Academic Procedures
Academic Advisors
Each student is assigned an academic advisor who assists with course selections to ensure that the student meets all general education and departmental requirements. The advisor’s approval is required before the student may register or withdraw from any course; select or change pass/fail elections; change the number of semester credit hours attempted in an independent study; or change audit/credit status.
Change of Registration
All changes of registration must be approved with the signature of the advisor. In most instances, registration for a course will not be permitted after the course has been in session for one full week. With the permission of the advisor, a student may withdraw from a course. A fee is charged for every course change added at the student’s request after ADD/DROP Day.
Withdrawal from a Course
When a student withdraws from a course after the first week and before the end of the tenth week of the semester, a “W” will appear on the grade report. “W” indicates withdrawal from a course through the tenth week of semester classes except for the first-semester freshman who may withdraw from a course through the last day of the semester.
Students wishing to transfer from one major to another must complete a change of major form available in the Registrar’s Office. It must be signed by the chair of the department of the student’s current registration and the chair of the department to which the student wishes to transfer.
Class Attendance
Instructors inform students of the requirements for completing courses at the start of each semester. Regular class attendance is important for most course requirements. It is the students’ responsibility to attend regularly scheduled classes and laboratories in order to enhance their academic performance.
In general, classes have priorities over other College functions. However, faculty must honor medical and compassionate excuses issued by the appropriate office. Faculty try to accommodate requests for class absences for authorized College activities such as field trips, athletics, performances, and departmental or College events, based upon the student’s prior performance.
Students should speak directly to their instructors about anticipated absences. The Registrar should be contacted only if the absences will continue for more than one week. Faculty members and other campus personnel will be notified of absences due to participation in official College functions.
Absences are granted with the understanding that it is the student’s responsibility to make up missed work. The faculty member may stipulate when and in what manner the missed work must be completed.
Withdrawal from the College
Students wishing to withdraw from the College with all “W”s must submit the necessary paperwork to the Registrar’s Office by 4 p.m. on the last day of classes. Readmission of a student requires written permission from the Associate Dean of the Faculty. Students who withdraw and later return to the College have forfeited their merit scholarships. Students may apply for need-based institutional, federal, and state aid.
Leave of Absence
For reasons of health or in other compelling circumstances, students may request a voluntary leave from the College for one or two semesters. A student should complete the form available in the Registrar’s Office and secure approval from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Students on leave are regarded as continuing students and retain their status for registration and merit scholarships. For all other forms of financial aid, the student should contact the Financial Aid Office directly. The College reserves the right to require a leave of absence for medical reasons at any time it is deemed necessary to protect the student or other members of the College community or the interests of the College.
Before a student returns from a medical leave of absence, a clearance interview and receipt of additional documentation may be required.
Bad Weather and Meeting of Classes
The general policy is that regular day classes are held during bad weather conditions for those students and faculty members able to get to class without jeopardizing themselves. It is understood that when classes are held under bad weather conditions, neither commuting students nor faculty members are expected to take any personal risk to get to campus, nor will either be penalized in any way for missing class. Faculty members who cannot meet their classes are requested to notify the College.
However, the Dean of the Faculty may cancel all classes in the event of severe inclement weather or other emergency. The College will notify the news media and send messages via campus email of whatever action is being taken. Students may also call the College Center desk at 867-6233 for information.
Grading System
Student work is graded A, B, C, D or F. Faculty members have the option of adding “plus” or “minus.” These grades have the following significance:
A - excellent
B - good
C - satisfactory
D - requirements and standards met at a minimum level
F - requirements not met
Students may not take a course if they failed its prerequisite(s). Grades are available to students through Access LVC soon after final examinations are ended. Mid-term grades are available to students and advisors through Access LVC during the ninth week of classes. Students are issued a computer account and temporary password when they matriculate at the College. Access LVC allows students to review their academic transcript, business office account, course schedule and financial aid package.
Grade reports will be issued to part-time students who are seeking employee tuition reimbursement. Grade reports will also be issued to the parents and/or guardians of full-time students who have signed a release (available in the Registrar’s Office) and who request them.
