Academic Information

The academic policies and procedures contained in this section are necessary reading for all students attending Springfield Technical Community College. Please take some time to look through this segment as well as the entire Student Handbook.

Absence, Notification In Case Of

The faculty of the College has voted to allow instructors to set their own classroom attendance policy. If a student will be absent from class one to three days, the student should contact the professor directly to notify him or her of the absence. Persistent absences may result in grading penalties or the student's dismissal from class and a grade of WU for excessive absences. If the student is unable to contact the instructor he/she may notify the Dean of Student Affairs Office if they are to be out of class for three or more days. Please note that notifying the Dean of Student Affairs Office does not mean that the student is excused for the absences. In cases of extended illness or serious accident it is up to the instructor to determine whether or not the student will be allowed to continue in the course. It is the student's responsibility to contact the instructor promptly upon returning to the college.

Academic Load

The normal load for full-time students is 12 to 18 semester hours of credit. You should work with your academic advisor or counselor to see how many hours are right for you.

Academic Standing

The quality point average (QPA) required in order to maintain a good academic standing is:

A minimum of 1.5 cumulative average for students who have attempted 12 or more credits at STCC, including accepted transfer credits;
A minimum of 1.7 cumulative average for students who have attempted 27 or more credits at STCC, including accepted transfer credits;
A minimum of 1.9 cumulative average for students who have attempted 42 or more credits at STCC, including accepted transfer credits;
A minimum of 2.0 cumulative average for students who have attempted 60 or more credits at STCC, including accepted transfer credits;

Note: Incomplete, withdrawal, and failure grades are counted as courses attempted, but incomplete grades and withdrawals are not factored into the quality point average.

Address Or Name Change

Students are responsible for notifying the Registrar's Office promptly of any changes in address and/or name. Name changes must be accompanied by legal documentation.

Advanced Standing/transfer Credit

Courses taken at other accredited colleges and institutions may be transferable to STCC. Student should have copies of their official transcripts forwarded directly from previous institutions to the Admissions Office for transfer credit evaluation.

Applicants who have had previous college experience must submit all official college transcripts whether or not they are seeking transfer credit. In order to meet the residency requirements, a minimum of 15 credits must be taken at STCC to receive a degree. The remainder may be taken at other institutions. Only courses in which the student has received a "C" grade or better, and which are similar in content to those required in the student's program at STCC, will be accepted.

Transfer applications are usually accepted for admission to the College in both September and January; however, the number of programs open for admission in January is limited. Contact the Admissions Office for further information.

Advanced Standing may also be granted to students who complete any of the following standardized tests:

CLEP Examination for Advanced Standing
Advanced Placement Program
ACT for Advanced Standing.

Advising

In keeping with the College's commitment to the success of its students, advising services are offered to every student. Critical to academic success, academic advising is a shared process between student and advisor that emphasizes the clarification and achievement of the student's academic goals.

Each day student at the College is assigned an academic advisor, who is a member of the faculty or professional staff. Students who have clear educational/career goals are typically assigned to advisors who have expertise in the students' field of interest, while students who are unsure about their goals are assigned to advisors who can help them define what these goals may be. Academic advisors assist students with academic decisions and serve as a source of information and support to their advisees. Students are encouraged to take advantage of this resource, while understanding that academic and career decisions are ultimately their own responsibility.

Students are notified of their advisor's name and location soon after classes begin.Students who attend evening, weekend, and/or online classes exclusively may arrange advising appointments through the Registrars' Office. In the middle of each semester, students meet with their advisors to select and register for the next semester's courses. Please note that many academic transactions require the advisor's signature, including course withdrawals and applications for graduation.

Attendance/Tardiness

The faculty of the College has voted to allow instructors to set their own classroom attendance policy. All students are required to report to class on time. Persistent absences and tardiness may result in grading penalties or the student's dismissal from class and a grade of WU for excessive absences. Each faculty member will notify the students, in writing, at the start of each semester, of the attendance policy, grading policy, and course requirements. In cases of extended illness or serious accident it is up to the instructor to determine whether or not the student will be allowed to continue in the course. It is the student's responsibility to contact the instructor promptly upon returning to the college.

