815 North Broadway
Saratoga Springs,
New York, 12866
SKIDMORE PHONE
518-580-5000
Academic Requirements and Regulations (continued)
Acceleration
and Reclassification
Students are classified according to
their expected date of graduation at time of admission. Permission
to accelerate and graduate with an earlier class may be given
to students in good academic standing with the approval of their
major departments and the Committee on Academic Standing. Applications
to accelerate must be submitted in writing to CAS not later
than one year prior to the anticipated date of graduation. The
Office of the Registrar offers assistance to students contemplating
acceleration.
Students who do not complete a full-time course load each semester
may be reclassified to a later class by the Office of the Registrar
in consultation with CAS.
Students with AP or transfer credit taken during high school must make a formal application before changing class years. A feasible completion plan must be approved, including completion of the major.
Course
Loads
The standard course load for a full-time
student is fifteen credit hours each semester, and students
are encouraged to balance their commitment to quality and rigor
with realistic expectations of the workload involved with specific
course enrollments. An overload is defined as any program registration
over eighteen hours to a maximum of twenty credit hours. Eighteen hours allows students registered
in four four-credit classes to continue to participate in one-
and two-credit performance classes. It is not recommended that
students use eighteen semester hours to attempt to complete
six three-credit classes.
There is an additional fee assessed for programs over eighteen
hours. The Committee on Academic Standing reviews all applications
for overloads to determine academic eligibility, based on stated
criteria. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required for an overload. The Committee will not consider an overload application for more than
20 credit hours.
A full-time student must be enrolled in a minimum of twelve
credit hours each semester. Requests for permission to change
to part-time (fewer than twelve hours in the fall or spring
semester) status must be filed, before the term begins, with
the Office of the Registrar and approved by CAS.
Skidmore College will grant up to six
credit hours toward graduation to those achieving a grade of
4 or 5 on an Advanced Placement Test of the College Entrance
Examination Board. Such credit will count as elective credit
toward the degree. Individual departments may award credit toward
the major. Inquiries should be directed to the chair of the
department in question.
The college will grant six semester hours of credit for each
examination taken at the Advanced ("A") Level of the
British General Certificate of Education on which the student
received a grade of "C" or better. Also, six semester
hours of credit will be granted for each Higher Level Examination
in the International Baccalaureate Program on which a student
earned a score of 5, 6, or 7. A maximum of twelve semester hours
of credit may be granted through subject examinations of the
College Level Examination Program. All such examinations presented
must be taken prior to enrollment at Skidmore.
The college may grant credit toward
the degree for work taken at another accredited institution
for which a grade of C or better is received, to a maximum of
sixty semester hours. Transcripts from students who are transferring
from a non-U.S. institution will be evaluated on a case-by-case
basis. All transferable courses must generally correspond to
courses offered at Skidmore. Matriculated students should receive
approval for credit from the Office of the Registrar before
registering at another institution.
Leaves of absence may be granted for
one semester or an entire academic year, but not for a period
shorter than one semester or longer than one continuous year.
Leaves fall into three categories:
Academic Leaves of Absence for full-time study elsewhere may
be granted to qualified students through the Office of the Dean
of Studies with the approval of the Committee on Academic Standing.
Students must have a strong academic background (generally a
3.0 cumulative GPA and course work appropriate to their study
proposal) to be eligible for an academic leave.
Information on leaves and program opportunities is available
in the Office of the Dean of Studies. Study abroad opportunities
are orchestrated by the Office of International Programs. Application
should be made well in advance of the anticipated leave, but
no later than November 1 for spring-semester leaves and March
1 for fall-semester or full-year leaves.
Personal Leaves of Absence without academic credit and for personal
reasons may be granted through the Office of the Dean of Studies
with the approval of the Committee on Academic Standing. Application
should be made in writing to the Office of the Dean of Studies
well in advance of the anticipated leave.
Medical Leaves of Absence may be granted through the Office
of the Dean of Studies with the approval of the Committee on
Academic Standing, upon receipt of the student's application
and a statement by either a personal physician or the Skidmore
physician. Before returning to the College, the student must
submit a Return from Medical Leave application. The re-entry plan includes information from both the student and the physician and must be approved by the Committee on Academic Standing well in advance of the first day of classes.
All medical and therapeutic assessments must be provided by
appropriate professionals not related to the student or his
or her family.
(For information concerning housing, academic requirements,
and financial responsibilities, please refer to the current
Information on Leaves of Absence bulletin.)
Students are required to register officially
by the published deadlines for each course for which they expect
credit. A student who does not register for courses in any semester
by the end of the first week of classes will be considered to
have officially withdrawn from Skidmore College.
Students are required to officially withdraw by the published
deadlines from any course for which they do not expect or want
credit, through college procedures administered by the registrar.
Failure to withdraw from a course will result in a grade of
F or WF. Students matriculating in fall 1999 or after may
withdraw from a maximum of two courses in their careers.
All students registering for six or more hours must comply with
New York State immunization laws. Specific information may be
obtained from the Health Services Office.
Regular class attendance and participation
have a major effect on the quality of student performance. Students
are expected to meet their instructors' attendance policies,
return from vacations at designated times, and remain on campus
for their entire examination period. The College does not sanction
early departures from the schedule of classes and examinations
or any late return to the established class schedule. Students
are not automatically entitled to a certain number of absences.
Each instructor will make known to the class his or her policy
concerning the effect of absence on the student's grade.
Students who become ill remain responsible for the work missed
and should consult with course professors. Students must either
complete this work during the regular semester of study or apply
for a course withdrawal (W or WF), an incomplete (I), or a medical
leave of absence.
The Faculty Handbook establishes the college's minimum
expectation that "any students who miss more than a third
of the [class] sessions may expect to be barred from final examination.
In such cases, the course grade will be recorded as F."
Faculty may, and frequently do, establish even more stringent
attendance policies, and the student is obliged to adhere to
the attendance policies announced for each course.
Requests for exceptions to any academic regulation must be
filed with the Office of the Dean of Studies or the Office of
the Registrar, and approved by the Committee on Academic Standing.
