Courses of Study 2012-2013 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
Courses of Study 2012-2013 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Policies and Procedures


In the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning .

Academic Policies

Non-Academic Policies

 

Academic Policies

Schedule Requirements


Standard Course and Credit Load

Each semester students are expected to enroll in the courses stipulated in their published curriculum. AAP students are not permitted to enroll in more than 20 or fewer than 12 academic credits, except by approved petition. AAP students studying off campus may not enroll in more than 18 academic credits per semester while away from Ithaca; additional program restrictions may apply.

Deviating from Standard Course and Credit Load

Students wishing to deviate from the prescribed curriculum, enroll in fewer than 12 or more than 20 credit hours, or seek a substitution for a specific graduation requirement must petition the academic department for permission. Petition forms are available in the college registrar’s office, 235 Sibley Dome. Petitions must be submitted prior to the act and within the university add/drop period. Further, students wishing to take more than the standard number of credit hours should have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. Petitions should be submitted only if there are clearly extraordinary circumstances that merit special consideration. In order for a petition to be approved, circumstances must be extenuating. Once submitted and acted upon, petitions can only be reversed by subsequent petition.

Course Enrollment


Undergraduates at Cornell select their courses for the next term approximately halfway through the current term. Students can view their pre-enrollment appointment in Student Center (studentcenter.cornell.edu). Step-by-step pre-enrollment instructions are available online at registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Student/enroll.html.

Pre-enrollment is an enrollment request; it is not a guarantee of enrollment. Prior to the beginning of each semester, changes can be administratively made to a student’s pre-enrollment request without the student being notified. At the beginning of the add/drop period, it is the student’s responsibility to confirm their schedule in Student Center.

Adding Classes During the Add/Drop Period

The University add/drop period allows students to add most classes to their schedule until the end of the third week of classes.  Students can view the university add deadlines under the Registration and Enrollment tab in Student Center.  During the add period, students can add courses and change the credit hours and/or grading basis of a course without petition. To enroll in courses that involve independent study, a student must file an independent study form with the department. Courses flagged as needing permission or that cause time conflicts for students may need to be added by completing a course enrollment (add and drop) form obtained in the college registrar’s office.  After the end of the third week of classes, an approved petition is required to add any class.

Changing Grading Basis and Credit Hours During the Add/Drop Period

The University add/drop period allows students to change the grading basis for courses set up with the optional grading basis and change credit hours for variable credit courses until the end of the seventh week of classes. After that time, an approved petition is required to change the grading basis or credit hours of a course. Such petitions will only be approved under extenuating circumstances.  Please note that it is the student’s responsibility to confirm the grading basis and credit hours for each course.  When enrolling in courses with the student option grading basis, the grading basis will default to letter-graded.  When enrolling in courses offered for variable credit, the credit hours will default to the minimum number of credit hours.

Dropping Classes During the Add/Drop Period

The University add/drop period allows students to drop most classes from their schedule until the end of the seventh week of classes (exceptions may apply to PE, half-semester, and high-demand courses) through Student Center.  Students can view the university drop deadlines under the Registration and Enrollment tab in Student Center.  After the end of the seventh week of classes, an approved petition is required to drop any class. If approved, a grade of “W” will appear on the transcript to indicate that the course was dropped after the seven-week drop deadline. Petitions should be submitted only if there are clearly extraordinary circumstances that merit special consideration. In order for a petition to be approved, circumstances must be extenuating.  

Dropping Required Sequence Courses

Although the university drop periods extends through the end of the seventh week of classes, additional restrictions apply to dropping required sequence courses.  No required sequence course may be dropped after the third week, except by approved petition.

Grading


Minimum Grades

For design and studio courses, the minimum passing grade is “C.” For all other letter-graded courses, the minimum passing grade is “D-.” For S-U–graded courses, a grade of “S” is required for passing.

Satisfactory-Unsatisfactory Grade Option

The AAP faculty approved the following regulations regarding the grading of undergraduate students in the college on the satisfactory-unsatisfactory grading basis:

  1. The satisfactory-unsatisfactory grading option may be used only with free electives; all other courses must be taken for letter grade.
  2. In a course designated with satisfactory-unsatisfactory grading exclusively, the entire class must be so graded. If not advertised as such, the instructor must announce this within the first week of class.
  3. In a course designated as optional satisfactory-unsatisfactory grading, both student and instructor must agree on the option. Once agreed upon with the instructor, students must enroll in the appropriate grading option by the end of the seventh week of classes. This option will be used for the final grade unless otherwise approved by petition and approval of the instructor.
  4. The instructor must announce in advance the equivalent letter grade values to be used for satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Unless otherwise stated, a grade of “S” or “SX” is equivalent to the letter-grade of “C-” or better.

