Standards, fees and other requirements may be modified at any time by the Graduate Council.
The term "cheating" includes, but is not limited to, (1) use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests or examinations; (2) dependence upon the aid of sources specifically prohibited by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems or carrying out other assignments; (3) the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a faculty or staff member of the university.
The term "plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment. Plagiarism also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.
Specific penalties can be assigned by a faculty member for certain cases of academic misconduct (including cheating and plagiarism). These penalties include: giving a failing grade for the test or assignment; reducing or changing the grade for the test, assignment or course; requiring additional academic work not required of other students; assigning a failing grade in the course. Other specific penalties can be recommended by a faculty member to the appropriate administrative/academic authority, including denying of the degree, expulsion from the university or revocation of a degree already granted.
All graduate students are responsible for making themselves aware of the definitions and implications of academic misconduct. For further information on academic misconduct, penalties and appeal procedures, the student should refer to the "Code of Student Conduct and Discipline" in the Student Guidebook.
The following process applies to grade appeals. Admission decision, time extension appeals will be handled in a different manner. Information about these processes should be sought from either the student's department or the office of the graduate dean.
2. The chair may follow any of the four procedures below, or a combination of them.
a. The chair may confer with the instructor.
b. The chair may request that the instructor submit a written reply to the student's complaint.
c. The chair may conduct a meeting of the two parties.
d. The chair may refer the case directly to the appropriate departmental committee, as outlined below.In following either procedure a, b or c above, the chair should make a judgment on the merits of the case and recommend a specific action in regard to the disputed grade. Either the student or the instructor may appeal the recommendations of the chair.
3. The appropriate departmental committee to hear cases sent directly to it by the chair or appealed to it by either the student or the instructor shall be constituted as follows and shall perform the following duties.
a. It shall be an ad hoc committee consisting of three faculty members. Two of the members will be chosen from the department in which the grade is being questioned, one by the student and the other by the instructor. If either party to the dispute declines to choose a member of the committee, the department chair will select that member. The third faculty member of the committee, who shall serve as chair, will be chosen either from within or without the department by agreement of the student and the instructor. If they cannot agree upon a third member, the member shall be chosen by the chair of the department, with the provision that the student and the instructor may agree to stipulate that the third member of the committee be chosen from a related department or academic administrative unit rather than from the department in question.
b. This ad hoc committee should require written statements from each participant in the dispute. Judgments may be rendered upon the basis of these statements, upon other evidence submitted in support of the statements and upon the basis of oral hearing, if such a hearing seems necessary.
c. The committee must make a recommendation for disposition of the case within 30 days of its appointment.
d. All records in the case will be filed with the chair of the department in which the grade was originally awarded.4. Either party to the dispute has 15 days following the rendering of the ad hoc committee recommendation to appeal that recommendation to the dean of the graduate school, if the appeal is based solely upon alleged violations of established procedures. Substantive matters, up to and including the refusal of the instructor to act in accordance with the ad hoc committee's recommendation or the student's refusal to accept the verdict, may not be appealed to the graduate dean.
5. The dean of the graduate school shall, after a review of the submitted written materials (and oral hearings if desired), make within 15 days a ruling about procedural questions. The ruling may be appealed by either the student or the instructor to the Appeals Committee of the graduate school.
a. The Appeals Committee will have 30 days from the date of its appointment to complete its work.
b. The Appeals Committee shall operate within the guidelines set out for departmental ad hoc committees in 3b above.
c. All rulings made by the Appeals Committee regarding procedural questions shall be final.
d. All documents related to the case shall be returned to the chair of the originating department for departmental files.
Because of the time required for receipt of transcripts, students otherwise eligible for graduation who complete their last course or courses elsewhere will not graduate at the end of the semester or summer session in which the work is completed, but will receive their degrees at the close of a subsequent UNT semester or summer session.
Information concerning graduation fees is furnished on request by the office of the graduate dean, and is contained in the annual Tuition and Fee Register, available from the Bursar's Office. Students anticipating graduation should consult the Academic Calendar for final dates for payment of fees and meeting other graduation requirements.
