Academic Policies for CJP

All students taking CJP courses for graduate or undergraduate credit are subject to the policies below and the overall graduate program policies. Exceptions to the policies stated below are at the discretion of the graduate program and will be made in consultation with the academic director and the student’s academic advisor.

Review the university-wide graduate program policies found in the graduate school catalog.

Advisors

When a faculty member goes on sabbatical or is otherwise absent for part/all of the academic year, the Academic Programs Director will assume advising responsibilities in their absence unless alternate arrangements have been made. In the case of certain specialized Graduate Certificate programs where mentors are used no academic advisor will be assigned. Refer to the graduate program policy on “Advising” for additional related information.

Class participation and absences

Students should be aware of the importance of regular class attendance, particularly in the case of CJPCJP classes that meet weekly or over several weekends. Being absent for more than one class leads to a student missing a large portion of the class content. In addition to consistent class attendance, students should make every effort to arrive to class on time out of respect for the learning process, fellow students and faculty. Refer to the graduate program policy on “Class Attendance” for related information.

Course extensions, incompletes and continued coursework

Course extensions

For fall and spring semesters, all coursework is due by the end of the semester. For SPI classes, all course work (for non-degree or part-time students or students doing the graduate program through SPI) is due by October 1. Residential full-time CJP students must complete all SPI course work before the start of the next semester; August 20 for those who will be full-time in the fall semester.*

If a student will not be able to complete a course on time, the student must submit a request one week before the end of the semester or, in the case of SPI or other non-traditional graduate classes, one week before all coursework is due. If the request is granted the student will receive an “I” (incomplete) for the course which will later be replaced by a final grade when the work has been turned in on the agreed upon date (nothing will be retained on the student’s permanent record noting that the course was completed after the initial deadline). If the request for an extension is denied, the student will receive a grade for the work that has been completed up until the time the course was expected to have been completed. If no work or not enough work to pass the class has been submitted, the final grade will be an F (or W under unusual circumstances and with the approval of the Program Academic Programs Director).

Extensions will be given only for legitimate and unusual situations. Extensions are contracted by the student with the program for up to a maximum of 6 months after the deadline for the course work.

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Courses for reduced credit hours

Students are welcome to take non-core 3 SH classes for reduced credit hours 2 SH with permission of the instructor. However, a A student is only permitted to take 1 course up to 2 courses per semester for reduced hours and no more than 3 during the student’s program. Syllabi for for CJP classes  classes will outline course assignments for reduced hours when applicable or will note if the class is not appropriate to be taken for reduced hours. Please note that SPI courses that no 2 and 3 SH courses cannot be taken for 1 credit hourSH. Please note that changes to the number of credit hours a student is registered for in the course follow the normal drop/add periods.

Credit hour limit

Graduate students are permitted to take up to 12 SH in the fall and the spring terms. Taking more than 12 SH requires written permission to the Academic Program Coordinator from the student’s academic advisor. Students can take no more than 2 SPI courses (5-6 SH) if they plan to return full-time in the fall semester (only 1 course is recommended for students who plan to do an internship/work over the summer or extensive travel).

Directed/Independent study coursework

MA students may take up to 2 directed or independent study courses (up to 6 SH) during their course of study and Graduate Certificate/GC students may take 1. For GC students 3 out of the 15 SH can come either from a directed or independent study or a course taken outside the CJP program. Approval for these credits to be used towards the MA or GC is given by the student’s academic advisor. Refer to “Transfer credit” policy for additional related information. Please note that the normal expectation is that no more than 6 credits for an MA student would come from outside normal CJP coursework (with a maximum of 12 being accepted) unless the student is doing a Certificate or Masters program with another EMU program and bringing in up to 12 credits from that program.

