Academic Policies

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

Information on Grades, Different Grade Modes (S/F, P/NP) Grade Points, Calculating GPA, Course Drops, Withdrawal from College

Course auditing consists of class attendance and participation at a cost of $50.00 per course with no academic credit to the auditing Individual.  A $50.00 fee will be charged for each course audited. Auditing of courses is allowed by permission of the School Dean and course instructor. Auditing privileges shall not deny enrollment to regularly enrolled students. Per SUNY policy, senior citizens (age 60 or above) may audit courses on a space available basis free of charge.

Neither adherence to normal academic requirements nor grades are required for course auditors. Restrictions on admission to courses with educationally necessary prerequisites and with extensive laboratory or individualized studio activities are subject to the discretion of the School Dean and the course instructor.

Students taking “Special Project” courses may earn up to three credit hours for courses designated as Special Projects in their associate degree and an additional three hours credit for Special Projects in their baccalaureate program.

A total of six Special Project credits may be awarded in a baccalaureate program with three credits coming at the lower division level and three from the upper division level. Students at the associate’s level will not be given credit for upper division level Special Projects.

Students registering for three one credit Special Projects must do so by the end of the first week of the semester; students registering for two one credit Special Projects must do so by the end of the fifth week of the semester; and students registering for a single one credit Special Project must do so by the end of the tenth week of the semester.

First semester students are not restricted from registering for a Special Project. However, this course offering assumes that the student possesses a certain degree of academic maturity. For some students, it may not be in their best interest to register for a Special Project during their first semester of study.

Students who are not in their first semester of study must have maintained an overall GPA of 2.0 or better in order to register for a Special Projects course. Students are required to work at least 45 hours per credit hour. This will include any formal meetings with the instructor, any lab related work and any outside work. This should be clearly stated in the description of the Special Project course offering in the course catalog.

No non-faculty may offer a Special Project without the direct advisement and approval of faculty members from the school in which the course is being offered.

Any faculty offering a Special Projects course must submit written documentation at the beginning of the project that describes the goal, activities, and outcome of the project. This documentation must be included in the student’s permanent file.

A similar form will be used for all schools. The form will require five signatures: the student, advisor, faculty supervisor, Dean of the student’s school, and the Dean of the crediting school.

There is no restriction on the number of special projects students a faculty member may have during a particular semester.

SUNY Morrisville supports students who wish to cross-register for a course at another SUNY College.

Cross registration is primarily intended to resolve scheduling conflicts for required courses that would delay timely program completion. By providing access to required courses at other SUNY campuses, cross registration allows students to complete requirements in situations where a course or courses are unavailable at their home campus.

Home Institution = the institution where you are matriculated. 
Host Institution = the institution you are seeking to take additional courses with.

1. Students must be in good academic standing and be registered for at least half of the credits at their home institution (e.g. enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours at Morrisville) to cross-register.
2. Only courses that will transfer into your program will be approved. Credit courses must be applicable toward the student’s degree at SUNY Morrisville as a required or elective course for their primary degree or certificate.
3. SUNY cross-registration is offered only for fall and spring semesters. Winter and summer courses are not included.
4. Credits earned through cross-registration are recorded on the Morrisville transcript as a transfer course.
5. Cross-registered courses do not count towards residency course requirements for graduation.
6. You must have the approval of the Home and the Host institution. You are responsible for ensuring that the courses meet the requirements of your degree.
7. Please be advised that even if you have the permission of the instructor or have satisfied the pre-requisites necessary for enrollment at the Host institution, you still need to fill out the Online SUNY cross-registration form in order to be considered to be officially cross-registered on the course.
8. Registration deadlines vary by college.  Students are responsible for contacting the host institution for registration related dates and deadlines.
9. If you are not enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours applicable to your degree (combined enrollment between your Home and Host institution) by the date in which you incur full liability, you may be disqualified for certain aid programs (e.g. TAP, Excelsior Scholarship, etc.).
10. If you drop a course and your combined load is less than 12 credit hours, then you may be liable as the Financial Aid may have to be adjusted.
11. Student’s submission of the cross-registration form through the secured online form will allow both institutions to communicate to coordinate the cross-registration process. Please have all the information about the course you intend to cross-register (course number, course title, credit hours, etc.) prior to submitting the form.
12. Any immunizations requirements by the Host institutions are the responsibility of the student.
13. Students seeking to register at a Community College must also comply with the Certificate of Residency requirement for the Host College.
14. Cross-registering for a course is the responsibility of the student. Once you submit your online cross-registration form, you must check your email for communications from the Home and the Host institutions.

