Academic Information

Compiled by
Rosemarie Wauchope
September 14, 2020
 The Bulletin that you can
find on the NCU website that
is http://www.ncu.edu.jm/
is known as your Academic
Bible it is to guide you while
you study here with us at
NCU
What is the importance of the following?

The Add/Drop Process

GPA
Petitions
Honors
Absence/Late Policy
Grading Policy
The Add/Drop Process
 Drop/Add Processing Fee: Any student who drops a course is
charged this fee. There is no charge if the institution is
responsible for the change.
 The Add/Drop process should be done online via Aerion

Registration
During each academic semester/module, an official registration is held for
all currently enrolled, degree seeking students who expect to be enrolled
for the following semester/summer session.

 The registration process includes guidance by your curriculum advisers,

selection of courses to be taken, payment of fees and a number of related
activities.
 A detailed guide to the registration procedure is provided for each student
and can be followed in web registration.
 Students are expected to register on the dates indicated in the calendar of
events or the dates sent out by your campuses’.
 No student will be allowed to register for any course later than two weeks
after classes have begun, except under exceptional circumstances.
 The dates for registration should be strictly observed
 Important Dates
 Two (2) weeks after the beginning of classes for day school and for
the module is One (1) week is the deadline for:
 1. Adding Classes/Challenge grade submission
 2. Changing of a class section
 3. Dropping a class for a 90% refund
 Four (4) weeks for day school and two (2) weeks for the module after the
beginning of classes is the
 1. Deadline for dropping a class for a 60% refund
 2. Beginning of “W” grades for dropped courses There is no additional refund period.
 Mid Semester (7 weeks) after the beginning of classes and or mid-module (3 weeks),
“WP/WF” grades are assigned for dropped courses. Two (2) weeks before the
beginning of final examinations is the deadline for dropping courses for both the
semester and the module.
 Important Dates
 For Summer, 2 days are treated as two weeks in the
semester/module. The same procedures outlined above
are applied using this principle.
 N.B. Reference should be made to the University calendar
(or University Records web page) for the actual dates.
THESE DATES/DEADLINES OUTLINED ABOVE ARE STRICTLY
OBSERVED.
 Registration Responsibility
 Studentsare responsible for meeting prerequisites and
co -requisites for each course in which they are enrolled.
Students are also responsible for any changes made to
their schedule. Students will receive credit only for
those courses for which they are properly registered.
Likewise, students will be held responsible for every
course for which they register unless they officially drop
the course or cancel registration during the published
periods for this action.
 Registration Responsibility
 Students who have not completed registration (not activated)
within one week of the published registration date will have their
course selections removed from the system and will therefore have
to make selections again based on available seats. A student may
change the courses originally registered for during the first two
weeks of a semester or the first week of a module or two days for
a summer session by submitting a “Change in Registration Form” to
the campus office. This is subject to available seats. There is a
processing fee of 10% that is charged during this time period. After
this period, students may drop classes with further charges until
two weeks before the commencement of final examinations.
 ACADEMIC YEAR
 Theacademic year consists of two semesters,
beginning in August and January respectively. (In the
summer, there are two summer sessions of six weeks
each). The Department of Professional & Continuing
Education operates on a modular basis. Six modules
are completed during the year.
 ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT
 Northern Caribbean University offers academic advisement to
its students to facilitate the successful completion of
programmes of study.
 This
advisement process involves activities that monitor
students’ progress in meeting programme requirements and
helps students develop the ability to assess their own academic
progress.
 Students
should consult the main office of their campus to
determine their assigned Academic Adviser.
 ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT
 Academic Advisers assigned to students will provide a number of
services to include interpretation of policies and procedures;
assistance in registration processing; assessment of transfer
credits; and referral, as appropriate, to institutional services
that address academic or personal issues.
 The Academic Success Unit also operates as an advisement
office for all students.
 Northern Caribbean University cannot assume responsibility for
challenges that may develop from the academic advisement
process if students violate or fail to observe pertinent academic
policy agreements and regulations.
 REPEATED COURSES
A student may repeat a course once without permission. Any
