Academic Policies & Regulations

University policies and regulations generally apply to all undergraduate students and provide a framework within which schools and colleges may specify further conditions or variations appropriate to students in their courses or programs.

Academic Residency Requirements

Upon transferring into the College of Liberal Arts, all students must complete at least 30 credits of coursework as a degree-seeking student, completing at least half of the courses required for any major, minor, or certificate program at Temple University.

In order to be considered for Latin honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude), a student must complete a minimum of 60 credits at Temple University and meet the GPA requirements as set out in the University policy.

Course Levels

All College of Liberal Arts undergraduate courses are open to all students who have successfully completed appropriate course prerequisites and are divided into four categories:

• Preparatory courses numbered 0700-0799.
• General Education courses numbered 0800-0999.
• Lower-level courses numbered 1000-1999.
• Upper-level courses numbered 2000-4999.
  

Courses Taken at Other Institutions

Degree-seeking Temple students must always petition for the prior approval of their dean or dean's designee to take courses at another institution. (See Permission to Take Courses at Another Institution under Academic Policies and Regulations.) Petitions are available in the College of Liberal Arts Academic Advising Center.

Dean's List

Each fall and spring semester, those undergraduates who have met the credit hour and academic criteria for their school or college are placed on the Dean's List. See the Dean's List policy for specific GPA and credit-hour requirements.

Declaration of Major

Students in the College of Liberal Arts must declare their major before completing 60 credits, including credits transferred from other institutions. Undeclared students with 45 or more credits are required to meet with an advisor in the Academic Advising Center before registering.

Intra-University Transfer

Students who wish to Intra-University Transfer (IUT) into the College of Liberal Arts from other colleges and schools at Temple must have at least a 2.0 GPA in the intended major and overall. Students will not be permitted to IUT as undeclared majors if they have completed, or are in the process of completing, 60 or more credits.

Applying For Graduation

During the semester immediately prior to the semester in which students will complete their degree requirements, they must apply for graduation by completing the on-line graduation application available through Self Service Banner. Students planning to graduate in August or January must apply by April 1 and students planning to graduate in May must apply by November 1.

All applications received by the deadlines noted above will be reviewed by academic advisors in advance of the next semester and students will be notified of any necessary schedule revisions to fulfill remaining requirements.

Students are responsible for ensuring their intended graduation date is up-to-date by contacting their advisor.

Placement Tests

All incoming freshmen must take diagnostic English and mathematics placement tests. Transfer students who have not completed English 0802/1002 or a college-level math course are also required to take placement examinations. The results of these tests determine if students are required to enroll in introductory composition and mathematics courses. Students assigned to English 0701/0711 must register each semester for that course until the requirement is completed. Only upon successful completion of English 0701/0711 can such students enroll in English 0802/0812. Students assigned to courses designed to remedy deficiencies in mathematics are required to complete those courses (Mathematics 0701 or 0702) before enrolling in the mathematics component of the University General Education Program (GenEd). Incoming students must also take a foreign language placement examination if they plan to continue a language previously studied or if they wish to place out of the foreign language requirement.

Plagiarism & Academic Cheating

Plagiarism and academic cheating are unacceptable in College of Liberal Arts courses. The development of independent thought and a respect for the thoughts of others is essential to intellectual growth. The penalty for plagiarism or cheating as a first offense is normally an F in the course in which the offense is committed.  In such cases, the instructor will write a report to the dean.  The CLA Grievance Committee will adjudicate appeals made by students and serious cases, or repeat offenses, referred to the committee by an instructor or the dean.  The dean may recommend suspension or expulsion from the university when warranted.  Instructors may also refer the offense to the University Disciplinary Committee (UDC) for adjudication.

The prohibition against plagiarism and cheating is intended to foster this independence and respect. For more information, see Academic Honesty under Student Responsibilities.

Academic Standing, Warning, Probation, Dismissal, & Reinstatement

To maintain academic good standing in the university, a student enrolled in an associate or baccalaureate degree-seeking program must achieve both a semester grade point average and a cumulative grade point average of at least a 2.0.  See the University policy on Academic Standing for details on academic warning, academic probation, academic dismissal and reinstatement. Also see the policy on Academic Forgiveness.

Withdrawal from Classes

During the first two weeks of the fall or spring semester or summer sessions, students may drop one or more courses with no record of the class appearing on the transcript. In weeks three through nine of the fall or spring semester, or during weeks three and four of the summer sessions, students may withdraw with the assistance of an academic advisor--or by using the withdrawal function in Self-Service Banner (SSB).  Instructors' signatures are not required to withdraw. The course will be recorded on the transcript with the notation of "W," indicating that the student withdrew. After week nine of the fall or spring semester, or week four of summer sessions, students may not withdraw from courses.

For the complete policy, please refer to the Academic Policies section of this Bulletin.