No Grade Reported

If the student does not receive a grade in a course, that course will not be credited toward degree requirements until the instructor has formally submitted a grade. It is the student’s responsibility to pursue such matters until they are resolved. Any problem resulting from faculty inaction should be reported to the department chairperson.

Grade Changes

Each semester’s work is an entity, and grades are assigned for work completed during the official semester period. Grade changes may be made only in the event that the instructor made an error in assigning the original grade. Grades will not be changed after the end of a semester, and students shall not have unfair advantage for doing additional work.

Incompletes

The incomplete (INC) grade status may be used when two basic conditions are met:

  1. The student must have substantial equity in the course; equity must be at a passing level.
  2. The reason(s) for failure to complete all course requirements must be highly extenuating conditions that are beyond the student’s control.

An incomplete may not be given merely because a student fails to complete all course requirements on time. It is not an option that may be elected at the student’s own discretion. Students should not have unfair advantage by deferring completion of some major course requirement or by obtaining additional time to do the work.

It is the responsibility of the student to see that all incompletes are made up by the deadline and that the grade change has been properly recorded with the college registrar. When a grade is submitted, an asterisk appears on the student transcript next to the grade to indicate the initial incomplete grade.

An incomplete may be of two kinds, regular or restricted. A regular incomplete allows a student one calendar year or two semesters for completion of course work. A restricted incomplete is one in which the instructor sets a time limit of less than two semesters. If incomplete work is not made up and if a final grade is not submitted by the instructor by the incomplete expiration date or the date of graduation, the incomplete will automatically be converted to a failing grade. This means the option to make up the work shall be lost.

The grade of incomplete in a sequence course prevents a student from enrolling in the next course of the sequence unless the student petitions the appropriate department faculty to be allowed to continue in the sequence.

Academic Honors


Dean’s List

The Dean’s List is calculated after each semester. Students who complete a course load of at least 12 letter credits with no grades of incomplete (INC), no failing grades (F, U, or UX) (excluding PE courses), and no missing grades (NGR) and who earn a grade point average of 3.8 or better will be placed on the Dean’s List. This honor will be recorded on the official transcript. Students with grades of INC and/or NGR will be reevaluated for the Dean’s List when grades are officially recorded with the AAP Registrar’s Office.

Scholastic Standards


Good Academic Standing

To be in a good academic standing, a student must successfully complete a minimum of 12 academic credits each semester and earn a minimum semester grade point average (GPA) of 2.3. A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 is required for graduation.

Please note the following college policies on nonacademic credit and repeated courses with regard to good academic standing:

Nonacademic Credit refers to all Cornell courses numbered 1000–1099, all physical education courses, and Reserve Officer Training courses offered under the subjects of Air Force Science (AIRS), Military Science (MILS), and Naval Science (NAVS) unless crosslisted with an academic department.

  • Courses numbered 1000–1099 do count toward the minimum 12 credits/semester required for good academic standing and full-time status; however, they do not count toward the total number of academic credits required for graduation.
     
  • Physical education courses do not count toward the minimum 12 credits/semester required for good academic standing or the total number of academic credits required for graduation.
     
  • Nonacademic Reserve Officer Training courses do not count toward the minimum 12 credits/semester required for good academic standing or the total number of academic credits required for graduation.

All courses are included on the official transcript. If taken for a letter-grade, all courses are included in the calculation of the GPA.

Repeated Courses are courses taken a second (or subsequent) time, even if a passing grade was earned.

  • Repeated course credits do count toward the minimum 12 credits per semester required for good academic standing and full-time status.
     
  • Credits earned from repeating a course do not count toward the minimum number of credits required for graduation.

Exception for Studio Courses:
In the case of studio courses which are repeated because the minimum grade of ‘C’ or better was not achieved, the credits from the course with a non-advancing grade do count toward the minimum number of credits required for graduation.  Those credits will be applied as in department elective credits.
 

  • If a course is repeated, both courses and both grades are included on the official transcript.
     
  • If taken for a letter-grade, both grades are included in the calculation of the GPA (i.e., if a course is repeated, the second course does not replace the first course on the official transcript).

 

Academic Review


At the end of each semester, the college’s Academic Review Committee (ARC) goes over the record of each student who is not in good academic standing and decides an appropriate action, among those described below:

  1. The student is issued a Warning. This means the student’s performance does not meet expectations. Unless improvement is shown in the subsequent semester, the student may be placed on Final Warning or given a Required Leave of Absence from the college.
     
