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In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences .
Registration
All students must register with the university at the beginning of each semester. In order to be considered a registered student by the university, a student must:
- complete course enrollment according to individual college requirements;
- settle all financial accounts, including current semester tuition;
- clear any holds, whether these are from the Bursar’s Office, Gannett Health Services, the judicial administrator, or the dean of his or her college; and
- satisfy New York State health requirements.
Students can check their registration status using Student Center. The first screen in Student Center will indicate whether a student is registered and will list any holds that need to be cleared, including the correct office to visit to have the holds removed. Students are expected to register by the fifth week of the semester. Failure to register may result in termination of Cornell services such as, but not limited to, library access, meal plans, door access, Blackboard, and bus service. Students may be considered withdrawn by the college. Only registered students are entitled to attend classes and have access to services.
Course Enrollment
Students will receive course enrollment information from the university registrar. After planning a schedule of courses in consultation with their faculty advisor, students will pre-enroll in Student Center during their scheduled appointment time.
To enroll in courses that involve independent study, teaching, internships, or research, a student must file an independent study form, available in the CALS Registrar’s Office, 140 Roberts Hall.
Repeated Courses
Students may enroll again for a course in which they received a grade of F in a previous semester. Both grades will be recorded and calculated as part of their cumulative GPA. If a student retakes a course in which a passing grade was earned, both grades will be recorded and calculated as part of their cumulative GPA. However, repeating a course increases the number of credits required for graduation by the number of credits in the course.
Incompletes
Students must not enroll again for a course in which they received an incomplete. Instead, work for that course should be completed without further enrollment. The instructor files a manual grade form with the college registrar when a grade has been assigned. An incomplete not made up by the end of two successive semesters of residence reverts to a failure. In the case of a graduating senior, incompletes revert to failures at the time of graduation.
Enrollment Changes
A student is held responsible for and receives a grade for those courses in which he or she enrolls unless the student officially changes such enrollment. All changes in courses or credit, grading options, or sections must be made by the student using the online add/drop through Student Center or the official course add/drop form at the CALS Registrar’s Office, 140 Roberts Hall. Approval of the faculty advisor may be required to change course enrollment. Department or course instructor approval may be required for select courses.
Students may add courses and change credit hours where applicable during the first three weeks of the semester, and may drop courses and change grading options until the end of the seventh week.
Academic Integrity Policy
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty, students, and administration support and abide by the university Code of Academic Integrity. Its principle is that absolute integrity is expected of every student in all academic undertakings: students must in no way misrepresent their work, fraudulently or unfairly advance their academic status, or be a party to another student’s failure to maintain academic integrity.
The maintenance of an atmosphere of academic honor and the fulfillment of the provisions of the code are the responsibility of the students and the faculty. Therefore, all students and faculty members shall refrain from any action that would violate the basic principles of this code.
- Students assume responsibility for the content and integrity of their submitted work, such as papers, examinations, or reports.
- Students are guilty of violating the code if they
- knowingly represent the work of others as their own.
- use or obtain unauthorized assistance in any academic work.
- give fraudulent assistance to another student.
- fabricate data in support of laboratory or field work.
- forge a signature to certify completion or approval.
- submit the same work for two different courses without advance permission.
- knowingly deprive other students of library resources, laboratory equipment, computer programs, or similar aids.
- in any other manner violate the principle of absolute integrity.
- Faculty members assume responsibility to make clear to students and teaching assistants specific regulations that apply to scholarly work in a discipline.
- Faculty members fulfill their responsibility to
- maintain in all class, laboratory, and examination activities an atmosphere conducive to academic integrity and honor.
- make clear the conditions under which examinations are to be given.
- make clear the consequences of violating any aspects of the code.
- provide opportunities for students to discuss the content of courses with each other and help each other to master that content and distinguish those activities from course assignments that are meant to test what students can do independently.
- state explicitly the procedures for use of materials taken from published sources and the methods appropriate to a discipline by which students must cite the source of such materials.
- approve in advance, in consultation with other faculty members, which work submitted by a student and used by a faculty member to determine a grade in a course may be submitted by that student in a different course.
- monitor the work and maintain such records as will support the crucial underpinning of all guidelines: the students’ submitted work must be their own and no one else’s.
Cornell’s Code of Academic Integrity spells out how individuals who have allegedly violated Cornell standards for academic integrity are to be confronted and, if found to be in violation of those standards, sanctioned. The code provides informal resolution of most perceived violations through a primary hearing between the faculty member, the student involved, and an independent witness. If necessary, a hearing before a hearing board follows. The full code may be found at cuinfo.cornell.edu/Academic/AIC.html.
The Academic Integrity Hearing Board for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences consists of three elected faculty members, three elected student members, a chair appointed by the dean, and the director of counseling and advising, who serves as a nonvoting record keeper. Professor Dale Grossman is the current chair.
Individuals who observe or are aware of an alleged violation of the code should report the incident to the faculty member in charge of a course or to the chair of the hearing board. General information and details on procedures for suspected violations or hearings are available from the Counseling and Advising Office, 140 Roberts Hall.