Academic Honesty Policy
Lebanon Valley College expects its students to uphold the principles of academic honesty. Violations of these principles will not be tolerated. Students shall neither hinder nor unfairly assist the efforts of other students to complete their work. All individual work that a student produces and submits as a course assignment must be the student’s own.
Cheating and plagiarism are acts of academic dishonesty. Cheating is an act that deceives or defrauds. It includes, but is not limited to, looking at another’s exam or quiz, using unauthorized materials during an exam or quiz, colluding on assignments without the permission or knowledge of the instructor, and furnishing false information for the purpose of receiving special consideration, such as postponement of an exam, essay, quiz, or deadline of an oral presentation.
Plagiarism is the act of submitting as one’s own the work (the words, ideas, images, or compositions) of another person or persons without accurate attribution. Plagiarism can manifest itself in various ways: it can arise from sloppy, inaccurate note-taking; it can emerge as the incomplete or incompetent citation of resources; it can take the form of the wholesale submission of another person’s work as one’s own, whether from an online, oral or printed source. The seriousness of an instance of plagiarism—its moral character as an act of academic dishonesty—normally depends upon the extent to which a student intends to deceive and mislead the reader as to the authorship of the work in question. Initially, the instructor will make this determination.
Once academically dishonest work has been submitted, the instructor shall report the suspected incidence to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. At the moment the work has been submitted, the student involved forfeits the right to withdraw from the course or to change his or her course status in any way.
The College upholds its expectations with a three-strike penalty system for offenses of academic dishonesty at any time during a student’s academic career at LVC, as follows.
For the first offense of academic dishonesty, the faculty member has the option of implementing whatever grade-related penalty he or she deems appropriate, up to and including failure in the course. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs shall send the student a letter of warning, explaining the policy regarding further offenses and the appeal process.
For the second formally established offense of academic dishonesty, failure in the course is mandatory; the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs shall so inform the faculty member(s) involved. Additionally, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs has the authority to take further action against the student, up to and including expulsion from the college.
For the third formally established offense of academic dishonesty, failure in the course and expulsion from the College are mandatory.
The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs has the authority to determine whether actions or reasonable suspicions of actions by a student constitute “offenses of academic dishonesty” as described above.
Information related to offenses of academic dishonesty must be passed by the faculty member to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs who shall retain the information for as long as the student involved is enrolled at the College. Information and evidence concerning academic dishonesty are the property of the College. Once the student has graduated from the College, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will destroy these records.
All actions against a student for academic dishonesty may be appealed by the student being accused. A written appeal must be presented to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs no later than the official date that mid-term grades are due the semester following the semester in which the action was taken against the student. The Dean of the Faculty will serve as final arbiter.
Maintaining Good Academic Standing
To maintain themselves in good academic standing at the College, students must achieve minimum cumulative grade point averages appropriate to their progress toward their degree, and they must complete coursework at a regular and sustained pace. Minimum cumulative GPAs are as follows:
| Semester Credit Hours |
Required Cumulative GPA |
| 1–27 credit hours |
1.60 GPA |
| 28–55 credit hours |
1.70 GPA |
| 56–83 credit hours |
1.80 GPA |
| 84 or more credit hours |
1.90 GPA |
At the conclusion of each semester, the College examines students’ academic records. Students who have not achieved the above minimum grade point averages will be given an Academic Warning, placed on Probation, or Academically Suspended from the College.
Academic Warning. The first time a student falls below the required cumulative GPA as listed above, they will be given Academic Warning. Academic Warning constitutes a formal notification that a student’s academic performance is weak and that he/she needs to devote increased attention to academic work. Students receiving Academic Warning are cautioned that unless they achieve an acceptable cumulative grade point average, they will be placed on Probation and thereby lose the privilege of participating in extracurricular activities (including such activities as intercollegiate sports, student government, campus media, student clubs, and Greek and service organizations).
Probation. Students who fall below the required cumulative GPA a second time (whether in consecutive or non-consecutive semesters) will be placed on Probation. A student on Probation will not be permitted to take part in extracurricular activities.
