degree requirements in particular programs of study at the University of Mary. Students are not at liberty to selectively transfer courses. Transfer credit is only granted for courses in which a grade of “D” or better was earned, except when a higher grade is required for the student’s major as declared at the time of the transcript evaluation.

The Registrar may grant exceptions to the minimum grade requirement when an articulation agreement exists between the credit awarding institution and the University of Mary. Courses that do not meet major grade requirements are not eligible for transfer. No more than 62 semester credits may be transferred from two-year institutions, and no more than 92 credits may be transferred in total from all institutions.

Credits from Accredited Institutions in U.S.: The University of Mary accepts credits earned at institutions accredited by agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for the level of credit awarded provided that such credits have been earned through university-level courses appropriate to the student’s degree program at the University of Mary.

Credits from International Institutions: Credits from foreign or professional schools will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the Office of the Registrar in consultation with the Office of Academic Affairs and/or the Academic Dean responsible for the student’s declared program of study.

Remedial Credits: Remedial or developmental courses are not considered college-level and do not transfer

Exam-Generated Credits: The following are examples of exam-generated credits that may be considered for transfer. Other exam-generated credits may also be considered.

• Advanced Placement (AP): Students who receive a sufficient score on the Advanced Placement Tests of the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) receive appropriate university credit. Contact the Registrar’s Office with additional questions.
• CLEP: The College Level Examination Program (CLEP) has been established to enable students to earn college transfer credit by examination. For additional information, or to schedule an examination contact Career and Testing Services at 701-355-8050. The CLEP equivalencies can be found online.
• DSST
• Challenge: In academic areas for which CLEP tests are not available, a student may petition to challenge an undergraduate course listed in the catalog. To do so, the student obtains the Request for Credit through Challenge form from the Office of the Registrar. The student is required to complete the request form and requests approval through the dean of the school responsible for the course. Once authorized, the student must submit the form to the director of student accounts and pay the challenge fee. The director of student accounts retains one copy of the form. The student must present the second copy of the request form to the authorizing dean or the supervising faculty member who will administer the test or evaluate the paper. After the student has completed the test or the paper, the instructor evaluates the paper or test, affixes the grade to the lower portion of the request form, signs the form, and submits the form to the Office of the Registrar. The registrar records the grade.
• Discipline-Specific

The Prior Learning Portfolio Program: see program policy and details under the Academic Life: General Policies  page. Available for both undergraduate and some graduate students; limited to specific academic programs.

Meeting General Bachelor Degree Requirements  (Liberal Arts Core): If a transfer student seeking a B.A., B.S., B.A.N., B.S.N., B.S.R.T., B.M., or B.U.S. comes to the University of Mary from an accredited college/university with a previously earned A.A., A.S., B.A., or B.S. or their transcript includes a minimum of 52 liberal arts credits then the University would accept their transfer courses as meeting the University General Bachelor Degree core courses. If their previous program did not include an ethics and theology, those two courses would still be required. However, the previous completion of an A.A.S. or B.A.S. degree would not be considered as meeting the University liberal arts core requirements. There are two exceptions where an A.A.S. holder would be eligible for the core wavier as outlined above: 1) students holding an A.A.S., who are licensed LPNs or RNs, and who will be enrolling in the B.S.N. completion program; and 2) students holding an A.A.S., who are licensed RRTs, and who will be enrolling in the B.S.R.T. completion program.

Students who have been exempted from the liberal arts core course requirements are not exempt from the minimum of 52 liberal arts credits requirement for a bachelor’s degree. Additionally, these students are not exempt from specific course requirements for their majors, even if those courses may be used to satisfy liberal education requirements at the University of Mary. Finally, students seeking a B.A.S. degree will not receive a general core waiver due to the condensed nature of the B.A.S. liberal arts core.

Student Classification

Regular students are those who have been admitted with the expectation of becoming candidates for graduation. Non-degree seekers are those students who have been admitted for special programs in non-degree status. The classification of regular students is based on progress toward graduation as follows:

Grading, Academic Progress, and Progress Toward A Degree

Grades

See policies under Academic Life: General Policies .