The Dean of Student Affairs must approve off-campus activities, appropriately supervised and sponsored by faculty/staff members, who justify a student's absence from scheduled classes, in advance. Such activities must be justifiable on grounds consistent with the educational program of the College. Whether a student is excused from class or examination to participate in such activities is determined by the instructor concerned.

Auditing Classes

Students may attend certain classes as auditors (i.e., without receiving credit) under the following conditions:

Permission must be obtained from the advisor and/or instructor and submitted to the Registrar during the registration period, no later than the last day of Add/Drop.
All established charges for the course must be paid.
Priority in registration will be given to students who are registering in the course for credit.
Audit courses will be reflected on students' permanent records as AU.

Challenge Exams

Students who wish to demonstrate proficiency in a course may take a Challenge Exam. The College has produced Challenge Examinations in subject-matter areas not found in the CLEP battery so that people who wish to demonstrate competence in specialized areas may do so. For more information, call the Coordinator of the Testing Center at 755-4709.

Change In Class Schedule

Students are permitted to add and drop courses (subject to the approval of faculty advisors) prior to the start of the semester and during the add/drop period without penalty.

Cooperating Colleges Of Greater Springfield (CCGS)

The Cooperating Colleges of Greater Springfield is an educational consortium composed of the eight public and private colleges in the Greater Springfield area: American International College, Bay Path College, Elms College, Holyoke Community College, Springfield College, Springfield Technical Community College, Western New England College, and Westfield State College. Founded in 1971, the organization fosters the sharing of programs, talents, and facilities, to bring to this area the educational resources of a university while retaining the initiative and vitality of independent institutions.

Through cooperative planning at the presidential level and committees from different administrative levels, CCGS aims: (1) to enrich the educational offerings, cultural events, and social activities of the colleges, (2) to offer a wide variety of programs and fields of study to students at each institution, (3) to effect fiscal economies and to eliminate unnecessary duplication through joint planning, and (4) to act as an economic and educational resource to the Greater Springfield community.

1) Presidents

The presidents of the eight member colleges of CCGS serve as its Board of Directors. They meet on a regular basis throughout the year to provide overall direction of the consortium's activities, and to ensure effective coordination of intercampus programs.

2) Academic Exchange

Cross-registration has been established so that, in each semester or term, any CCGS student attempting at least six semester hours in a degree program in the day division may enroll at another college for any regular term day division course that is not offered at the home institution, as long as the desired course is not over-subscribed. Students pay their home institution for the course. This policy does not apply to continuing education and summer courses at STCC. Contact the Registrar at the college where you wish to register to verify that institution's policy. Study at the host institution is scheduled as part of the student's normal credit load, and the registrar of the home college keeps all records for academic achievement. This cross-registration includes Army and Air Force Officer Training Corps (ROTC). (See the STCC catalog for further details.)

3) Libraries

Students and faculty of CCGS colleges have direct access to the library collections of all eight colleges that collectively have over one million volumes, thus greatly expanding the opportunities for independent study and research. The Cooperating Libraries of Greater Springfield (CLGS) also includes the Springfield City Library and Western New England Law School Library. Students must have a current STCC library bar code on their school IDs to borrow items from any of the CLGS collections. Barcodes must be updated each semester.

A list of serials, magazines and journals in the member libraries and in 20 additional college and hospital libraries in Western Massachusetts is available online at: http://www.wmclgs.org/.

4) Career Fair

The CCGS Career Services officers organize an annual career fair for the students and alumni of the eight colleges. The career fair is held at different institutions each year.

Dean's List

In order to recognize above-average academic performance, a Dean's List is published each Fall and Spring semester and is noted on the official transcript. Any full-time matriculating student carrying 12 college level credits or more within the semester and who earns a 3.3 quality point average is placed on the Dean's List provided that no grade is less than a "C" (2.0) or an Incomplete grade in that semester. Matriculating students carrying less than 12 college level credits in a given semester may be awarded Dean's List status in the Spring semester if they accumulate a minimum of 12 college level credits during the Fall and Spring semesters and achieve a 3.3 quality point average with no grade less than a "C" (2.0) or an Incomplete grade for that period.

Honors Program: A Commonwealth Honors Program

The Honors Certificate Program offers a challenging academic experience for qualified students who wish unique study and research opportunities in their major fields of study. As a Commonwealth Honors Program, our program offers students easier transfer opportunities and recognition as Honor students throughout the Commonwealth.