  2. The student is issued a Final Warning. This indicates the student’s record is unsatisfactory. Unless considerable improvement is shown in the subsequent semester, the student may be given a Required Leave of Absence or Required Withdrawal from the college.
     
  3. The student is placed on a Required Leave of Absence. The student may not continue studies in the college and may not attend classes at Cornell through the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. The ARC and department may set conditions for completion of work, new and incomplete course work, community service, or internships while the student is on leave. The college may impose additional conditions appropriate to the individual situation.  The minimum length of a required leave of absence is two semesters, and the maximum term limit is five years.  Following the end of the fifth year, the student will be automatically withdrawn from the college.

    A return to study in the college after a required leave is at the discretion of the college’s Academic Review Committee.  Students wishing to return from this type of leave should submit a written request to the Senior Director of Advising, B1 W. Sibley Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-6702. The student must submit evidence that time has been well used, and if employed, the student must submit a letter from the employer(s). If a student chooses to enroll in courses at another institution while on a required leave, credit is not granted automatically. Upon receiving permission to return, a student must petition the department and include an official transcript and appropriate course syllabi to request credit for courses taken. Requests for spring-semester return must be made by October 1, and requests for fall-semester return must be made by March 1. The ARC decision regarding readmission is final and cannot be appealed. Students denied readmission can reapply the following semester. A second required leave of absence is a de facto dismissal, and the student will be permanently withdrawn from the college.
     
  4. The student is placed on a Required Withdrawal. The student may not re-register in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, is dismissed from the college, and is permanently prohibited from continuing studies in it. The required withdrawal action does not prevent the student from applying for admission to another division of the university.

The above actions are not necessarily sequential. A student who has received a warning may be placed on a required leave of absence at the end of the next semester if the performance during that semester is deemed to be grossly deficient.

Appeals. A student who has been placed on a required leave of absence or a required withdrawal from the college has one week from the time of the decision to appeal the ARC decision in writing. The appeal should explain any extenuating circumstances that contributed to the student’s academic performance. Only new information will be considered in the appeal. To ensure timely receipt of the appeal, the appeal should be submitted to the ARC electronically c/o the Senior Director of Advising at aap-advising@cornell.edu or by fax at (607) 254-5192. The ARC decision on the appeal is final. No further appeals will be considered.

A student who has been denied readmission from a required leave cannot appeal that decision.  The student can reapply for readmission in a subsequent semester.

Leaves of Absence


The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning adopted the following leave of absence policy effective in the fall of 2006:

Leaves of absence will be of four types:

  1. Voluntary leaves of absence for personal reasons may be granted for a variety of reasons. The student may request a voluntary leave of absence by submitting a completed Leave of Absence/Withdrawal Request Form to the Senior Director of Advising no later than the third week of instruction in the affected term.  The advising office and department may set conditions for completion of work, new and incomplete course work, community service, or internships while the student is on leave. The advising office sends a copy of the approved form to the student, academic department, faculty advisor, and college registrar to verify that the request has been granted. It is the student’s responsibility to communicate with other university offices regarding the leave.  While on leave, the student may not attend classes at Cornell through the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. The term limit of this type of leave is five years. Following the end of the fifth year, the student will be automatically withdrawn from the college. Students wishing to return from this type of leave within the five-year period should submit a written request to the Senior Director of Advising, B1 W. Sibley Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-6702. Requests for spring-semester return must be made by October 1, and requests for fall-semester return must be made by March 1. Such requests can be automatically approved by the Senior Director of Advising.
     
  2. Voluntary leaves of absence with conditions may be granted for students desiring to take a voluntary leave for personal reasons but who are not in good academic standing or they wish to take a leave during the current term. Conditional leaves are at least two semesters in length. Together, the advising office and the department will set conditions for completion of work, new and incomplete course work, community service, or internships while the student is on leave. Students may be granted conditional leaves of absence after the 12th week of the term only in highly extenuating circumstances and with the approval of the student’s department and the Academic Review Committee (ARC). The student may not attend classes at Cornell through the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. The student’s academic status is subject to review at the time of the leave and upon the student’s return. The term limit of this type of leave is five years. Following the end of the fifth year, the student will be automatically withdrawn from the college. Students wishing to return from this type of leave within the five-year period should submit a written request to the Senior Director of Advising, B1 W. Sibley Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-6702. Requests for spring-semester return must be made by October 1, and requests for fall-semester return must be made by March 1. The request should clearly state how the conditions of the leave have been satisfied and should include any required documentation. The Senior Director of Advising will forward such requests to the academic department for review. If it is determined that the conditions of the leave have not been satisfied, the request will be denied. The student may appeal in writing within two weeks of the decision.  The decision on the appeal is final.  Students denied readmission can request a return in the following semester.
     
