OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2007-08 [Archived Catalog]

Graduation Requirements – Universitywide

Click on a link to be taken to the entry below.

• Catalog of Entry
• Requirements
• General Education Requirements
• Residency Requirements for Graduation
• In Absentia
• Second Bachelor’s Degree
• Graduation Procedures

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The catalog in effect for the quarter in which the student first completes coursework at Ohio University becomes the student’s University and Major Program Catalog of Entry. This catalog defines the Universitywide and college–level academic requirements you must complete and academic policies you must follow for the next five years.

After five years from your initial registration, your college may choose to update either or both catalogs as they pertain to requirements for graduation. Offices responsible for enforcing other University policies, such as graduation with honor, for example, may apply the current Universitywide policies to existing students after five years.

Either major or nonmajor requirement changes that are made necessary by altered or discontinued courses or by requirements imposed by external accrediting or certification agencies will be resolved on an individual basis by the dean of your college. Whenever possible, new requirements will be implemented with a beginning class or upon the expiration of the appropriate time limit.

Transfer students are governed by the same regulations.

Ohio University has two sets of graduation requirements: Universitywide requirements, which all students must complete, and college–level requirements, which include the requirements for completing your major or minor. Universitywide requirements are discussed in this section. Specific college–level, school–level, and department–level requirements for majors and minors are explained under the appropriate college listing. (Some colleges or majors may require transfer students to take additional courses to meet specific major requirements.)

In general, you must have a minimum of 192 quarter hours of credit for a bachelor’s degree, with all other requirements met. (Students who took coursework at Ohio University before fall 1977 may graduate with 180 hours provided they have met all other requirements.) An associate’s degree requires a minimum of 96 quarter hours.

No more than eight credit hours earned in developmental courses may be applied toward the total hours required for graduation. Developmental courses include CHEM 115, ENG 150, ENG 150A, MATH 101, MATH 102, PESS 100, and UC 110, 110A, 110B, 112, 112A, 112B, 114.

No more than 20 credit hours earned under the Pass/Fail grading option may be applied toward the total hours required for graduation.

The University recommends a minimum of 24 hours completed in the minor, and has no policy on the minimum requirements for a major. The specific requirements will be determined by your major (and minor, if you have one) department/school. You also must have a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 (C) on all hours attempted (including work taken at another institution, if you are a transfer student) and in the major or equivalent as determined by your college. Your college may have additional GPA requirements.

All baccalaureate students (except Honors Tutorial College students) also must complete Ohio University’s General Education requirements. Associate’s degree students must complete the freshman English and quantitative skills requirements.

Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS)

A DARS report is issued to currently enrolled students each quarter for priority registration by the college student services office or regional campus student services office. This report includes your Registration Access Code (RAC) and your registration access time. This report helps in determining requirements for graduation by showing progress toward completing those requirements. If you have enrolled at Ohio University Fall Quarter 2005–06 or later, you may view your DARS report online by accessing the Office of the University Registrar Web site, http://www.ohio.edu/registrar , and selecting MyDARS under Online Services.

If you are think ing about changing your major, you may request a “What if” DARS report, either from the student services office of the college that offers the major you are considering or from your regional campus student services office. This report will help you determine how courses already completed will apply to the new major as well as what additional courses would be needed to complete that program.

Your official Ohio University transcript lists all courses you have taken or are taking at Ohio University, the grades you have earned, and your official grade point average. These totals are used to determine graduation rank, graduation with honors, financial aid and scholarship eligibility, fees, and total hours earned at Ohio University that may be applied toward graduation from any of the colleges.

Your DARS report shows how these courses and grades apply to the graduation requirements for a particular program. Most of the time the total hours attempted (HA), hours earned (HE), and grade point average (GPA) displayed in the General Graduation requirements section of your DARS report will match those on your transcript. However, legitimate differences may exist. For example, some colleges have limits on such things as the total number of physical education activity hours that can apply toward degree requirements, and some do not. Some have limits on other categories, such as the number of technical elective credits and number of hours with grades of “CR” that can count toward graduation. Also, there are limits on the total number of hours in developmental courses and the total number of hours with P (pass) grades. All of these count in the total number of hours earned at Ohio University on your transcript, but they may or may not count toward graduation, depending upon the program you are completing and other limitations. DARS reflects these idiosyncrasies for each individual program by counting only the hours and grades that are appropriate for that program, thereby giving you an accurate statement of your progress toward completing graduation requirements for that particular program.

Sometimes discrepancies can exist because students take courses they should not take (for example, Math 163A after passing Math 263A and B). In this case, DARS deducts the credit and grade for Math 163A but Math 163A will still show on the transcript.

If you have questions concerning the DARS report, please contact your college’s student services office or your regional campus student services office.

