Academic Standards & Procedures

Academic Advising

The College recognizes that sound systematic academic advising is essential for students to achieve their educational goals. Thus, the College offers an academic advising program that assists students throughout their college matriculation. Freshmen and sophomores are generally assigned an academic advisor who is a member of a group of student advisors. As students complete the general education core curriculum, become juniors, and begin a concentrated study of a major, they are assigned faculty advisors in the appropriate department.

Attendance Policy

Tougaloo College believes that its students must learn to take major responsibility for their own education. Tougaloo students are required to attend all of their classes and be responsible for all assigned course material and all of their classes and be responsible for all assigned course material and all material covered in class. When students are absent from class, it is the student's responsibility to notify the instructor and ascertain what the instuctor requires regarding missed material or assignments.

Classification

To be classified as a sophomore a student must have passed at least 30 semester hours; as a junior, at least 60 semester; and as a senior, at least 90 semester hours.

Letter Grade Change Policy

Requests for letter grade change should be made no later than ten (10) working days after the close of registration for any grade issued the preceding semester. Click here to review the full Letter Grade Change Policy.

Full-time Class Load

During any given semester, a normal academic load is 12 to 18 semester hours. The Vice President for Academic Affairs may permit exceptional students to carry extra hours. However, there will be additional charges for extra hours. Full-time students are not permitted to carry less than 12 semester hours. Students who carry less than the minimum of 12 hours are classified as part-time students. Students enrolled at Tougaloo College as full-time students in any given semester may not transfer credits taken at another institution during the same semester except where taken as a part of cross registration or with special approval of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Grades

Near the middle and end of each semester, a student will receive, for each course pursued, a grade evaluating the work done during that period. These evaluations are made in terms of letter grades: A, excellent; B, good; C, average; D, poor; F, failure; CR, credit; NC, no credit; I, incomplete; WP, withdrew passing; WF, withdrew failing; W, withdrawal without penalty; CEU, credit by examination. For the purpose of computing the academic grade point average of a student, quality points are assigned as follows:

A - Excellent (4 Points)
B - Good (3 Points)
C - Average (2 Points)
D - Poor (1 Point)
F - Failure (0 Points)
CR - Credit (0 Points)
NC - No Credit (0 Points)
W - No Credit (0 Points)
WF/WP - No Credit (0 Points)

To determine academic standing or eligibility for graduation, a student's cumulative grade point average is computed by dividing the total quality points earned by the number of semester hours earned in those courses submitted in fulfillment of degree requirements.

Once a student repeats and earns higher grade in a course in which a "D" or "F" was earned earlier, the earlier grade and hours will not be removed from the transcript, but will not enter into the computation of the cumulative grade point average upon graduation.

Credit/No Credit (CR/NC)

Students during their years in college may elect two courses on a credit or no-credit basis. The grade in such a course is either credit or no-credit and does not affect the student's grade point average. However, if the student passes the course, course credit is given toward graduation. Courses required for either general education or the major are excluded from election on a credit-no-credit basis. (This regulation does not apply to students on exchange who must receive credit-no-credit grades.) Students eligible to take a course on a credit-no-credit basis will have one week after the midterm grades are due in the Student Enrollment Management Center to decide whether they will take the course on a credit-no-credit basis or for a letter grade. Students who change majors with the result that they have a course required in that major with a grade of CR must either take the course again or make suitable arrangements with the course instructor to complete the requirements to earn a letter grade.

Incompletes

An "Incomplete" (I) indicates that although the work completed is of passing quality, some portion of the work of the course remains unfinished because of illness or for some other reason over which the student has no control. If the "Incomplete" is not removed by the end of the mid-term grading period of the following semester in which the student is enrolled, the Director of the Student Enrollment Management Center will automatically record a grade of "F."

Withdrawal From College

Students who leave the college (except for temporary absence with the Vice President for Academic Affairs' permission) must obtain a withdrawal permit from the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The permit must be signed by the Vice President for Student Enrollment Management & Student Affairs, Registrar, Director of Financial Aid, and the Vice President for Fiscal Affairs. Failure to obtain this permit will result in the loss of a student's right to honorable dismissal (and hence of re-entrance to the College), as well as the loss of any credit balance.

Withdrawal From A Course

Students may petition to withdraw from a course without penalty through the seventh week of a semester. The student’s advisor, instructor, the financial aid officer and the Vice President for Academic Affairs must sign the course withdrawal form.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

In accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, Tougaloo College students have the right to review, inspect, and challenge the accuracy of information kept in a cumulative file by the institution. It also insures that records cannot be released without the written consent of the student except: (1) to school officials and faculty who have a legitimate educational interest; and, (2) to others where this information is classified as directory information.

Family Educational Righths and Privacy Act (FERPA)

FERPA Law and Legal Systems and Student Data Management policy for Faculty