  3. Voluntary leaves of absence for health reasons may be granted by the college upon the recommendation of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) or Gannett Health Services. They are usually no less than six months in duration. The department may set conditions for completion of work, new and incomplete course work, community service, or internships while the student is on leave. The college may impose additional conditions appropriate to the individual situation. The student may not attend classes at Cornell through the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. The student’s academic status is subject to review at the time of the leave and upon the student’s return. Students wishing to return from this type of leave must notify Gannett Health Services in writing via email at healthleaves@cornell.edu by June 1 for a proposed fall-semester return and by November 1 for a proposed spring-semester return. All required documentation must be submitted to Gannett by July 1 for a proposed fall-semester return and by December 1 for a proposed spring-semester return. Students should also keep the Senior Director of Advising informed of their intent to return. A checklist for returning from this type of leave can be found online at www.gannett.cornell.edu/services/leaveofabsence.cfm.
     
  4. Required leaves of absence for academic reasons. The Academic Review Committee may vote for a required leave if the student is not making satisfactory progress in the degree program (defined by completion of a minimum of 12 academic credits with a minimum GPA of 2.3 each semester unless there are special circumstances). Please see the detailed description in the Academic Review Committee section.

Transfer Credit


The following transfer credit policies below apply to all AAP students.

General AAP Transfer Credit Policies

  • Coursework must be completed at a regionally accredited institution;
  • Coursework must be completed for a letter grade, and a grade of “C” or better is required; and
  • Coursework must be equivalent to a Cornell course, as judged by: 
    • Course content (a majority of material covered in similar Cornell course);
    • The use of a textbook, if applicable, similar to that used in the parallel Cornell course;
    • The use of examinations, writing assignments, projects, portfolios, or other submitted work that is substantially similar to those required in a similar Cornell course; and/or
    • Substantial similarity in meeting hours of the Cornell and non-Cornell course.

There is no maximum number of transfer credits that can be applied toward any of the AAP undergraduate degrees; however, each major has a minimum number of credits which must be completed at Cornell.  Additional department-specific policies and procedures are outlined under each department.

Transfer Credit for Courses Taken While in High School

Cornell University DOES NOT ACCEPT credit for courses sponsored by colleges or universities but taught in the high school to high school students, even if the college provides a transcript of such work.

Course work completed while in high school may be considered for credit if there is sufficient evidence that:

  1. The course was a standard course available to all students registered at the college/university;
  2. The course syllabus, text(s), examinations, and evaluation processes are the same for all enrolled students at all teaching sites;
  3. The course instructor is a faculty member (includes adjunct) at the offering college; and
  4. The course was not used to fulfill high school requirements.

Students must submit an Application for Credit Earned while in High School and an official college transcript to the AAP Registrar’s Office, 235 Sibley Dome, Ithaca, NY 14853-3602.

After all documentation has been provided, a petition to transfer the credit toward your degree must be filed with your department.

Advanced Placement Credit


Advanced placement (AP) credit is generally applied as free elective credit only. For additional information, please refer to university  and department policies in this catalog.

 

Non-Academic Policies

Prorated Tuition


In exceptional circumstances, graduating seniors may be eligible for prorated tuition in their final semester of study. Students must have already completed the minimum number of semesters expected by their degree program. Specifically, students pursuing the B.S. or B.F.A. degree who have completed 8 full-time semesters (or equivalent) may be eligible for prorated tuition in the 9th and final semester; students pursuing the B.Arch degree or a dual-degree who have completed 10 full-time semesters (or equivalent) may be eligible for prorated tuition in the 11th and final semester. Students may apply to pro-rate up to 9 credit hours during the final semester. Students applying for prorated tuition are required to meet with the AAP Registrar to confirm eligibility.  The application deadline for prorated tuition is the third week of classes in the affected term.

Ownership of Student Work


All drawings, models, paintings, graphic art, and sculpture done in the studios and drafting rooms as a part of the instructional program are the property of the college until they have been graded and released by the instructor. Certain works may be selected by the college for retention for archival purposes.

Exhibitions of Student Work


Exhibitions of student work are held each semester as part of the yearly schedule of the Olive Tjaden Gallery and the John Hartell Gallery in Sibley Dome. These galleries display work from a specific course or exhibit examples of recent work by individual faculty members, students, and visitors.