Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Academic Load
Transcript Evaluation
Applicable Catalog
Recency of Credit
Graduation Honors
Semester System
Student Ombudsman
Academic Honesty
The cost for auditing a course is the same as Grounds for Using the Grade Appeal Process
taking it for credit. A department may exclude a for Academic Dishonesty.
course from audit status. College preparatory The appeal shall be based upon the student’s claim
students, who are required to be certified as that academic dishonesty did not occur. The
completing competency-based college preparatory academic sanction imposed by the Faculty
instruction may not be enrolled as audit students. member and stipulated in the course syllabus may
not be appealed.
Non-credit Course “NC”
The “NC” is assigned automatically for any non- Preliminary Action: If a student thinks that
credit hour course. “NC” is used for continuing he/she has been unfairly graded in a course, the
education, economic development, lifelong student should meet or communicate no later than
learning, and other classes for which no credit is the second week of the next term with the Faculty
awarded. member in an attempt to settle the disputed grade
No Grade Assigned “NG” and avoid the formal Grade Appeal Process.
The “NG” is used to indicate that a student has
not satisfied the requirements for a non-credit The complete grade appeal procedure can be
class. It is also used for certain self-paced courses found in the Student Handbook and in the Grade
and continuing education classes. Appeal Brochure. A copy of the brochure can be
obtained in the Academic Advisement offices on
No Grade Reported “NR” each campus/center.
The “NR” is assigned by the Registrar's Office in
cases where class rolls have not been submitted in Applicable Catalog
time for normal processing of grades. A student who is continuously enrolled in degree,
certificate or diploma programs (except summer
Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory “S”/“U” terms) from initial enrollment to graduation may
The “S” and “U” grades are used only for those choose to meet graduation requirements specified
courses that have received prior approval through in either the BCC catalog in effect when initially
the curriculum review process to award the enrolled or the catalog in effect at the time of
satisfactory/unsatisfactory grades. graduation. If a student's attendance is
interrupted by two or more major terms (summer
Grade Appeal Process terms excluded), the student must meet the
The Grade Appeal Processes apply to final course requirements of the catalog in effect at the time of
grades and grades received as a result of academic re-entry, or at the time of graduation. A student
dishonesty. The appeal process described in cannot graduate under a catalog in effect at the
Procedure 6Hx2-4.19 provides procedural due time of initial enrollment if the College has
process to students. eliminated the degree, certificate or diploma
program.
Grounds for Using the Grade Appeal Process
for Final Course Grades Students entering specialized programs, such as
Any appeal of a course grade shall be considered the health science programs, may graduate under
in comparison with the standards in the Faculty the provision of the catalog in effect when the
member’s grading policy. Each Faculty member student was admitted to the specialized program.
Broward Community College Catalog 2007-2008 www.broward.edu 85
Recency of Credit Grade Forgiveness Policy
College courses completed more than 10 years ago A student who has completed a course and desires
General Academic Information
may require validation by examination. to improve his/her grade for that course may
repeat the course only if he/she has earned a “D”
Graduation Honors or “F” grade. The number of repeat attempts is
The calculation of the grade point average for limited to two per course. Repeating a course
honors includes the Broward Community College removes the previous grade only from a student's
record and any previous credit transferred to grade point average. The original grade remains
Broward Community College. Students may on the transcript, but only the grade earned in the
graduate with honors in three grade point last attempt is used for calculating the grade point
categories. average. The State University System articulation
agreement does not allow courses to be repeated
Honors: overall GPA of 3.250-3.499 for the purpose of changing a student's grade
High Honors: overall GPA of 3.500-3.749 point average after the associate degree has been
Highest Honors: overall GPA of 3.750-4.000 awarded.
Honor Students are recognized at graduation and Maximum Attempts Per Course
honors designations will be shown on final A student may have only three attempts per
transcripts. course. An attempt is defined as enrollment after
the 100% refund deadline for courses beginning
Semester Credit Hour Term 1, 1997. Attempts include the original
For degree, technical certificate and Applied grade, repeat of courses, withdrawals and audits.
