Academic Regulations

Pre-enrollment

The period for pre-enrollment for each semester and summer session is held in order to allow students to register early.

Final Enrollment

Final enrollment is conducted during the last days before classes begin, unless otherwise announced. All students are expected to register on or before these designated days. Late enrollment is permitted under certain conditions.

Each student is expected to become familiar with the requirements of his/her chosen curriculum. Students are assisted in registering by assigned faculty advisors and other instructors present during registration for this purpose, but ultimately, students are solely responsible for their own academic planning.

Overload Request

A normal study program for freshmen is 15 to 16 semester hours, exclusive of physical education and musical and forensic activity credit. A regular program for upperclassmen is 17 to 19 semester hours and may exceed this amount by requesting an approval for an “ overload” from the Office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs. The policy for overloads is as follows:

20-21 hours: A student’s request for overload should be made to the Office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, written or by email. The student must have a GPA of 3.0 in the last 30 hours completed. An advisor’s approval is required for overload consideration. The Office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs will review requests and approve or disapprove based on the GPA of the student. If a student does not have the minimum GPA of 3.0 in the last 30 hours, the student may appeal to the Academic Council.

22-24 hours: A student’s request for an overload should be made to the Office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, written or by email. The student must have a GPA of 3.0 in the last 30 hours completed. An advisor’s approval is required for overload consideration. The student’s request will be forwarded to the Academic Council who will then approve or disapprove.

Class Standing

Class standing is determined as follows:

Attendance

Responsibility for attending class rests upon the student. The instructor often considers regularity of class and laboratory attendance in determining final grades. The student is expected to be in a class for which he/she is registered every time the class meets. Unavoidable absences do not excuse the student from the obligation to do all the work required in the course. Attendance is counted from the first day of classes, even for late enrollees.

Attendance and penalties are decided by each individual instructor.

Adding & Dropping Courses

The faculty advisor and the instructor should be consulted prior to dropping and/or adding courses or otherwise altering study programs. Courses may not be added after the end of five instructional days of class unless permitted by the Office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs.

Important dates for dropping and adding classes are available on term-specific academic calendars located on the OPSU website. Courses may not be withdrawn from during the two-week period prior to final examinations.

International students need to consult with International Student Coordinators after registering for the semester, to ensure Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) regulations are met.

Withdrawal from the Institution

A student who finds it necessary to withdraw from the University before the close of the semester should go to the Academic Records office to begin the official withdrawal process.

The student will be given honorable dismissal upon the presentation to the Office of the Registrar of a clearance sheet bearing the signatures of the University Bookstore manager, E. McKee Library director, the housing supervisor, the Financial Aid director, Dean of Student Affairs, and the business office cashier. Grades in the courses in which the student is enrolled at the time of withdrawal are determined by the regulations given within the section “Adding and Dropping Courses.” The fact that the student may have withdrawn does not alter the scholarship probation requirements. Leaving college without completing the withdrawal process will result in the recording of “F” in all courses in which the student was registered.

The last day to withdraw from a single course is also the last day for total withdrawal from all courses. A withdrawal is not complete until the completed withdrawal form, with all signatures, is filed at the Office of the Registrar.

International students need to consult with International Student Coordinators before dropping or withdrawing for the semester. Under reporting regulations required by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), dropping below full-time can put a student’s visa status in jeopardy.

Military Withdrawal

Policy Statement – Military Activation of Currently Enrolled Students

Any currently enrolled student called to active duty with a reporting date prior to the end of the academic term will be afforded the following options:

1. Withdraw from all courses with no penalty, full refund, and no record of enrollment (full cancellation of enrollment for the active term).
2. Be awarded “Incomplete” grades for all classes in the active term in which a regular grade has not been earned or awarded.
   • In those cases where a regular grade has been earned or awarded, the regular grade will supersede an “Incomplete” grade.
   • “Incomplete” grade forms will indicate the required remaining work to be completed.
   • The time limit for completion of an “Incomplete” is now set at one year by OSRHE policy. If this option is exercised by the student, OPSU will attempt to set the completion time as the longer of established OSRHE time limit or three months from release of active duty or discharge from military service, as applicable (approval of OSRHE required).