Ohio University believes that, as an educated person, you need certain intellectual skills in order to participate effectively in society. These include the following:

• The ability to communicate through the written word and the ability to use quantitative or symbolic reasoning.
  
• Broad knowledge of the major fields of learning.
  
• A capacity for evaluation and synthesis.

To help you meet these objectives, Ohio University has instituted a three–tiered General Education requirement that all baccalaureate degree students (except those in Honors Tutorial College) must fulfill. Tier I course requirements build your quantitative and English composition skills; Tier II course requirements increase your breadth of knowledge; and the Tier III course requirement develops your ability to interrelate, synthesize, and integrate knowledge from different academic disciplines.

Tier I Requirements

Quantitative Skills. You must demonstrate or acquire an acceptable level of quantitative skills to satisfy graduation requirements. A math placement test determines your skill level for placement or exemption unless the Tier I quantitative skills requirement has been satisfied by transfer or advanced placement credit. (Students in some majors are required to take a math placement test regardless of transfer or advanced placement credit.) The choice of the course in which you enroll may depend on your major and should be discussed with your advisor.

Any Ohio University MATH course numbered 109 or above, PHIL 120, PSY 120, and PSY 221 satisfies the Tier I quantitative skills requirement (1M). To enroll in any MATH or other quantitative skills course, you must either place at the specific level required for that course or satisfy the appropriate prerequisites.

Placement levels are:

DV1 and DV2(Developmental): Indicate inadequate preparation to enroll in a Tier I–level course. You must complete MATH 101 (and/or 102 on regional campuses) before enrolling in a Level 1 course.

PL1(Placement Level 1): Indicates preparation for any of the following Tier I–fulfilling courses: MATH 109; MATH 113; MATH 117, 118 (available only on regional campuses and through correspondence); MATH 120 (early childhood, middle childhood, and intervention specialist education majors only); MATH 147; PHIL 120; PSY 120.

PL2(Placement Level 2): Indicates preparation for Level 1 courses as well as these additional Tier I–fulfilling courses: MATH 115 (recommended only for students who plan to enroll in MATH 263A or 266A), MATH 150, 163A, 250, and PSY 221.

PL3(Placement Level 3): Demonstrates competence sufficient to fulfill the Tier I quantitative skills requirement. If your major requires that you enroll in a quantitative skills course, placement at Level 3 indicates preparation for MATH 263A, MATH 266A, and any course in Levels 1 or 2.

English Composition.A first–year composition course and an advanced junior–level composition course are required. Any English 151, 151A, 152, 153, 153A, or 153B will satisfy the University’s General Education first–year writing requirement (1E). These courses are alternative, not sequential, courses in writing. You should select your course by looking at the descriptions and choosing the one that appeals to you. (All regional campus students are given a placement test.)

In your junior year, you must take an approved advanced writing course unless you demonstrate advanced writing proficiency by passing the junior–level exemption exam. The following courses fulfill the junior–level composition requirement:

Art 300J

Business Administration 325J

Classics and World Religions 385J

English 305J, 306J, 307J, 308J, 309J,384J

Environmental and Plant Biology 418J

Film 344J

Human and Consumer Sciences — General Education 345J

History 301J, 396J

Health Sciences — Health 370J

Interdisciplinary Arts 360J

Journalism 441J

Modern Languages 321J, 370J

Political Science 305J

Communication, Introduction to Professional 325J

Recreation and Sport Sciences — Recreation 370J

These courses are marked in this catalog with the designation (1J) following the title and credit hours.

If you are a transfer student, your requirements are determined by when you enroll and the number and type of credit hours transferred.

Tier II Requirements

Students are required to complete a total of 30 credit hours from an approved list of courses in the following five distribution areas:

Applied Science and Technology (2A)

Cross–Cultural Perspectives (2C)

Humanities and Fine Arts (2H)

Natural Sciences and Mathematics (2N)

Social Sciences (2S)

You are required to take at least four credit hours in four of the five areas and may satisfy no more than two of the required four areas with courses from the same department. You may satisfy no more than 12 of the 30 hours with courses from the same department.

You may apply one approved Tier II course in your major department or area of concentration (for B.S.S. students) toward partial fulfillment of the Tier II requirement.