Admission Requirements: To be admitted into the Honors Program, a student must be either:

An entering freshman with a 3.5 GPA from high school - OR - a 3.0 GPA from a high school honors program - OR - 1000 combined SAT score; --OR--
A current student with 12 college-level credits and a 3.5 GPA.

Students who do not currently fulfill these requirements may seek admission into the program by submitting a letter of recommendation from a recent professor and an original piece of writing demonstration academic competence, such a research paper form a recent course.

Course Work for the Certificate: The Honors Certificate is a 15-credit program. To be awarded the certificate, a student is required to complete courses in the following areas:

6 credits:Two Colloquia
3 credits:Library Research Colloquia
6 (+) credits: Honors Add-on Components/Honors Independent Study

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society

The Alpha Psi Sigma chapter of the international honor society for two-year colleges offers membership to any student who has earned 18 graduation credits with a quality point average of 3.5. Because Phi Theta Kappa emphasizes leadership, scholarship, fellowship, and community service, members are required to perform a minimum of 10 hours of documented community service per semester in order to maintain membership in good standing. There is a $70 one-time membership fee. Contact Theresa Remillard, Registrar's Office, for additional information.

Scholarships And Awards

There are a wide variety of scholarships and awards available, ranging from departmental achievement to all-College awards, to corporate and organizational awards and scholarships from off-campus sources. The reference librarian can assist students in finding information on many off-campus awards. On-campus awards are publicized through The STCCler in March and April. Individual departments publicize departmental and school awards.

Developmental Courses (Non-College Level)

STCC offers courses that aid students with deficiencies in specific subject areas. These courses, with course numbers below 100, are intended to raise the student's skill to college-level. The following policy applies:

Academic credit will be awarded for developmental courses, but will not count toward graduation credit.
Developmental courses shall not be calculated into a student's quality point average on a semester basis, and will not be calculated into a student's cumulative QPA. However, these courses are calculated along with college-level credit to determine academic standing.
All developmental courses shall appear on students' transcripts.

Be sure that you consult your academic advisor to see which of your courses are developmental.

Grading System

Letter Grade	Quantitative Equivalent	Quality Points Earned per Credit Hour
A	93-100	4.0
A-	90-92	3.7
B+	87-89	3.3
B	83-86	3.0
B-	80-82	2.7
C+	77-79	2.3
C	73-76	2.0
C-	70-72	1.7
D+	67-69	1.3
D	63-66	1.0
D-	60-62	0.7
F	< 60	0.0
I	Incomplete	No Grade
W	Withdrawn	No Grade
AU	Audit	Non-Credit*

* Non-credit courses are not figured into the Quality Point Average.

Graduation Requirements

Springfield Technical Community College's Board of Trustees has statutory authority under the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education to confer academic degrees. Candidates for degrees shall have fulfilled the following requirements:

Candidates for degrees must meet all departmental graduation requirements. A minimum of 15 credit hours in the major must be earned in residence at the college. Also, the student must have completed at least 20 credits in general education.
Candidates for Certificates of Completion must meet all departmental graduation requirements. A minimum of 12 credit hours in the major must be earned in residence at the college.
The student must have earned a minimum cumulative quality point average of 2.0 for all college-level courses. Developmental courses are not credited toward graduation requirements.
The student must have satisfied all financial obligations to STCC.
A Perkins Student Loan recipient or a federal Direct Student Loan recipient must have completed the exit interview with the Financial Aid Officer or its representative.
To earn a second degree at STCC, the student must complete a minimum of 15 separate and distinct credit hours in a major at STCC and meet all specific requirements for the new program. To earn a second Certificate of Completion at STCC, the student must complete a minimum of 12 separate and distinct credit hours in a major at STCC and meet all specific requirements for the new Certificate of Completion program. Students wishing to earn both a degree and certificate within the same department may do so as long as they fulfill all the above requirements for both the degree and certificate. When, under these circumstances, requirements overlap and the same course is required for both the degree and certificate, students may apply the credit for a course they have taken only once toward both the degree and the certificate.