Students must adhere to the Host institution academic policies and procedures like dropping a course, adding a course, withdrawing from the Host institution, attendance, grades, etc. All students taking a course at another SUNY college must abide by all appropriate regulations, honor systems, parking regulations and the like at the host institution.

The catalog year is what ties the student to the catalog year curriculum that they are required to follow and determines the contract of degree requirements a student must fulfill in order to graduate.

The catalog year defaults to the same semester that the student matriculated in a degree program.

Students are eligible to change their catalog year if it is to their benefit and approved by their academic advisor and academic dean. Any changes to a student’s catalog year may result in additional, reduced or updated degree requirements.

It is important to note that students must use a single catalog and cannot use a combination of catalogs for graduation.

By changing catalog terms, a student is responsible for fulfilling all of the graduation requirements in their newly chosen catalog year.

Catalog change requests must be submitted by the last day of the prior semester.

Course substitutions should be submitted by the Academic Dean’s Office to allow a course not normally permitted, to fulfill an academic requirement. The Academic Dean is responsible for ensuring that the learning outcomes, subject matter, and materials correspond or have significant overlap, in consultation with appropriate faculty. 

Course substitutions should ideally be submitted prior to the student enrolling into the course as it may cause implications for financial aid otherwise. 

If a student would like to request that a substitution be done within their major, they will work with their Academic Advisor to make the request by submitting the Degree Required Course Substitution/Waiver form to the Department Chair and Academic Dean. 

If the request for course substitution is approved, it will be reflected on the student’s Degree Works audit. 

Course substitutions are applied only to the degree and program the student is matriculated into at the time of the request.

Requirements for Graduation and Degree Conferral

Information on President's and Dean's list and Latin (Graduation) Honors

A minor is a course sequence within an area of study that provides a degree of specialization within that area, which can be a specialty within a discipline or a specialty integrating several disciplines. Minors are available to Bachelor degree seeking students only.

Minors are be designed to be completed within the same time-frame allowed for the completion of the baccalaureate degree. After matriculating in a major, students wishing to obtain a minor shall use the Academic Minor Request Form.

New York State and federal regulations stipulate that undergraduate students may receive financial aid only for courses that are required for their degree program.  Therefore, undergraduate students need to enroll in 12 credits or more of required coursework to maintain full-time status for New York State and federal student aid programs. Courses taken in completion of a minor that are not also required for the student’s declared major are not considered “required” for the student’s degree for purposes of financial aid. Coursework that solely satisfies a minor is not considered required for New York State and federal aid programs. The only exception is when a minor is included in an approved NYSED major.

Students must declare a minor prior to completing 105 degree credits required in their bachelor degree.

Curriculum Guidelines

• Minors consist of a minimum of 15 credits, at least 6 credits of which will be upper-division (300 or 400-level) courses.  
• A minimum of 9 credits of a minor shall be completed with courses taken at SUNY Morrisville.

SUNY General Education Requirement

The SUNY General Education Requirement (SUNY-GER) enables students to acquire knowledge and skills that are useful and important for all educated persons, regardless of their jobs or professions. (SUNY Board of Trustees Resolution, January 2010).

Effective Fall 2023, SUNY has updated the General Education (GE) Framework system-wide for all Baccalaureate, Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS) degree programs. Associate of Applied Science (AAS) and Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS) degree programs must implement the new SUNY General Education requirements beginning in Fall 2024.

SUNY General Education Knowledge and Skills Areas

A minimum of 7 of 10 categories of knowledge and skills are required for all Baccalaureate, AA, and AS degree programs, effective Fall 2023, and for AAS degree programs, effective Fall 2024.