Technology programs the unit of credit is the Courses taken at other institutions are not counted
semester credit hour, representing 15-16 hours of as an attempt.
lecture instruction with 50-minute class periods.
Generally, 30-32 hours of laboratory work count A student may repeat only those courses in which
as one unit of credit. Clinical courses will vary in a "D" or "F" grade was earned. A fourth attempt
the number of hours per semester credit hour. may be allowed only through a successful petition
For Vocational Certificates the unit of credit is the to the Academic Standards Committee based on
vocational credit. Each vocational credit major extenuating circumstances.
represents 30 clock hours of instruction.
This rule does not apply to repeatable courses,
Short sessions, weekend college, and classes that such as music, choir, etc., that have been
meet less than three times per week are adjusted successfully completed and are now being
to include the same time equivalent as the 16 week repeated for further skill enhancement; or to
terms. courses that are required to be repeated by a
regulatory agency; or those that are being repeated
Semester System as part of the regulatory requirement for
The academic year is divided into three semesters, continuing education to stay current in a field such
also known as Terms. Each Term contains as teacher education.
several Sessions of varying lengths to provide
flexibility in the scheduling of courses. To earn a Florida law requires colleges to assess
comparable unit of credit, class meeting times are students the full cost of instruction after the
adjusted during the abbreviated Sessions. second attempt. The law also provides for
exceptions to this extra fee if there are extenuating
Terms I (fall) and II (winter) are approximately circumstances, such as a student’s serious illness,
seventeen weeks in length. Each of these terms involuntary call to active military duty, changes of
includes a Session 2, and a Session 4 of employment, or other extraordinary situations.
approximately eight weeks in length; and a Session Petitions for exception to the full cost of
3 of approximately twelve weeks in length. instruction based on extenuating circumstances
can be obtained from any campus Registration or
Term III (summer) is approximately twelve weeks Advisement office.
in length. Term III includes Session 1, which is Students are strongly encouraged to discuss,
twelve weeks in length, and Sessions 2 and 3 with their advisor/counselor and financial
which are six weeks in length. services officer, the effect withdrawing or
86 www.broward.edu Catalog 2007-2008 Broward Community College
General Academic Information
repeating a course may have on their Standards Committee in his/her role as the
academic programs and financial aid status. College Student Ombudsman.
Cheating also includes the giving of work FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to
formation to another student to be copied and/or their children's education records. These rights
used as his or her own. This includes, but is not transfer to the student when he or she reaches the
limited to, giving someone answers to exam age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high
questions either when the exam is being given or school level. Students to whom the rights have
after having taken an exam; informing another transferred are "eligible students."
student of specific questions that appear or have
appeared on an exam in the same academic term; Parents or eligible students have the right to
giving or selling a term paper, report, project or inspect and review the student's education records
other restricted written materials to another maintained by the school. Schools are not required
student. to provide copies of records unless, for reasons
such as great distance, it is impossible for parents
The term “plagiarism” includes, but is not limited or eligible students to review the records. Schools
to, an attempt of an individual to claim the work may charge a fee for copies.
of another as the product of his or her own
thoughts, regardless of whether that work has Parents or eligible students have the right to
been published. Plagiarism includes, but is not request that a school correct records which they
limited to, quoting improperly or paraphrasing believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the
text or other written materials without proper school decides not to amend the record, the
citation on an exam, term paper, homework, or parent or eligible student then has the right to a
other written material submitted to an instructor formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still
as one’s own work. Plagiarism also includes decides not to amend the record, the parent or
handing in a paper to an instructor that was eligible student has the right to place a statement
purchased from a term paper service or with the record setting forth his or her view about
downloaded from the Internet and presenting the contested information.
another person’s academic work as one’s own.
Individual academic departments may provide Generally, schools must have written permission
additional examples in writing of what does and from the parent or eligible student in order to
does not constitute plagiarism, provided that such release any information from a student's education
88 www.broward.edu Catalog 2007-2008 Broward Community College
record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose information about them. Schools must notify