Academic Honors
The college encourages high academic achievement and recognizes outstanding students in several ways:
- Dean’s List. Each semester, students are recognized for academic excellence by inclusion on the Dean’s List. Eligibility for the Dean’s List in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is determined by the following criteria:
- a minimum course load for the semester of 12 letter-graded credits;
- completion of at least one CALS course;
- achievement of a semester GPA of at least 3.50; and
- achievement of an S grade, or a C- or better grade in each course (including physical education), with no incompletes. Dean’s List will be granted retroactively if students meet all the requirements after successful course completion to make up INC grades.
- Bachelor of Science with Honors
- Students receiving a cumulative GPA of 4.00 or greater (based on the cumulative Cornell GPA) will graduate “summa cum laude.”
- Students receiving a cumulative GPA of greater than or equal to 3.75 and less than 4.00 (based on the cumulative Cornell GPA) will graduate “magna cum laude.”
- Students receiving a cumulative GPA of greater than or equal to 3.50 and less than 3.75 (based on the cumulative Cornell GPA) will graduate “cum laude.”
- Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Research. Students will graduate with a bachelor of science degree with distinction in research when, in addition to having completed all the graduation requirements, they have satisfactorily completed the research honors program in their area of interest and have been recommended for the degree by the honors committee of that area. Special requirements are given in the section titled Research Honors Program .
- Ho-Nun-De-Kah, founded in 1929, is the undergraduate honor society of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Members are recruited from the top 20 percent of the senior class and top 15 percent of the junior class. In keeping with the ideals of encouraging scholarship, leadership, and citizenship, members provide free tutoring and a variety of service activities to both the college and the community. Visit Ho-Nun-De-Kah’s website at www.rso.cornell.edu/hndk.
- Golden Key is an international honor society that recognizes and encourages scholastic achievement and excellence in all undergraduate fields of study. Juniors and seniors in the top 15 percent of their class are invited to membership. Visit Golden Key’s website at www.rso.cornell.edu/gkihs.
Academic Standing
At the end of each semester, the Committee on Academic Achievement and Petitions reviews the records of those students who in any respect are failing to meet the academic requirements of the college or who persistently fail to attend classes. For students not making satisfactory progress, the committee takes appropriate action, including, but not limited to, issuing warnings, placing students on probation, granting students leaves of absence, advising students to withdraw, or suspending or expelling students.
Specifically, the committee considers as possible cause for action failure to attend and participate in courses on a regular basis or, at the end of any semester, failure to attain one or more of the following:
- semester GPA of at least 2.00
- cumulative GPA of at least 2.00
- satisfactory completion of 12 or more credits per semester
- reasonable progress toward completion of major and distribution requirements
In general terms, regular participation in course work with academic loads at a level sufficient to assure graduation within eight semesters and grades averaging C (2.00) or higher are prima facie evidence of satisfactory progress and good academic standing.
Petitions Procedures
The Committee on Academic Achievement and Petitions is a college committee of six faculty and two student members. On behalf of the faculty, the committee
- reviews, at the end of each semester and at other times as shall seem appropriate to the committee, the progress of students toward meeting graduation requirements.
- receives and acts on petitions from individual students asking for exceptions from particular academic regulations or requirements of the college, or for reconsideration of action previously taken by the committee.
- acts on readmission requests from persons whose previous enrollment was terminated by the committee.
- notifies the petitioner in writing of the action taken by the committee.
A petition for exemption from a college academic requirement or missed deadline may be filed by any student who has grounds for exemption. A petition is usually prepared with the assistance of a student’s faculty advisor, whose signature is required. The advisor’s recommendation is helpful to the committee. The committee reviews the written petition and determines whether there is evidence of mitigating and unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of the student that would warrant an exemption or other action.
Students wishing to withdraw from a course after the end of the seventh week must petition. Requests for course changes are approved only when the members of the committee are convinced that unusual circumstances are clearly beyond the control of the student. The committee assumes that students should have been able to make decisions about course content, total workload, and scheduling prior to stated deadlines. A grade of W (for “withdrawal”) is recorded on the transcript if a petition to drop a course is approved after the end of the seventh week of classes and if an approved drop results in fewer than 12 credits.
Forms are available in the Counseling and Advising Office, 140 Roberts Hall. Counselors are available to assist with the process.
Leave of Absence
A student taking a break from studies in a future semester or who finds it necessary to leave the university before the end of a semester should submit a written petition for a leave of absence. Such action serves as appropriate notification to university offices and corrects the student’s transcript.
An approved leave is considered a voluntary interruption in study and holds the student’s place in the college without requiring reapplication to the university. Voluntary leaves are issued in two ways: unrestricted for students in good academic standing (no restrictions placed on length of leave up to five years, or activities pursued, and simple notification by student of intent to return), and restricted (length of leave and activities pursued may be specified, and a petition to return must be approved by the Committee on Academic Achievement and Petitions). A leave exceeding five years will require additional paperwork.
Information and petition forms are available in the Counseling and Advising Office, 140 Roberts Hall.
Withdrawal
A student who wishes to leave the university permanently should file a petition for withdrawal. Such petitions are approved if the student is in good academic standing. Students who have withdrawn and who later decide to return must apply to the CALS Admissions Office. |