Academic counseling services for graduate students are available in the office of the dean at all times when university offices are open. Graduate students should consult the staff of the dean's office for interpretation of any policies governing graduate study. Requirements and procedures for admission to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies are fully described in an earlier section of this publication.
Effective August 22, 1994, each faculty member must be a member of the appropriate graduate faculty category to direct new theses or dissertations. A complete listing of graduate faculty members in Category I, II and III is available in the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies and in the main offices of each department, school and college. Students are advised to consult this list regarding the selection of faculty advisers for theses and dissertations.
Individual courses of instruction are subject to change or withdrawal at any time and may not be offered each semester of every year. Any course may be withdrawn from current offerings if the number of registrants is too small to justify conducting the course.
All Courses of Instruction are located in one section at the back of this catalog.
UNT's grading system uses the letters A, B, C, D, F, P, NP, I, PR, W, WF and Z. The letter Z is used to indicate a grade was not properly received and/or recorded for a course.
A complete record of all previously used grades and grading systems is detailed on the official transcript.
The number of semester hours attempted includes all courses with grades of A, B, C, D, F and WF unless replaced by a later grade. Courses with grades of I, NP, P, PR, W or Z are not counted as courses attempted.
The student whose graduate GPA earned at another institution is below B will be required to make up the deficiency either at the other institution or at UNT. This regulation applies not only to graduate work attempted elsewhere before the student was first admitted to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies at UNT, but also to graduate work attempted elsewhere after the student's admission at UNT.
Students must make satisfactory progress toward completion of degree requirements to remain in good standing within a specific degree program. Students whose progress is unsatisfactory may be removed from the program by the dean on recommendation of the major department or division.
A grade of C or better must be earned in each undergraduate or graduate course assigned as a deficiency by the student's major department. Departments that wish to do so may establish more stringent requirements.
2. All Other Students. A student who fails to achieve the required cumulative average of 3.0 GPA (B average) on all courses carrying graduate credit in a semester will be placed on academic probation for the subsequent semester. If the student achieves a 3.0 semester GPA in the subsequent semester, but the cumulative GPA is still below 3.0, the student will remain on academic probation. The student will be removed from probation when the 3.0 cumulative GPA is achieved. A student who is on probation cannot graduate.
A student who is placed on academic probation who does not receive either a semester or a cumulative 3.0 GPA during the semester of probation will be subject to academic suspension for a period of up to one calendar year before becoming eligible to re-enroll for further graduate courses. Graduate work completed elsewhere during a period of graduate suspension at UNT may not be counted for graduate credit at UNT. After the one-year period of suspension, students may re-enroll in graduate courses under probation with the same probation conditions as previously described. Students who are then suspended a second time without having returned to good academic standing by achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better will be dismissed from the university.
The student whose UNT GPA in graduate work falls below 3.0 must make up the deficit, either by repeating courses in which the grades are low, or by completing other UNT courses with grades high enough to bring the UNT GPA up to 3.0. Low grades made in graduate courses at UNT may not be duplicated at other institutions.
The responsibility for initiating the official recording of a grade duplication lies entirely with the student. However, the Registrar's Office may post duplications at the request of the student's adviser or to update academic status. In the absence of such a request, the Registrar will include a repeated course in the student's cumulative record of hours attempted and grade points earned.
Requests for error correction must be initiated immediately after the close of the semester for which the grade was recorded.
A faculty member who believes an error has been made in calculating or recording a grade may submit in person a request for a grade change to the department chair and the graduate dean. The Registrar accepts requests for grade changes only from the academic deans.
At midsemester in the long sessions, instructors may provide individual written warnings to students who are doing unsatisfactory class work. These warnings are mailed from the Registrar's Office upon request of the instructor.
Any department or college of the university may elect to assign pass/no pass grades in graduate-level courses in which the student is engaged in individual research and is not attending an organized class, and in thesis, dissertation and problems courses. The student should inquire at the office of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies at the time of registration for such courses whether a letter grade or a pass/no pass grade will be granted. Pass/no pass grades are not taken into account in computing the student's graduate grade point average.
A student who could not complete final examinations because of illness may remove a grade of I without payment of the fee. The academic dean is authorized to waive the fee upon certification of illness signed by the attending physician.
