Oct 09, 2024  
Academic Policies 
    
Academic Policies

Statute of Limitations on Earned Credit


An acquired baccalaureate degree should reflect student mastery of a discipline that is built upon an educational foundation, and the demonstration of overall achievement or prerequisite and content knowledge.  This knowledge and mastery of content is determined by respective disciplines in the execution of a coherent curriculum.

In consideration of the variation in departmental course offerings and content need, departments may establish a Statute of Limitation on the timeframe that a course will be accepted within their respective disciplines, and will have in writing the rules and regulations governing the time span to be adhered to as it related to acceptance of foundational and/or core courses.

The need for flexibility departmentally exists when determining the statute of limitation on earned course credit because of multiple variations that may occur within any particular department.  Having one designated timeframe will not be in the best interest of, and/or applicable to, every department and the students being served.

All earned course credit must be approved by the student’s academic advisor/coordinator, chairperson, academic dean and Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, before final approval is granted and the request forwarded to the Registrar.

To better ensure that students’ knowledge of the subject is current at the time of graduation, it is encouraged that much consideration be given to whether prior courses taken will provide adequate preparation for courses yet to be taken for degree completion; and, that mastery of current knowledge in the field of study is not at risk.  Acknowledgement and adherence is recommended, as it relates to the acquisition of a degree, that implies a significant mastery of a discipline within a specified time period, and that this coherence is lost if the degree is completed over an extremely long time span.