Incompletes

An incomplete (I) grade, given at the discretion of the instructor, if not changed within the first three weeks of the next academic session, converts to a grade of “F” unless an extension is granted in writing by the instructor.

Pass/Fail

For internships, practicums, performance ensembles, workshops, and activities courses, the option of pass/fail grading is available. All grades are recorded on the student’s official transcript.

Assessment

Assessment of student learning is an integral component of every academic program. Continuous assessment of learning is the foundation for program improvement. Participation in assessment activities is required at the course, program, and university levels for academic advising and for best practices in teaching and learning. The assessment program is designed to help the student reflect on his/her progress toward meeting program outcomes as well as strengths and areas needing improvement within the university curriculum and environment.

Course Audits

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Grade Reports

Mid-semester: Instructors inform students of their mid-semester grades as an indication of their progress. Mid-semester grades for deficiencies are distributed to the student’s advisor but do not appear on the student’s permanent transcript.

Students and advisors access grades online. The Office of the Registrar records the grades.

Final grades: At the close of each semester, final grades are recorded on students’ permanent records. Students may view their final semester grade by logging into my.umary.edu.

Accessing Grade Reports: Grades will be made available to students via the my.umary.edu website by using their ID numbers and passwords. The process for dissemination of grades and other educational records to parties other than the student is covered by UMary’s FERPA policy.

Transcript Requests

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Academic Honors

At the end of fall and spring semesters, undergraduate students are placed on the Dean’s List if they achieve a term grade point average of 3.5 or above on a minimum of 12 semester credits (fulltime status) with letter/point grades. If the student is involved in any course that awards a pass/fail grade, honors distinction will be determined by completion of at least 12 semester credits (full-time status), a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on any courses with letter/point grades and a grade of pass on any pass/fail courses. The undergraduate student must not have a grade of “I”, “WIP”, or “SC” in any course at the time Academic Standing and Honors are determined. If an undergraduate student completes any graduate course with a grade of “B-” or better during the same term, those hours will be counted toward full-time status. Graduate letter/point grades will NOT be counted toward the undergraduate grade point average when determining academic honors.

Academic honors at commencement are awarded to graduates who have earned an undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 3.5-3.74 (Cum Laude), 3.75-3.89 (Magna Cum Laude), 3.9-4.0 (Summa Cum Laude). These academic honors will show on the student’s final transcript.

For transfer students, grades from other colleges will be included when computing honors. Honors awarded at commencement will be based upon the grade point average of all course work completed prior to the point of commencement.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

To fulfill requirements for a degree, full-time and part-time undergraduate students must:

1. Have a grade point average of 1.8 at the end of 29.9 earned semester credits and a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 thereafter and
2. Met Progress Toward a Degree standards (see policy under Academic Life: General Policies )

To maintain satisfactory academic progress, a full-time student must have 24 career-earned semester credits annually as recorded at the University of Mary. Program requirements may be more stringent.

Monitoring Progress: Progress for all students will be monitored at the end of each term in which they are enrolled.

In the case of a transfer applicant whose academic transcript indicates failure to maintain reasonable progress, the applicant may be granted a warning semester and academic progress will be reviewed after the first semester of attendance.

Progress Toward a Degree

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Academic Grievances

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Academic Amnesty Policy

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Academic Sanctions

Academic Standing

Students who have failed to achieve Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) will be given one semester of Warning. If after one Warning semester they continue to fall beneath SAP standards, those students will be suspended or, in extenuating circumstances as determined by the Vice President of Academic Affairs, such students may be granted an additional semester of warning.

Students do not need to first be placed on warning status to be suspended. If it is determined by the Vice President of Academic Affairs that academic progress is so lacking that suspension is warranted, the student may be suspended directly. For example, a freshman student who earns less than a 1.0 GPA for the first semester of enrollment may be suspended without serving a warning semester.