Incomplete Grades

The grade of Incomplete (I) indicates that a major requirement of the course has not been completed. The following policy applies:

The Incomplete grade is a temporary grade reserved for those special circumstances when a student, otherwise in good standing in a course, is unable to satisfy all course requirements by the end of the semester.
The Incomplete grade is appropriate when the student is likely to complete the missing work by the end of the fourth week of the subsequent semester.
Upon completion of the work, the instructor will change the "I" to a permanent grade; otherwise, the incomplete "I" will change to an "F" four weeks after the beginning of the next regular academic semester.

Mid-Semester Grades

At mid-semester, students will be graded by each of their professors. These grades are recorded by the Registrar and forwarded to each student's advisor during the registration period. These grades will not become part of a student's permanent record, but are used to indicate performance through the first half of the semester. A poor mid-semester grade may indicate unsatisfactory progress in a course, and the student is encouraged to see his or her professor immediately.

Program Changes

A program change is defined as a change of major or department and, though permissible under certain guidelines, should be undertaken only with considerable thought and counsel. Students who are seriously considering a program change should seek immediate advice from their faculty advisor or a counselor. An Intra-College Transfer application must be filed through the Admissions Office to apply for a change of major or program. Students are advised to study carefully special requirements that are established by the program into which they seek admission. Some programs of the College require specific minimum scores to be achieved by the applicant on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT1) of the College Entrance Examination Board or certain prerequisites are met. It should be noted that as a result of changes in a program, a student may find that his or her graduation may be postponed.

Repetition Of Courses

A student who receives an unsatisfactory grade in a course may repeat the course a maximum of two times unless the departmental guidelines stipulate a fewer number. All grades will appear on the transcript, but only the last grade will be used in calculating the quality point average.

Transcripts

All information in each student's personal college record folder is considered confidential information and is issued only to authorized individuals. Requests for transcripts from any individual or agency will not be filled until authorization has been received, in writing, from the student.

A transcript will not be issued when the student is delinquent in payment of tuition, has neglected to return library books, or when there are other obligations to the college.

A request for a transcript should be made either on a transcript request form or by letter to the Registrar's Office. A fee of $3.00 is charged to the student authorizing the issuance of each transcript. The transcript is processed in approximately two days. The Registrar's Office needs written authorization from the student to allow someone else to pick up his or her transcript.

Tutorial Assistance

If you would like additional assistance with a class, tutorial assistance may be available. All you need to do is see your instructor or a counselor. You will be told if tutors are available for the subject area in question. There is no charge for these services. Tutors are available every day in the Math Individualized Learning Center, Bldg 17, Room 425 and in the English Tutoring Center, Bldg 13, Room 105. Tutoring may also be available in the Student Success Center Bldg 27, 1^st floor. So remember, feel free to ask for assistance in any subject area.

Unsatisfactory Progress

If you are not doing well in a class or program at STCC, check with your instructor early in the semester to find out how you can improve your work. If you are still unable to perform satisfactorily according to your instructor's expectations for the course, see a counselor in the Counseling Center, Bldg. 27, 2^nd floor. A counselor can help you improve your study skills, secure the assistance of a tutor, define career goals, or help with other solutions to ensure your academic success. You are reminded that as long as you are registered in a class, you must make satisfactory progress. The college provides a date each semester in which you can withdraw from a course without penalty. To withdraw from the course, you will need to go to the Registrars Office, Bldg. 15, 1^st floor for the appropriate paperwork.

Withdrawal, Course

A student may withdraw from a course after the Add/Drop period through the twelfth (12th) week of classes with the grade of "W" (withdrawal) recorded on his/her official transcript. After the twelfth week, a grade will be recorded on the official transcript. Withdrawal forms require the signature of the course instructor, the faculty advisor, and the Registrar. Each semester there is a deadline for withdrawal. Please note: If you are receiving financial aid you should consult with the Financial Aid Office before completing the withdrawal process. Withdrawals may impact your financial aid status and may affect the award you receive in the future.

Withdrawal, College

Students wishing to officially withdraw from the College during the semester must complete a College Withdrawal Form obtained from the Registrar's office. The student must complete this form and turn it in to the College Registrar. A copy of the form will be kept in the permanent file of the student. Each semester there is a deadline for withdrawal; it is usually the twelfth week of the semester. Students who have obtained student loans will have to complete an exit interview with the Financial Aid office. College withdrawals may impact your financial aid status and may affect the award you receive in the future. Please review the Financial Aid Refund Policy for additional information.