The following four knowledge and skills areas are specifically required for all undergraduate degree programs:

• Communication: Written (GCW) and Oral (GCO)
• Diversity: Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice (GDV)
• Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (GM)
• Natural Science and Scientific Reasoning (GNS)

In addition, a minimum of three of the following six knowledge and skills areas are required for all Baccalaureate, AA, and AS degree programs:

• Humanities (GH)
• Social Science (GSS)
• The Arts (GA)
• US History and Civic Engagement (GUS)
• World History and Global Awareness (GWH)
• World Languages (GFL)

SUNY General Education Core Competencies (both required for all undergraduate degree programs):

• Critical Thinking and Reasoning (CTR)
• Information Literacy (IL)

In addition to completing the SUNY General Education Requirements, some degrees require additional general education credits in the Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). Please refer to the academic program catalog pages for specific SUNY General Education Requirements for every SUNY Morrisville degree program. For a list of courses that satisfy the SUNY General Education Requirements and/or Liberal Arts and Sciences Requirements, please refer to the General Education catalog page.

This section outlines student responsibilities regarding plagiarism and the examination process, as well as procedures in the event of violations of the Code of Academic Integrity.

The student academic grievance system provides responsible institutional alternatives for the student who has a legitimate complaint to make against a member of the faculty. The grievance system is intended primarily to safeguard the rights of students, but also to protect the faculty from complaints that are unsupported or insubstantial. The grievance system is not intended either to change existing academic or college policy or to persecute, penalize or in any way diminish the academic freedom of individual faculty members.

1. Students are expected to attend and participate in all scheduled classes and laboratories. However, special circumstances such as illness, religious holidays, travel difficulties, family emergencies, military deployment and active participation in college-sponsored events, such as sports, may make certain absences unavoidable. In such instances, students should notify instructors of these special circumstances in advance of missing class.
2. Each instructor will distribute an attendance/participation policy statement, defining excessive absences and expected participation, the first week of classes each semester, and include these policies on the syllabus. These will be approved by the appropriate Dean to assure no conflict between individual attendance policies and college policy; copies will be on file in the instructor’s school office. Students are responsible for understanding the attendance and participation policy (including procedures for making up missed work) of each of their instructors.
3. When, in the opinion of the instructor, absences have placed a student in potential academic jeopardy, the instructor will raise a flag in Starfish and notify the student’s Dean, who will address the concerns with the student, which may include an academic warning. An instructor may initiate discussion to determine the advisability of the student’s dropping or continuing the course in which excessive absences have occurred.
4. A faculty member can suspend a student from class or laboratory for disruptive behavior, that is, for actions which interfere with the orderly conduct of the session or which threaten bodily harm to others.  All such cases must be referred within 24-hours to the student’s Dean, with a full report. If the student cannot be reinstated in the class or laboratory within one week of the day of suspension, the case must be referred to the Provost for resolution. If a student is suspended, the student is still responsible for all course assignments, readings, and work if and when they may be reinstated.
5. Extended, unavoidable absences or complete lack of participation will usually result in student withdrawal. However, in unusual situations where the student indicates a desire and an ability to complete course work even though away from campus, he/she may petition his/her Dean for permission to continue academic work (in absentia). The Dean will then consult with the student’s instructors and, on the basis of these consultations, advise the student to withdraw from the college, to drop courses, or to finish courses under the supervision of consenting instructors.
6. Although regular class attendance will not guarantee passing grades, irregular attendance and a lack of engaged participation will usually have an adverse effect upon grades. Because final student evaluation is based upon measurable academic achievement, instructors will not lower final grades solely on the basis of absences. However, instructors may include attendance and participation points as part of the grading scale.
7. SUNY Morrisville students must attend class to maintain their awarded federal aid. In a distance education context, students must participate in the class or be engaged in academically related activities (such as assignment submission, discussion posts and so forth). Federal financial aid eligibility requires SUNY Morrisville to identify and submit the record of the students who have not attended class and reduce their federal financial aid award accordingly. 