Provisions of this policy:

• No combinations of the two options will be approved. Either option “a.” or option “b.” must be selected and will apply to the entire term schedule.
• Official military orders will be the determining documentation for application of the provisions of this policy. A copy of the official military orders showing activation or recall and, if applicable, release from active duty or discharge will be on file with the Office of the Registrar.

Right of Appeal

Students have the right to appeal a grade that they feel they did not deserve. They must initiate the grade appeal within six weeks from the end of the specific term with a written letter to the instructor or if they grade is received during a summer session or an interterm session, the student will follow the deadline that applies to the semester in which the credit for the course is granted.

The protocol for the grade appeal is as follows:

1. Seek redress with the instructor of record
2. Seek redress with the course’s department chair
3. Seek redress with the course’s dean
4. Seek redress with the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs (SL 137)

Should these channels not satisfy the grievance, the student may appeal to the chair of the Instructional Accountability Committee as a court of last resort. The chair’s contact information is available in the Office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs. The Instructional Accountability Committee’s decision is final.

Academic Integrity Policy

An institution’s reputation and intellectual freedom depend on its uncompromising commitment to the ideal of academic integrity. OPSU is committed to instilling and upholding integrity as a core value. OPSU is dedicated to maintaining an honest academic environment and ensuring fair resolution of alleged violations of academic integrity.

Academic integrity is required in every aspect of a student’s association with OPSU. Students will respect OPSU’s commitment to academic integrity and uphold the values of honesty and responsibility that preserve our academic community.

Students are expected to demonstrate academic integrity through the following actions:

• understand and uphold the academic integrity guidelines established by the university and instructors.
• present their own work for evaluation by their instructors.
• appropriately cite the words and ideas of others.
• protect their responsibility for their own actions.
• accept the responsibility for their own actions.
• treat instructors with respect when violations of academic integrity are examined.

Violations of Academic Integrity

Behaviors that violate the fundamental values of academic integrity may include, but are not limited to:

1. Unauthorized Collaboration: Completing an assignment or examination with other students, turning in work that is identical or similar to others’ work, or receiving help on assignments without permission of the instructor. This may also include excessively relying upon and borrowing ideas and work of others in a group effort.
2. Plagiarism: Presenting the written, published, or creative work of another as the student’s own work. Whenever the student uses wording, arguments, data, design, etc., belonging to someone else in a paper, report, oral presentation, or other assignment, the student must make this fact explicitly clear by correctly citing the appropriate references or sources by using a professional, accepted writing format style, such as Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago Manual of Style, American Psychology Association (APA), etc. The student must fully indicate the extent to which any part or parts of the project are attributable to others. The student must also provide citations for paraphrased materials. The following are examples of plagiarism:
   • copying another student’s assignment, computer program or examination with or without permission from the author;
   • copying another student’s computer program and changing only minor items such as logic, variable names, or labels;
   • copying or paraphrasing material from an Internet or written source without proper citation;
   • copying words and then changing them a little, even if the student gives the source;
   • verbatim copying without using quotation marks, even if the source is cited;
   • and expressing in the student’s own words someone else’s ideas without giving proper credit.OPSU decries plagiarism, the worst form of academic misconduct. OPSU recognizes that there are two forms of plagiarism: intentional and unintentional. Of course, instructors must determine in their own minds the form of plagiarism that they encounter and establish penalties for each form. However, one might make a case for a wide difference between instances of intentional and unintentional plagiarism, and perhaps penalties for each form might be different as well.When an instructor spots an initial instance of unintentional plagiarism in a student’s work–in an assignment or in a class–the instructor may opt to view this form of plagiarism as a result of a student’s misunderstanding of the nature of research or student’s poor proofreading skills and not penalize the assignment too stringently. Upon recognizing such unintentional plagiarism, the instructor should ensure that lapse of academic integrity will never occur again. If, however, an instructor encounters a second instance of unintentional plagiarism from a student –in an assignment or in a class–the instructor may fail a student for the offensive assignment and/or the course.When an instructor spots intentional plagiarism in a student’s work, that instructor may opt to fail the assignment wherein the intentional plagiarism is found and/or fail the student in the course where the intentional plagiarism was committed and/or deal with the issue as the instructor sees fit.
3. Multiple Submissions: Submitting substantial portions of the same academic work for credit to more than one class (or to the same class if the student repeats a course) without permission of the instructors.
4. Cheating on Examinations: Gather unauthorized information before or during an examination from others, using notes or other unapproved aids during an examination, failing to observe the rules governing the conduct of examinations (for example, continuing to work on an examination after time is called at the end of an examination), or having another student take an examination for the student.
5. Fabricating Information: Making up references for a bibliography, falsifying laboratory or research data (for example, tampering with experimental data to obtain “desired” results or creating results for experiments that were not done), or using a false excuse for an absence or an extension on a due date.
6. Helping Another Person Cheat: Providing information about an examination to another student (for example, sending an electronic message with answers during an examination), giving unauthorized help on assignments, or failing to prevent misuse of work by others (for example, allowing another student to copy an examination, assignment, or computer program). A student must take reasonable care that examination answers are not seen by others or that term papers or projects are not plagiarized or otherwise misused by others. This category also includes taking an examination on behalf of another student.
7. Unauthorized Advance Access to Examinations: Obtaining an advance copy of an examination without the instructor’s permission or getting questions and answers from someone who took the examination earlier.
8. Altering or Destroying the Work of Others: Changing or damaging computer files, papers, or other academic products that belong to others.
9. Fraudulently Altering Academic Records: Altering graded papers, computer materials/records, course withdrawal slips, or academic documents. This includes forging an instructor or adviser signature and altering transcripts.