Directory information regarding the students will be provided upon request to the public unless the student notifies the university in writing by signing a "Request to Prevent Disclosure of Directory Information" by the 12th class day in the fall or spring semesters or by the fourth class day for either summer term. Request forms are available in the Registrar's Office, Room 122, in the Administration Building and in the Schedule of Classes. Directory information consists of a students full name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, date and place of birth, major field of study, classification, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of athletic team members, dates of attendance, degrees, awards received, the last educational agency or institution attended previous to UNT and photograph.
UNT will disclose information from a student's education records only with the written consent of the student, except:
1. to UNT personnel who have an educational interest in the records;
2. to the student;
3. to the student's parent or legal guardian if the student is a dependent for income tax purposes of the parent or legal guardian;
4. to officials of another school, upon request, in which a student seeks or intends to enroll;
5. to certain officials of the U.S. Department of Education, the Comptroller General and state and local educational authorities, in connection with certain state or federally supported education programs;
6. in connection with a student's request for or receipt of financial aid, as necessary to determine the eligibility, amount or conditions of the financial aid, or to enforce the terms and conditions of the aid;
7. if required by a state law requiring disclosure that was adopted before November 19, 1974;
8. to organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the university;
9. to accrediting organization to carry out their functions;
10. to comply with a judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena;
11. to an alleged victim of any crime of violence, the results of any institutional disciplinary proceedings against the alleged perpetrator of that crime with respect to that crime.
For information regarding the university's policy on access to records and to request accessibility to university records, contact the Office of the Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel, UNT.
Special restrictions apply to the load permitted to graduate teaching fellows and teaching assistants. The total load of course enrollment and teaching assignment may not exceed 16 semester hours in any long semester. Approval of the graduate dean is required for loads in excess of this amount, but approval will not be granted for a combined load in excess of 18 semester hours.
Three-Quarter Time: long semester, 9 to 11 hours; summer session, 3 hours per term.
Half Time: long semester, 6 to 8 hours; summer session, 2 hours per term.
Three-Quarter Time: long semester, 6 to 8 hours; summer session, 2 hours per term.
Half Time: long semester, 4 to 5 hours; summer session, 1 hour per term.
Extension and correspondence courses are considered non-traditional credit and are excluded for certification purposes.
International students also may request the International Student and Scholar Office (ISSO, Kendall Hall, Room 103) to issue letters of enrollment for the use of foreign governments, embassies, scholarship agencies and banks.
Attendance as an auditor may not be made the basis of a claim for credit in the course. Students who are enrolled for credit may audit classes without payment of additional fees; others pay an auditor's fee as shown in the 1996-97 Tuition and Fee Register (available at the Bursar's Office). Only one audit fee is required per semester regardless of the number of courses audited.
Permission cards for auditors are not available during the official registration period, but may be requested in the offices of the academic deans after classes begin.
A person 65 years of age or older may enroll as an auditor and observer without credit and without payment of an audit fee, if space is available and if approved by the department chair and the appropriate dean. Such enrollment entitles the person to library privileges, but not to instruction in applied music, the use of laboratory equipment and supplies, admission to university-sponsored fine arts and athletic events, or health and hospital benefits.
Several general information areas are available on ASSIST 23 hours a day, seven days a week. Main menu selections include:
Students also may call ASSIST (817) 565-3701 to hear information regarding their admission status, open sections and course fees, to listen to and obtain a fax copy of their class schedule and/or grades for a particular semester and to pay their fees by credit card.
Failure to secure the required permission for concurrent enrollment prior to registration at the second institution may cause UNT to refuse degree credit for the work taken elsewhere. In no case may the combined total of semester hours enrolled for at the two institutions exceed the maximum load permitted to graduate students.
UNT graduate students who have been admitted to a jointly offered degree program and who wish to enroll for graduate courses offered by one of the other universities should first secure their major adviser's approval of registration for a specific course or courses. The Advising Clearance form and the Department Course Approval form should be presented at the graduate dean's office, Room 206, Administration Building, for registration in these courses. Students register at UNT for the desired ETSU or TWU courses under the appropriate UNT departmental prefix and course number 5900 or 5910 (for master's-level courses) or 6900 or 6910 (for doctoral-level courses). Section numbers for such enrollment are 790 through 799. The course title appearing on the UNT academic transcript will be identical to that of the course as offered by the other institution. Class schedules for both ETSU and TWU may be consulted in the office of the graduate dean, UNT.