Student “academic standing” shall be based on the following credit hour accumulation levels:

• First year: 0-30 credit hours
• Second year: 31-60 credit hours
• Third year: 61-90 credit hours
• Fourth year: 91 - above credit hours

Student “financial aid standing” shall be based on the following credit hour accumulation levels:

• First year: 0-29 credit hours
• Second year: 30-59 credit hours
• Third year: 60-89 credit hours
• Fourth year: 90- above credit hours

Academic Performance and Academic Progress

The College makes a distinction between a student’s academic performance and their progress toward a degree and will notify the student if there are concerns in either area. 

Academic Performance 

Student grade point averages (GPAs) will be evaluated at the end of each semester and decisions regarding the student’s academic standing will be made according to the Academic Standing table.  The criteria are used to determine eligibility to continue at the College.  A student may be in good standing, may receive an academic warning, may be placed on academic probation prior to dismissal, or may be dismissed from the College depending on their GPA. 

Academic Progress 

It is important that students make adequate academic progress toward the completion of their degree. Inadequate progress notifications may be triggered by failing to maintain at least 12 credits (for full-time students), dropping a class that is required by the major, failing a class that is required by the major, or not achieving a required minimum grade in a class that is required by the major. In the event that a student does not continue to make academic progress for any of these reasons, they will be notified by their Academic School Office. This notification does not carry any direct consequence from the college, but lack of progress may affect a student’s financial aid or scholarship awards. Additionally, some programs may carry stricter penalties for students who are not progressing in their major and students will be made aware of these.

Academic Standing

Academic standing will be evaluated at the end of each semester. A student may be in good standing, may be issued an academic warning, may be placed on academic probation prior to dismissal, or may be dismissed from the college, depending on their cumulative GPA.

Academic standing is determined based on the GPA criteria outlined on the AP.16 Academic Standing webpage.

Fresh Start is an appeals procedure that allows undergraduate students returning to SUNY Morrisville after a prolonged absence to regain good academic standing and accomplish their educational goals. With Fresh Start, students may choose to exclude up to 15 credits for an Associate’s degree and up to 30 credits for a Bachelor’s degree. Excluded credits can apply to courses with a grade of D+ or below (i.e., D+, D, or F) so the student can attain a 2.0 overall grade point average (GPA).

Eligibility

• Students must not have taken any coursework as a matriculated student at SUNY Morrisville for a minimum of 4 full (fall and spring) semesters prior to readmission.
• Prior to readmission, students will not have attempted more than two semesters of coursework at SUNY Morrisville if enrolled in an Associate’s degree program or more than four semesters of coursework if enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program.
• Students must meet all criteria for readmission, be accepted for readmission, and have completed Fresh Start appeal paperwork prior to beginning the new semester.
• Readmitted students who have appealed under the Fresh Start policy must complete a full-time probationary semester of at least 12 credit hours. In this probationary semester, students are not permitted to drop any courses and must receive a grade of C or better in every course.
• Once elected, Fresh Start may not be rescinded.

Students may apply for Fresh Start only once during their SUNY Morrisville career.

Procedure

Upon completion of the probationary semester, if all eligibility requirements for Fresh Start (above) have been met then the following procedure shall be followed:

• The student will meet with their academic advisor and complete the FS Course Exclude paperwork, indicating those courses they wish to have excluded from the transcript.
• The academic dean will review and approve the FS Course Exclude paperwork and forward on to the registrar’s office for processing.
• Approved courses will be coded as Excluded on the students’ academic transcript with the grades and credits being excluded from the cumulative GPA.
• All original credits and grades will remain on the permanent SUNY Morrisville transcript to reflect an accurate academic history.

Fresh Start is a policy of SUNY Morrisville. As such, students should be aware it may not be recognized by outside institutions or for financial aid purposes. Fresh Start does not override state and federal financial aid regulations nor satisfactory academic progress standards. Excluding grades will impact financial aid eligibility. Repeating courses previously passed may not count toward full-time enrollment for financial aid purposes. Students should contact the Financial Aid Office for information on their aid eligibility if considering applying for Fresh Start.