New Academic Standing Policy

Passed by the ILS faculty at a Special Meeting January 24, 2008
Takes effect 2008-2009 

Policy: 

The Master of Library Science degree requires completion of a total of 36 credits (or approximately 12 courses) To graduate from this program, all students must complete the five core courses (see below) and seven elective courses with a grade of "B" or higher in each course. A course can be repeated and a grade of "B" or higher must be achieved. Failure to receive a grade of "B" or higher in a core course, or if a cumulative grade point average falls below 3.0, may result in academic probation and possible academic dismissal. Students earn credit only once for a repeated course. [Passed by the ILS faculty at a Special Meeting January 24, 2008] 

FAQ:

What does this mean? How does this work?

Let's follow a couple of students through the program: Sally, Jane, and Dick. All three are recommended for admission to the MLS program, complete a 36 credit Planned Program (5 required core courses and 7 electives), and are matriculated into the Graduate School.

While taking the initial four core courses (501, 503, 504, and 506), Sally receives a B- in 504, Reference. Sally must now retake 504 and achieve a B or better the second time, or be dismissed from the MLS program. Sally retakes 504 and receives an A. Sally's Planned Program remains unchanged, but her transcript shows that 504 was taken twice, but only 3 credits applied toward the MLS degree. Both grades received in 504, however, the B- and the A, go into calculating Sally's overall average.

While taking the seven elective courses, Dick receives a C in 518, History of the Book. As this is an elective course, Dick decides not to retake it; rather, he adds 655, Digital Libraries, to his Planned Program. He receives an A in 655. His Planned Program now shows thirteen courses. He has a B or better in each of the five (5) required core courses and a B or better in seven (7) electives. Dick's overall average is based on all thirteen courses taken and is over the required minimum of 3.0.

Jane received a B in all five required core courses and a B in five elective courses. Jane, however, then received an F and a D in her last two electives. She retook one and received a B. She decided to add an additional elective to her Planned Program and received an A in it. Jane received a B in all her core courses and a B or better in seven (7) electives. However, the overall average of all fourteen grades (in the thirteen different courses) is only 2.8. Jane does not qualify for a graduate degree at Southern. In order to have the minimum 3.0 overall average, Jane would need to add three additional electives to her Planned Program, achieving an A in each additional elective.

Jane's two below-B grades of F and D were the result of not completing and submitting work in the two courses. Jane decides to contact the two faculty members and explain the situation. One professor allows her to submit the work late (resulting in a grade change from F to B); the other professor does not. Jane needs to do two things: 1) either repeat the course in which she earned the D or add an additional course to her Planned Program, hoping to achieve a B or better; and 2) raise her now 2.93 over average to at least a 3.0, this will require an A whether she repeats the course or adds an additional one.