further repetitions must be upon the recommendation of the
department chairperson and the approval of the Academic Board.
 Thestudent must register for such a course and must fulfil all
course requirements.
 When a course is repeated, the grade is used in the computation
of the student's GPA.
 The grade of each attempt will appear on the transcript, but only
the last grade will be used to compute the GPA .
 SPECIAL REQUEST COURSES
A Special Request Course (SRC) is any course in the curriculum for
which a department has granted permission for a student to take
by special request modality.
 NCU facilitates an SRC option in the event that there is clear
documented evidence for which the institution claims
responsibility.
 Nostudent may take more than one SRC during any
semester/module or more than two in the duration of his/her
programme.
 SRCsshould run concurrently with the normal semester schedule
and its credits computed in the student’s academic load.
 SPECIAL REQUEST COURSES
 Arrangements for SRCs must be made during pre-registration period; and the
normal registration deadlines apply.
 Students on academic probation may not register for an SRC.
 An additional fee equivalent to the cost of one credit is to be charged for SRCs.
 SRCs should run concurrently with the normal semester/module schedule and
its credits computed in the student’s academic load.
 Arrangements for SRCs must be made during pre-registration period; and the
normal registration deadlines apply.
 Students on academic probation may not register for an SRC.
 An additional fee equivalent to the cost of one credit is to be charged for SRCs.
CLASSIFICATION OF HONOURS
 Dean's List Students who carry a minimum of twelve (12) credits, and
who maintain a GPA of 3.5 or better during each semester of a given
year, with no grade below “B” and no “Incompletes” or “Deferred
Grades” (DG), are eligible for membership on the Dean’s List.
 Honour Roll Students who carry a minimum of 12 credits, and who
achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better during each semester of a
given year, with no grade below “C” and no “Incompletes” or “Deferred
Grades” (DG) are considered honour students for that year. Honours
Convocation Students in the above-mentioned categories are given
public recognition at the annual Honours Convocation.
CLASSIFICATION OF HONOURS
 Degree With Honours Degrees with honours are awarded cum
laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude. To be graduated
cum laude, the student must earn a cumulative average of at
least 3.50; for magna cum laude, the student’s cumulative
average must be at least 3.70; and for summa cum laude, the
student’s cumulative average must be at least 3.90.
 CLASS ATTENDANCE POLICY
 Studentsare not permitted to attend classes for which they
are not registered, nor can they take two courses that meet
concurrently. Regular and prompt attendance at all classes is
expected of all students. If a student finds it necessary to be
absent from a class, a legitimate excuse should be submitted
to the teacher of the class by the next working day.
 ABSENCE POLICY
 Students are expected to attend classes regularly and on time. Instructors will keep
an accurate record of class attendance.
 It is the students’ responsibility to withdraw from a course in which excessive
absences have been incurred.
 Students with excessive absences may only be readmitted to class by the instructor.
Students who have not been readmitted to class by the official withdrawal date, may
not be readmitted to that class and will receive a mandatory grade “FA”.
 After four unexcused absences in a four-credit course, three unexcused absences in a
three credit course, or two unexcused absences in a two-credit course, any further
unexcused absences will result in the lowering of the student's grade by the teacher.
If a student incurs absences (excused or unexcused) amounting to 20% of the
scheduled meeting of classes, the student must either: a. withdraw from the course
or b. be given a failing grade (FA) for the course
 CLASS LOAD
 The normal class load for a full -time undergraduate student is 16 hours per
semester.
 Full -time enrolment (FTE) requires a minimum academic load of 12 credits
during the semester.
 Maximum Class Load Freshmen may not register for hours in excess of the
normal course load.
 Sophomores, juniors and seniors whose cumulative grade point averages are
3.00 or above may register for 17 credits, or for 18 if their cumulative grade
point average is 3.5 or higher.
 CLASS LOAD
 Sophomores, juniors and seniors whose cumulative grade point averages are
3.00 or above may register for 17 credits, or for 18 if their cumulative grade
point average is 3.5 or higher.
 This regulation which is governed by the student’s GPA status, applies also to
the summer sessions in which a GPA of 3.00 will allow for taking 13 credits
and 14 where it is 3.5.
 The privilege of this regulation is granted only by petition. (See also Summer
Class Load.)
 Probationary Student Class Load A student who incurs scholastic probation in
any semester will be allowed to carry a maximum of 10 credit hours for the
following semester.
THE END