Final Probation. Students who fall below the required cumulative GPA a third time (whether in consecutive or non-consecutive semesters) will be placed on Final Probation. A student on Final Probation will not be permitted to take part in extracurricular activities, and the student will be informed that unless the student restores himself/herself to good academic standing and maintains that status, the student will be suspended from the College.
Academic Suspension. Students will be academically suspended from the College when (1) they fall below the required cumulative GPA a fourth time (whether in consecutive or non-consecutive semesters); (2) they fail to achieve a cumulative grade point average of at least 0.75 at the conclusion of any semester; (3) they have not earned a total of at least 6 credit hours of coursework for each semester completed by the conclusion of their second or subsequent semesters. Students suspended will not be permitted to return for at least the full subsequent semester (fall or spring). To request reinstatement, students must submit a written petition to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. A suspended student who returns to the College and who is suspended again for academic reasons will be regarded as permanently separated from the College.
Upon reinstatement to the College, a student will have two semesters to bring up his/her cumulative GPA to the minimum required for good academic standing at the College. Reinstated students may participate in extracurricular activities. The student’s grades will be monitored at mid-semester and again at the end of the semester to ensure academic progress. If a student’s midterm or final grades fall below a semester average of 2.0, the student will be removed from all extracurricular activities immediately. The student will not be allowed to rejoin extracurricular activities until the student has reached the minimum cumulative GPA required for good academic standing.
Student-Faculty Grievance Procedure
The procedures given in this section pertain to two types of grievances: (A) grievances by a student against a faculty member concerning an academic injustice relating to grades, unprofessional conduct, or breach of academic freedom, or other grievances against a faculty member not covered by the grievance policies listed above, and (B) grievances by a faculty member against a student whose conduct substantially interferes with the educational process.
A. Grievances Filed by Students Against Faculty Members
A student may file a grievance against a faculty member concerning an academic injustice relating to grades, unprofessional conduct, or breach of academic freedom.
| Step 1. Initial Step |
The student must inform the faculty member of the problem before proceeding to the next step. This may be done in person or in writing and must take place as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days after the end of the course in which the concern originated. The student may seek the support of his/her academic advisor, or other faculty person, in any communication with the faculty member, and either the faculty member or the student may request that a mutually agreed-upon third party be present at any meeting. If agreement is reached, the matter is resolved. Otherwise, the student may proceed to Mediation. |
| Step 2. Mediation |
Within ten days of completing the initial step, the student shall send a written request to the faculty member's chair, outlining the basis of the grievance and requesting a meeting. A copy of this communication must be provided to the faculty member by the chair. A meeting will then be held with the student, the chair, and the faculty member. In the event that the grievance is directed against the chair, that chair must select another faculty member who will receive a copy of the communication and be present at the meeting. If an agreement is reached at this level, the problem is resolved and no further action needs to be taken. If no agreement is reached, either the student or the faculty member may elect to proceed to a Grievance Hearing. |
| Step 3. Grievance Hearing |
Within ten days of completing mediation, the student or faculty member will send to the Dean of the Faculty a written request to have the case heard by a Grievance Hearing Board. The Dean of the Faculty will, within 14 calendar days of receiving the written request, convene a Grievance Hearing Board, which will serve for the term of the grievance in question. The Board will be made up of two students, two faculty members, and as chair, the Dean of the Faculty or a representative chosen by the Dean of the Faculty. The Executive Committee of the Faculty will name the two faculty members. The two students will be selected by the Dean of Student Affairs. The hearing board shall have 30 calendar days from the time it is convened to make a decision. |
| Step 4. Records |
The Grievance Hearing Board is the final source of appeal and will also serve as repository of records, which are kept of the grievance. After the dissolution of the board a repository of grievance records will be kept for a period of seven years in the Registrar’s Office.