Approved courses are marked in the Courses section with (2A), (2C), (2H), (2N), or (2S) following the title and credit hours. The following courses fulfill the Tier II breadth of knowledge requirement:

Applied Science and Technology (2A)

Biological Sciences 205, 220, 221, 222, 225, 235

Chemical Engineering 331

Chemistry and Biochemistry 101

Computer Science 230

Electrical Engineering 101

Engineering and Technology 280, 320, 350, 470

Environmental Health 260

Environmental and Plant Biology 103, 160

Geography 201, 260, 268

Geological Sciences 170, 215, 231

Health Sciences 202

Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences 108

Human and Consumer Sciences–Food and Nutrition 128

Industrial and Systems Engineering 200

Industrial Technology 110

Information and Telecommunication Systems 101, 201

Mechanical Engineering 100

Cross–Cultural Perspectives (2C)

Anthropology 101, 202

Art History 214, 330, 331

Classics and World Religions 311, 321, 331

Dance 351, 352, 353

English 331, 332, 333

Foreign Languages and Literatures

Arabic 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213

Chinese 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213

French 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213

German 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213

Greek 111, 112, 113

Indonesian/Malaysian 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213

Italian 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213

Japanese 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213, 252, 253

Japanese Culture 250

Latin, 111, 112, 113

Russian 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213

Spanish 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213, 349

Swahili 111, 112, 113, 211, 212, 213

Geography 131

History 132, 133, 246, 323ABC, 335AB, 341ABC, 345ABC

International Studies 103, 113, 118, 121

Music 121

Political Science 340

Humanities and Fine Arts (2H)

African American Studies 110, 150, 210, 211, 250, 350

Art 110

Art History 211, 212, 213

Classics and World Religions 181, 301, 302

Communication Studies 101

Dance 170, 171, 271, 471, 472, 473, 474

English 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206

Film 201, 202, 203

Fine Arts 150

Foreign Languages and Literatures

Classics in English 127, 231, 234, 235, 236, 237, 252, 253, 254, 255

Greek 211, 212, 213

International Literature: Modern Languages 335, 336, 337, 338AB

Latin 211, 212, 213

History 121, 122, 123

Human and Consumer Sciences — Interior Architecture 185

Humanities 107, 108, 109, 117

Interdisciplinary Arts 117, 118, 211, 212, 213, 270, 271, 272

Music 100, 120, 124, 125

Philosophy 101, 130, 216, 232, 240, 260, 310, 311, 312, 314

Theater 170, 171, 172, 270, 271, 272

Women’s Studies 100

Natural Sciences and Mathematics (2N)

Anthropology 201

Astronomy 100, 100D

Biological Sciences 100, 103, 170, 171, 172, 173, 202, 203, 204, 206, 210, 275; and 130, 131; and 201

Biology 101

Chemistry and Biochemistry 121, 122, 123, 151, 152, 153

Environmental and Plant Biology 100, 100L, 102, 109, 114, 115, 209

Geography 101, 202

Geological Sciences 101, 120, 130, 208, 211, 221

Mathematics 163AB, 263ABC, 266AB

Physical Science 100, 100D, 101, 101L, 105, 105L, 140, 200, 205; and 121/121L, 122/122L, 123/123L

Physics 201, 202, 203, 251, 252, 253, 262

Social Sciences (2S)

African American Studies 101, 202

Classical Archaeology 211, 212, 213

Communication Studies 351, 352, 353

Economics 103, 104, 240

Geography 121, 132

History 101, 102, 103, 200, 201,315A

Human and Consumer Sciences—Child and Family Studies 160

Human and Consumer Sciences—Retail Merchandising 250

Journalism 105

Linguistics 270

Management 202

Political Science 101, 102, 103, 150, 210, 230, 250, 270, 331

Psychology 101

Social Work 101

Sociology 101, 201

Telecommunications 105

Tier III Requirement

Students are required to take one Tier III interdisciplinary course after attaining senior rank (135 hours). A complete list of Tier III and equivalent courses is available by searching for “T3” or by looking in the course descriptions section of this catalog. Students may fulfill this requirement by taking a Tier III–equivalent course in their major; they should see their major advisor for information as to whether their discipline offers such a course.

Like most universities, Ohio University requires that you be “in residence” for a certain number of credit hours in order to graduate. Some colleges have additional residency requirements, so check with your advisor or dean’s office to make certain that all requirements are being met.

Residence credit is defined as any credit earned by regular enrollment at Ohio University on the Athens campus or any regional campus or by Ohio University Education Abroad, any approved student teaching, by the Independent and Distance Learning Programs in the Division of Lifelong Learning, or any combination of these options.

Bachelor’s Degree

You must earn a minimum of 48 credit hours while enrolled at Ohio University and you must earn a minimum of 50 percent of coursework taken to fulfill your major concentration in residence with resident credit as defined above. A college may require more than 50 percent of Ohio University credit to fulfill a major concentration or have other additional residency requirements for a given program.

If you begin graduate study at Ohio University before completing all requirements for a bachelor’s degree, your residency requirement will be reduced by as many hours as credit hours of graduate work completed. The number of hours subtracted also will be credited toward the residency requirement for a master’s degree if the credit is acceptable in the program approved for graduate work toward a degree. Residence credits used for meeting requirements for one or more bachelor’s degrees may not also be used for meeting the residency requirements for the graduate degree.