Academic Warning

Students eligible for an academic warning will be notified by letter that they have one semester to bring their academic standing within Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements while continuing their enrollment at UMary. The letter will inform them of their right to an academic appeal, instruct them to check with the applicable department on campus about the status of their extracurricular eligbility, and inform them of the requirement to complete and maintain an academic success plan with a designated advisor and comply with all the terms and conditions set forth in this plan. Students who do not substantially comply with their academic success plan, as determined by their designated advisor, will have a registration hold placed on their accounts.

In the event that they are not able to achieve Satisfactory Academic Progress by the end of the warning semester, students may be suspended or, in extenuating circumstances as determined by the Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs, may be granted an additional semester of warning.

Academic Suspension

The duration of an academic suspension is defined in the Reinstatement Policy. Students who are suspended will receive a letter notifying them of the suspension and their right to an appeal. Suspended students will not be eligible to register for coursework and will be terminated from active status. Their financial aid and athletic eligibility will be terminated.

Students who have been suspended from the University must follow the Reinstatement Policy to be readmitted.

Right to an Appeal: Academic Warnings, Suspensions, and Dismissals

Students who have been placed on an Academic Warning, are Suspended, or have received notice of dismissal from the University may appeal this status to:

University of Mary
Attn: Academic Standards & Admission Committee
7500 University Drive
Bismarck, ND 58504

The appeal must be in writing and submitted within 14 calendar days of the student’s notification of their status. Students may appeal due to mitigating circumstances such as illness of the student or immediate family member, death of an immediate family member, or other circumstances that may have resulted in sub-standard academic performance. The student must comply with all requests for documents pertaining to academic performance, i.e., copies of papers, test results, attendance records, etc. The Academic Standards and Admission Committee considers and rules on the appeal. That ruling is final and binding.

A student’s status does not change while an appeal is under consideration. If he or she is in academic warning or suspension, the warning or suspension stands. If a student was dismissed, he or she remains dismissed.

Approval of an academic suspension appeal does not ensure reinstatement of eligibility for financial or extracurricular activity participation. Students who successfully appeal their suspension will be placed on academic warning. 

Dismissal from Undergraduate Studies

Students who fail to achieve Satisfactory Academic Progress and are suspended from the Program of Study and fail to successfully appeal within the alloted timeframe ultimately will be dismissed from the University because of poor scholarship. Students also may be dismissed for misconduct. See most current University of Mary Student Handbook at www.umary.edu.

Reinstatement

Academic suspensions are for a minimum of one semester, and students who are suspended academically must request reinstatement in order to be considered for readmission to University of Mary. A student seeking readmission after being academically suspended, or who otherwise was not in good academic standing at the time of leaving, must resubmit application for admission to the university, and direct their application to the Academic Standards and Admission Committee. Conditions for reinstatement may be imposed upon returning students. The student will be reenrolled under the university catalog in place at the time of readmission, which may require additional coursework or contain different policies than those in place at the time of their original enrollment. Students who are reinstated academically may still be on financial aid suspension based on the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for Financial Assistance.

Attendance and Withdrawal

Class Attendance

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Excessive Absence Policy

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Deployment Policy

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Withdrawal from the University

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .

Academic Conduct Standards

Academic Honor Code & Honor System

This policy is available in the Academic Life: General Policies section

Student Conduct in Instructional Settings Including Online Courses and Discussions

This policy is available in the Academic Life: General Policies section

Graduation

Requirements

Students are expected to satisfy the graduation requirements in effect at the time of their admission to the University. If graduation requirements change after that date, students have the option of satisfying either the requirements in effect at the time of admission or the requirements in effect at the time of graduation unless changes have occurred in certification and professional requirements (in such areas as teacher education and the allied health fields), which preclude a choice. In the event that certification or professional requirements change and related course requirements become effective during the time the student is enrolled in a program, the new requirements will take precedence.

Required Documentation

See policy under Academic Life: General Policies .