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B. Grievances Filed by Faculty Members Against Students
The Faculty Policies Manual states, “The faculty member has complete authority over the conduct of affairs in his/her classroom. It is his/her responsibility, with the help of the appropriate staff as necessary, to deal with any situation that disturbs the instruction process” (1.5.2). Faculty members may file grievances against students whose conduct substantially interferes with the educational process and/or with whom ordinary disciplinary measures have failed. If the matter cannot be resolved, the faculty member may apply to the Dean of the Faculty to have the student temporarily or permanently removed from a course. The Dean shall provide an opportunity for both parties to meet face to face and give their version of the situation. The Dean’s decision will be final and binding on all parties.
Academic Recognition
Dean’s List
The Dean’s List recognizes undergraduate students for outstanding academic achievement during each semester. Students, regardless of class standing, must complete at least 12 non-pass/fail credits and achieve a 3.4 or higher semester grade-point average. Information regarding the honor is sent to students’ hometown newspapers.
Honor Societies
Beta Beta Beta - ΒΒΒ
Beta Beta Beta, a national biological honor society, is open to majors in the biological sciences by invitation. To become a member one must have completed three courses in biology with a GPA of 3.0 in biology and a 3.0 overall. BBB hosts various speakers and panels presenting topics from ecology to medicine to graduate schools to getting a job. BBB also presents freshman and sophomore achievement awards for academic excellence in biology. Members of the organization present independent research topics at annual district BBB meetings. In addition to scientific pursuits, BBB has an annual spring banquet and participates in a major fund-raising activity each fall.
Phi Alpha Epsilon - ΦΑΕ
Phi Alpha Epsilon (the Greek initial letters of the words, “lover of learning and finder of truth”) was established in 1935 and recognizes academic achievement and service to others. To be eligible for this award, students must achieve a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.60, complete at least 24 credits of general education coursework at LVC, and achieve a “bronze” level of service hours (as determined by the Office of the College Chaplain) at the conclusion on the fall semester prior to graduation. Seniors are formally welcomed into the society at a spring banquet.
Phi Kappa Pi - ΦΚΠ
Phi Kappa Pi, the department of business honor society, is open to business, accounting, and economics majors. Selection is made by business department faculty. Membership is open to those with junior or senior status and a department GPA of 3.40 or higher and a College GPA of 3.25 or higher. Candidates for membership must also exhibit participation in department, College, or community activities demonstrating leadership and non-academic involvement.
Phi Sigma Iota - ΦΣΙ
Phi Sigma Iota, the Department of Foreign Languages’ honor society, is an organization that recognizes outstanding ability in the field of foreign studies, literature, and cultures. It promotes international communication and understanding and is the highest academic honor in the field of foreign languages. Selection is made by foreign languages faculty. Members are selected from foreign language majors and minors with a department GPA of 3.40 or higher and a College GPA of 3.20 or higher. Phi Sigma Iota recognizes attainment and encourages individual efforts by granting annual scholarships and awards.
Psi Chi - ΨΧ
Affiliated with the American Psychological Association, Psi Chi is the national honor society for students who are psychology or psychobiology majors or psychology minors. Students must have a College and departmental GPA of 3.20 or higher. Throughout the year, this group takes part in many fundraisers and community events. Further, they put on a speaker series related to psychology and a conference where both students and researchers present their original data. Our organization takes pride in sending students to the Eastern Psychological Conference held each spring, and encourages our members to become more involved in the greater society of psychology.
Sigma Tau Delta - ΣΤ
Omicron Omicron is the College’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society whose purpose it is to recognize the accomplishments of outstanding students of the English language and literature. Members are selected from English majors and minors with a minimum departmental and College GPA of at least 3.0. Students must have completed at least eight courses in English at or above the 200 level. The organization promotes interest and involvement in literature and the arts.
Who’s Who
One of the awards possible for a Lebanon Valley College senior is to be listed in the annual publication of Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. The award is given to seniors selected on the basis of nominations submitted by the faculty. It consists of a certificate, a biographical listing in the annual for the year of graduation and the use of the placement service operated by the national organization. Selections are based upon scholarship, participation and leadership in academic and cocurricular activities, citizenship and service to the College.