Enrollment and Registration

III. ACADEMIC POLICIES AND

PROCEDURES

Important academic policies and procedures are contained in this section. More information on administrative procedures appear in the Student Handbook, available to all students each fall, in the Handbook Planner, or on the Bethany website, www.bethanylb.edu. Academic policies and procedures are administered by the Registrar in the Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT AND REGISTRATION

Returning students must have their accounts paid in full before being allowed to register for classes during the next semester. If a student has been gone for a year or more, they must follow the instructions for Former Student admission in Section IX, page 174.

New degree seeking students may enroll during early enrollment after being accepted for admission to Bethany College. New students must have all required documentation as discussed below before being permitted to attend class.

Required Documentation:

First Time Freshmen - Any student who has not attended a post-secondary school: 1. Final high school transcript showing graduation date or GED. 2. Statement from high school showing rank in class and cumulative GPA if not on final high school transcript. 3. Official ACT/SAT scores. 4. Official college transcripts, if a student received dual credit for high school work.

Transfer Students - Any student who has attended a postsecondary school after high school graduation: 1. Final high school transcript or GED. 2. All final official college transcripts. 3. ACT/SAT scores might also be required (if not on final high school transcript)

KICA Cross Registration. KICA Cross Registration. Bethel College, Central Christian, Tabor College, Sterling College, McPherson College, and Kansas Wesleyan University are member institutions of the Kansas Independent College Association (KICA). Unless otherwise specified, all courses offered by these KICA institutions are available to Bethany College degree-seeking students for cross registration on a space available basis. Students who plan to register for a class at these institutions must be aware that their academic calendars may be different than Bethany’s academic calendar.

Students may take a course at any of the above KICA institutions providing:

1. The course is not available to the student at Bethany

College when he/she needs to take the course, 2. The student has the necessary qualifications and prerequisites, and 3. The course has a bearing on the Bethany College educational plan arranged by the student and his/her advisor.

Procedures for Cross Registration: 1. Students must be in good academic standing as defined by the current Satisfactory Academic Progress policy in this section, page 37. 2. Students will pick up a cross-registration form from the Registrar’s Office. The completed form, which includes the advisor’s signature, must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office for processing. 3. Students are limited to 6 hours during any fall or spring session, and 3 hours during Interterm. 4. The student pays no tuition to the host campus, only special course-related fees. 5. The Registrar’s Office must be notified immediately if the student drops or withdraws from any cross registered course.

Auditing Courses. Under certain conditions a properly qualified person may be admitted to a course as an auditor. The approval of the instructor and the advisor (if a fulltime student) is necessary. As an auditor, the student attends classes, listens to lectures, does not participate in recitations, and is not admitted to examinations.

No student may change from audit to credit after the second week or from credit to audit after the ninth week of a semester. Courses such as laboratory, studio, and workshop cannot be audited.

Catalog Application. Students will normally meet the Bethany College Core Experience requirements under the catalog which is in effect their first semester of attendance. Students will normally meet the major or other program requirements under the catalog which is in effect their first semester of attendance, or in the case of a new major after the students’ first semester, the first catalog in which the major appears.

Because of the transitional nature of the college’s curricula, a number of changes in the majors, minors and general education requirements may take place during one’s tenure in college. The purpose of such changes is to improve the college’s programs; consequently, it is expected that students will adapt their course planning to new requirements in their majors and general education requirements if it is in the best interest of the student. Advisors will notify changes to a student’s degree requirements to the Registrar’s Office via email. Changes to the student’s general education requirements will be decided by the registrar.

Students who leave Bethany College for more than one year will meet the requirements for both the Bethany College Core Experience and the major under the catalog which is in effect the first semester they return to the college.

Classes Discontinued. The college reserves the right to discontinue classes for which fewer than six students have enrolled at the end of the registration period.

Classification of Students. The student is classified as a freshman when all entrance requirements are met; as a sophomore when a minimum of 31 semester hours is completed; as a junior when a minimum of 62 semester hours is completed; and as a senior when a minimum of 93 semester hours is completed.

An audit student is one who is taking work for no college credit. A special student is one who is working for college credit but is not a degree candidate. Such a student cannot qualify for graduation without petitioning the Chief Academic Officer to be classified as a degree candidate. Students are classified at the beginning of each semester.

Program Completer. (Teacher Education Licensure only) A special student who is non degree-seeking, and provides verification of holding a post-baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution, may be a program completer for transition into teaching and teacher licensure. The Chair of the Education Department will determine the professional education courses and content required for the candidate’s completion of the teacher education program including clinical practice in adherence to the KSDE Regulations and Standards for Kansas Educators and licensure requirements.

Credit Hour Definition. The U.S. Department of Education and the Higher Learning Commission define credit hour and have specific regulations that the college must follow when developing, teaching and assessing the educational aspects of the college. As such, the college shall utilize and adhere to the following: A credit hour1 is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:

• one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester hour of credit or an equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or • at least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other activities as established by an institution, including online/ distance/hybrid, laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading toward the award of credit hours.

1A class hour at Bethany College is typically 50 minutes in length.

Non-Resident Credit. Students are permitted to pursue nonresident transfer credit from regionally accredited institutions. Only credit hours will be transferred. A student’s grade-point average is based on resident coursework only. It is the student’s responsibility to request that an official transcript be sent to the Registrar’s Office when the coursework has been completed and a grade recorded. When needed, course substitutions will be processed by the Registrar after receiving approval from the appropriate faculty members. Forms are available in the Registrar’s Office. Non-Credit Work. Certain students (full-time, part-time, and special) may be permitted to take applied art, applied music and/or perform in musical organizations for no credit, with the approval of the department chair and the instructor.

Normal Student Load. A student must be enrolled in and maintain a minimum of 12 semester hours of academic credit during the fall or spring semesters to be considered a full-time student. Enrolling in more than 18 credit hours during the fall or spring semesters and in more than 3 credit hours during Interterm may result in overload fees (See Section IX, Finances - College Expenses, page 174). A student may enroll in a maximum of 24 credit hours during the fall or spring term, 3 credit hours during Interterm, and 12 credit hours during Summer.

Add, Drop, Withdraw from Class(es). Change of registration includes adding, dropping or withdrawing from a course, or changing from one section of a course to another. Any student wishing to change registration should confer with their advisor. After the last day to add a course during any given term, students must obtain an add/drop form from the Registrar’s Office, secure the designated approval and signatures, and return the form to the Registrar’s Office. The change is not official until the form has been delivered to the Registrar’s Office to be processed.

A student may add, drop or change sections of a course through the first day of classes for Summer and Interterm. Courses dropped through the first day will not be recorded on the transcript. Students may withdraw from a course without an “F” recorded on the transcript through the fifth day of Summer and Interterm.

A student may add a course or change sections of a course through the sixth day of classes of the regular semester. A student may drop a course without a “W” recorded on the transcript through the sixth day of classes of the regular semester. A student may drop a course without an “F” recorded on the transcript through the ninth week of the regular semester.

Dropped courses will not be considered in determining the grade-point average at the close of the semester. Courses dropped after the fifth day of Interterm or any Summer session, and the ninth week of the regular semester will be recorded as an “F”. However, at the instructor’s request due to exceptional circumstances, a grade of “W” will be recorded (see this section, Faculty Withdrawal of a Student from Class, page 33).

Registering for an Academic Term. All students are expected to register on the days specified in the academic calendar.