Class Periods

A regular class during the fall or spring semester meets 50 minutes per week for each credit hour awarded. For those courses designated as three semester credit hours, classes normally meet either 50 minutes three days per week, 75 minutes two days per week, or 150 minutes one day per week. Laboratory classes meet a minimum of two hours per week per semester credit hour awarded.

Credit

Credit for courses is given in terms of semester hours. A semester hour credit is given for the equivalent of 800 minutes of class work for a semester.

Transcripts

Neither official nor unofficial transcripts will be released if a student has a financial obligation to the University or is missing required documents at the registrar’s office. Requests must be addressed in writing to the registrar.

Audit of Courses

Persons may enroll in selected courses on an audit basis provided space is available. Auditors are required to register and pay regular fees. A grade of “AU” is recorded on the transcript. Auditors may request University credit (change to a credit course) prior to the deadline for adding courses by filling out a drop/add form.

Senior Citizen Fee Waiver

Residents of Oklahoma 65 years of age or older may audit any academic course offered by the University for which they have the prerequisite background on a space available basis. Senior citizen enrollment will begin on the second day of classes and end at the regular University date for closing enrollment. Persons enrolling in courses on this audit fee waiver basis may participate in the rental book plan by paying the rental fee, or they may purchase textbooks at the University bookstore. In most cases, books purchased will require a special order delay.

Use of Problems, Independent Studies, and Internship Courses

No more than 12 hours of Problems, Independent Studies, and/or Internship Courses will be allowed to be taken by any student. A student is also limited to only one repeat of the course in each category. Prior to taking a Problems, Independent Studies, or Internship classes, prerequisites must be met or the following must be met in lieu of prerequisites:

• 3-6 or more hours of 1000 and/or 2000 level courses in that department
• Must have completed 40 hours of college level course work
• Must have a minimum graduation/retention GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.

During the summer, a limit of 6-8 hours of Problems, Independent Study, and Internship courses may be taken by any given student. No Problems, Independent Study, or Internship courses will be allowed during the May and January interterms unless the student is graduating at the end of said term. Instructors are required to retain course work of all Problems, Independent Studies, and Internship courses for 90 days from the end of the semester in which the courses were taken.