Academic Regulations Definitions

DEFINITIONS 

• 1.0  Definitions: As used herein, the terms below have the specified meanings.

• 1.1  Academic record: the Purdue Fort Wayne (PFW) cumulative record maintained by the Registrar in accordance with these academic regulations.  The IPFW academic record is the sole basis upon which all questions relating to such matters as grades, graduation requirements, academic standing, and scholastic recognition are resolved.  Official transcripts will continue to be produced using Purdue University procedures, and it is the responsibility of the IPFW Registrar to maintain consistency between the IPFW cumulative record and official transcripts.

• 1.2   Credit: the semester hour.  Any reference to credits, credit hours, etc., shall be understood as referring to semester hours.

• 1.2.1    Resident credit: credit earned at Purdue University Fort Wayne.

• 1.2.1.1 Course credit: resident credit awarded by PFW on the basis of a student's enrollment in and satisfactory completion of courses.

• 1.2.1.2 Special credit: resident credit awarded by PFW on bases other than a student's enrollment in and satisfactory completion of courses.  Special credit may be established by any of the following methods:

• 1.2.1.2.1          Credit by examination: credit awarded to a student on the basis of achievement on a departmental/divisional proficiency examination. (See Section 7.1)

• 1.2.1.2.2          Departmental/divisional credit: credit for a course offered by a department/division and awarded on the basis of substantially equivalent experience; may be granted only by the chair/director or designee of the department/division offering the course.

• 1.2.1.2.3          Achievement credit: credit awarded on the basis of demonstrated achievement in a nationally administered college-level examination.  (See Section 7.2)

• 1.2.2    Transfer credit: nonresident credit.  Transfer credits for a student entering IPFW from outside the student's university system shall be evaluated by the admissions office and accepted as transfer credit if completed at a regionally accredited institution with a grade of C or better.  Designations of plus and minus that accompany these grades shall be disregarded in the evaluation of this credit.

Credit accepted as transfer credit shall be equated to IPFW course numbers (or included as an undistributed entry) and posted to the student's academic record at the time of matriculation or re-entry to IPFW.  The academic-record entry shall include the name of the transfer institution, the years of attendance, and the individual courses accepted for transfer.  The course-equation process is subject to adjustment upon request by the student's department chair/dean/division director, and the department/school/division determines the applicability to a student's plan of study of credit earned at other institutions and accepted by IPFW.

• 1.3       Student classification: a system for classifying students regularly admitted to IPFW:

 Undergraduate Student Classification        Earned Credit Hours

Freshman                                           Fewer than 30

Sophomore                                        30-59

Junior                                                 60-89

Senior                                                90 or more

The Registrar may establish additional classifications to serve IPFW's record-keeping needs.  The Registrar will report classification codes to Purdue University in a manner consistent with their respective codes.

• 1.4       Advanced placement: the practice of admitting an entering student to courses beyond the first course or courses in a normal sequence without allowing credit for courses not taken.

• 1.5       Substitution: the practice of replacing a course required in a curriculum with another course identified by the unit specifying that requirement.

• 1.6       Excusing: the practice of replacing a course required in a specific curriculum by an equal number of credit hours in courses not specified, as approved by the unit specifying the course requirement.

• 1.7       Work not scheduled for a regular fall or spring semester: regular work offered in a summer session or off-calendar, equivalent in content, contact hours, and credit value to the work of a regular semester.  As these regulations apply to academic work not scheduled for a regular fall or spring semester, all deadlines and time periods are to be prorated.

• 1.8       Beginning student: a student enrolling in college courses for the first time, or a student who has completed a small number of credits as a nondegree student, most often while still also a high-school student.                      

• 1.9       Intensive course: a course that meets for extended class times and fewer weeks than a similar course would meet in a regular summer session.

• 1.10     Pass/Not-Pass option: an enrollment option that generally limits course grades to P and NP.  The option may be used to allow the student to take the class with minimal concern for the grade that will be earned.  Students who receive a grade of NP will have a grade of N recorded on official transcripts.

• 1.11     Grade-point averages: all reports and calculations of grade-point averages described in these regulations will be based on what is known as the "4-point" system, with grades of A equated to 4 points and other grades scaled accordingly.  [Note: Prior to Summer 1993, Purdue University transcripts and related records were based on a "6-point" system, with grades of A equated to 6 points and other grades scaled accordingly (F equated to 2 points).  Subsequent Purdue University records use the 4-point system described in these regulations.]
• 1.12     International student. For admission purposes, an international student is defined as: an individual who resides outside of the U.S. and will be applying for a temporary (e.g. F-1, J-1) visa to study at IPFW, or an individual who resides in the U.S. on a temporary visa, and who is not an immigrant  (W.S. legal permanent resident), or an undocumented immigrant, or a refugee.