The residency requirements apply even if you have been approved for graduation in absentia and are completing your last year in an accredited institution, except that the regulations apply to residence before you leave the University. (See the In Absentia section below.)

Associate’s Degree

You must earn a minimum of 30 credit hours while enrolled at Ohio University and you must earn a minimum of 50 percent of coursework taken to fulfill your major concentration in residence with resident credit as defined above. A college may require more than 50 percent of Ohio University credit to fulfill a major concentration or have other additional residence requirements for a given program.

To be considered for in absentia status, you must obtain permission from the student services office of your college. If you have been approved for the senior– in absentia privilege, you must complete a full year’s work in an Ohio University–approved professional school and be eligible for advancement without condition to the second year to obtain your bachelor’s degree in absentia . In absentia programs involve preplanned curricula and cannot be arranged on an ad hoc basis. The in absentia privilege does not apply to graduate degree programs.

The official transcript from the school you attend must be submitted to the Office of Admissions, Chubb Hall 120, Ohio University, before the degree conferral date.

If you plan to earn two bachelor’s degrees, you may meet the requirements either simultaneously or successively:

1. To complete requirements for two degrees conferred on the same date, you must meet the requirements for both degrees and must have completed a total of 13 quarters of college work or its equivalent (208 hours), with a minimum of five quarters of residence, or the equivalent, at Ohio University. When the two degrees are offered by different colleges, you must declare a major program in both colleges and meet the residence requirement the quarter in which the degrees are to be conferred.
2. If you have met the requirements for two degrees as stated above and want to have the degrees conferred in successive quarters, you may do so without further credit or residence. For example, one degree may be conferred at the end of one quarter and application made for the second degree in a subsequent quarter.
3. If you want to take a second bachelor’s degree after receiving the first, you must complete the requirements for the second degree and meet the residency requirement in the college offering the second degree. (See individual college requirements in the Programs by College section.)

Second Associate’s Degrees

You cannot earn the same associate’s degree twice. Furthermore, you are not permitted to earn both the A.A. and A.S. degrees. If you have already earned the A.I.S. degree, you are not permitted to earn either the A.A. or A.S. degree. Although it is possible to complete an A.A.B. or A.A.S. degree with a double major, you can earn the degree only once.

Application

Candidates for graduation must make application and pay the application fee no later than the deadline listed in the academic calendar for the quarter in which graduation is planned. You may apply online at http://www.ohio.edu/registrar/ or receive assistance at the Registrar Services Windows, first floor, Chubb Hall or at your regional campus student services office. Questions about applying for graduation should be directed to graduation@ohio.edu . This application initiates the process that informs your college to check for fulfillment of degree requirements. The process culminates with the entry of the college, major, other concentrations (such as minor, dual certification in education, etc.), degree, and date of degree conferral on your permanent academic record. At the end of this process, your graduation grade point average, class rank, and eligibility for honors are determined. They then cannot be changed by completing additional coursework or retaking classes, although taking additional classes will affect your accumulative grade point average (GPA).

The application fee for all degrees is $50. If you fail to meet the requirements for graduation, you may reapply for the quarter in which you plan to complete the requirements. The fee for reapplication is $5. International students in F–1 or J–1 status are encouraged to see an advisor in International Student and Faculty Services during the quarter in which they plan to graduate to discuss their immigration status.

Graduation with Honor

The GPA requirements for graduation with honor are: cum laude (with honor), 3.5 to 3.749; magna cum laude (with high honor), 3.75 to 3.899; and summa cum laude (with highest honor), 3.9 to 4.0. The Latin honors notation will appear on your diploma and in the commencement program. Note: The commencement program honor notation for spring quarter graduates is calculated based on your most recent accumulative GPA prior to spring quarter. After spring grades are calculated the final honor is calculated and will appear on your transcript and diploma.

To be eligible for graduation with honor, you must complete a minimum of 48 hours of coursework with letter grades that affect your GPA in residence at Ohio University. Successful completion of a special honors program of study is noted in the Commencement program and on your diploma. Graduation with honor does not apply to associate’s or graduate degrees.

Commencement Ceremony

If you are a candidate for spring quarter graduation, or if you have earned your degree during the preceding summer, fall, or winter quarters, you are eligible to attend Commencement, held at the end of spring quarter.

Details concerning Commencement will be sent to you after you have officially applied for graduation, provided you indicate your intention to attend the commencement ceremony at the time you submit your graduation application.

Commencement information is available online at http://www.ohio.edu/commencement/ . Direct any questions concerning Commencement to the Office of University Events, 740.593.1762.