The registration procedure described above is available only to graduate students admitted to one of the degree programs jointly offered by the federation, and applies to graduate courses only.
Students considering enrollment for courses at off-campus centers are reminded of the rule of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, that at least one-third of the semester hours required for any graduate degree from UNT must be completed in courses on the Denton campus.
The grade of W is recorded for any course dropped with the instructor's consent prior to the end of the sixth week of classes (summer term, eight class sessions). After that time the student must have a passing grade for the instructor to assign a grade of W for a dropped course; otherwise, the grade WF is recorded.
Instructors may drop students with grades of WF from courses for non-attendance at any time after the completion of the sixth week of classes (summer term, eight class sessions). See "Class Attendance" above.
No student may drop any course after Tuesday of a given semester's 10th week (summer term, 15 class sessions.)
Drop procedures must be completed by 5 p.m. on the deadline dates specified in the Academic Calendar. After these dates a student may not drop a course for any reason.
See the Schedule of Classes for drop procedure and instructions.
If the instructor-initiated drop action falls within the time that the student is eligible to drop with instructor consent and without penalty, the Registrar's Office notifies the student that a WF will be recorded unless the student initiates the drop procedure, in which case a W will be assigned.
Notification must be in writing, either personally delivered with receipt of the notification acknowledged and dated by the instructor, or by certified mail, return receipt requested.
Only holidays or holy days observed by a religion for which the place of worship is exempt from property taxation under Section 11.20 of the Tax Code may be included. A student who is excused under this provision may not be penalized for the absence, but the instructor may respond appropriately if the student fails to satisfactorily complete the assignment or examination.
Official dates and deadlines for withdrawing are specified in the Academic Calendar.
Student organizations do not meet; activities requiring student participation, such as field trips, athletic events or performances by dance, drama or music ensembles, are not scheduled unless approved in advance by the appropriate dean. Themes, reports, notebooks, research problems or exercises of similar scope are not to be assigned during this period, but students may submit previously assigned work.
Only examinations covering daily assignments, makeup tests or laboratory examinations may be given. Faculty members may not give any portion of the final examination during this seven-day period without advance approval from their academic dean.
On the Thursday and Friday of the week immediately preceding final exams, there shall be review classes held. Furthermore, attendance at these reviews cannot be made mandatory and there will be no papers, projects, exams, quizzes, or like assignments due on those days. Makeup exams will be permitted to take place. The above policy will not be applicable to classes that meet only once a week and meet on Thursday or Friday.
If a final examination is not given in a particular course, the faculty member is expected to utilize the final examination period for summary, evaluation or other productive purposes.
Students who have as many as three final examinations scheduled on one day may appeal to their academic dean to reschedule one of those examinations on another day during the final examination period.
Lost ID cards may be replaced for a $10 charge in the ID Card Office of the Bursar's Department located in Stovall Hall, Room 111. Misplaced ID cards that have been turned in are held in the ID Card Office located in Stovall Hall. Students are asked to retain their ID cards, even though they may not be enrolled. The cards are reactivated upon subsequent enrollment.
Fraudulent use of the ID card subjects the user to a fine of $2,000 and up to one year in jail (Class A Misdemeanor). Anyone who uses the ID card to give false information to a police officer is subject to a fine of $200 (Class C Misdemeanor).
Additional policies and guidelines pertaining to particular subjects or for specific publics are listed in other publications, such as the ABCs of Residence Hall Living, available in the Housing and Residence Life Office; Tuition and Fee Register, available in the Bursar's Department, Parking Regulations, available from the Parking/Transportation Office and the UNT Bookstore in the University Union; The Financial Connection, available in the Financial Aid Office, etc. International students should consult the International Student and Scholar Office for information regarding policies and procedures required by federal regulation agencies.
All university policies are subject to change throughout the year.