Email accounts

Each graduate student is supplied with an EMU email address for the duration of their time of study and up to one year following graduation. The expectation is that while a student is enrolled in the program, they will be responsible for the material sent to their EMU email address. That address is seen as the primary mode of communication with students. Programmatic information, including information regarding course expectations and deadlines, registration for classes, and community events are circulated to students via email. Students are welcome to forward their EMU emails to an alternate address or change their subscriptions to mass EMU email listserves (see https://emu.edu/broadcast/) to cut down on the number of emails received at that address.

Leave of absence

Graduate students who intend to interrupt their enrollment in the graduate program for more than one full year are required to submit a written request to the CJP academic program coordinator and academic advisor. This request will then be processed with the academic programs director and a decision given to the student. The program may choose to withdraw the student from the program for lack of sufficient academic progress. Acceptable reasons for requesting a leave of absence include, but are not limited to: medical circumstances, inadequate financial resources to continue or family crises. If a student does not submit a written request for a leave of absence for review and approval, their admission into the program may be revoked and the student would need to reapply should they wish to continue in the degree program at a later date. Refer to the graduate program policy on “Time limits for completing degree requirements” for additional related information.

Non-degree seeking students

Non-degree seeking students may enroll to take fall or spring classes for graduate credit when there is room in a class and with permission of the instructor. For non-degree seeking SPI students, permission to take the courses will be granted by the Academic Programs Director. Persons who are not currently degree-seeking students wishing to take CJP courses, will be asked to submit the request to the CJP Academic Program Coordinator, including information on what class(es) they wish to take and the reason for wanting to take the class. If permission is granted to take the class, the student will be asked to fill out a one page short registration form to complete the registration process. Full preparation for the class and fulfillment of all course requirements is required, in addition to regular attendance and participation. Guidelines for each class for those students taking courses for academic credit will be outlined in the syllabus for the course.

Pass/Fail courses

For certain CJP courses “Pass” is the highest grade possible. The “Pass” grade is not factored into the overall grade point average (GPA). Most classes are evaluated with a standard letter grade range: A, B, C. However, for the practicum (required of all MA students) and some courses, this type of evaluation is less appropriate. For example, while a faculty member supervises the practicum student, a practicum is usually accomplished by working with another organization or program outside our community, making a nuanced evaluation difficult.

Students switching MA to Graduate Certificate or Graduate Certificate to MA

In certain cases a student pursuing an MA at CJP may choose to only finish the Graduate Certificate. In this case, they are asked to submit their plans in writing to the Academic Program Coordinator and to their academic advisor. In the case where a student is enrolled in the Graduate Certificate program and wants to move to the MA program, they need to follow these procedures:

1. Submit a written request to their academic advisor and the Academic Program Coordinator.
2. Depending on the length of time they have been in the program, an additional letter of recommendation may be requested.
3. The Academic Program Coordinator will circulate the request with the Admissions Committee for final approval of the internal transfer of program and then communicate the decision to the student and advisor.
4. The student is responsible for the MA curriculum as it is when they are admitted into the full MA program (not what it was when they began their Graduate Certificate studies).

Transfer Credit

Transfer credits may be applied to a student’s program of study with the approval of the academic director. The academic director will handle decisions on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the student’s advisor.

Traditionally, a maximum of 6 credit hours SH may be applied to the MA degree (3 for a GC). Additional credits SH may be considered for transfer under special circumstances. All transfer work must have a grade of A or B and have been completed for graduate credit at an accredited college or university. Transfer credit taken more than five years before a student is admitted may not be used to satisfy degree requirements. Students requesting to transfer work must submit the request in writing with an official transcript from the university which previously awarded the credit.

Please note that the normal expectation is that no more than 6 SH for a GC student and no more than 12 SH for an MA student would come from outside normal CJP coursework. Credits coming from outside CJP coursework might be comprised of transfer credits from outside EMU or courses taken in other EMU graduate programs or the Seminary. 

Transfer of credits completed at at EMU to  to another institution is at the discretion of that institution. Candidates should check with the institution to which they wish to transfer regarding the transferability of of EMU credits credits.