Upon beginning the dissertation process, each doctoral student is responsible for the establishment of their dissertation committee, including the chair of the committee. Either students or faculty may withdraw from such assignments. Students are entirely responsible for the replacement of all members of the dissertation committee, including the dissertation chair. If a doctoral student is unable to successfully negotiate a replacement dissertation committee chair within 90 days, Fielding Graduate University reserves the right to withdraw the student from the program. Students enrolled in master's degree or academic certificate programs may or may not have faculty advisor/mentor assignments, depending upon the philosophy and delivery of those programs. If such faculty assignments are required, the above policy applies. Policy Revised 01/01/2003
Grades and Credit Documentation of courses attempted and completed is maintained in the student's file. Units of credit and grades are recorded on the student's transcript. Any non-term courses, clinical training, research training, or dissertation steps completions (e.g., steps or hours were accrued) that occurred during a term break will be credited in the previous term, except in cases of exams administered during the term break, which will be credited to the next subsequent term. After graduation or withdrawal, Fielding keeps only those records necessary to verify the transcript or as required by law. Credit Hours Fielding Graduate University monitors compliance with federal rules concerning the amount of work required for a unit of credit. This policy requires that an amount of work for each unit of credit be institutionally established, represented in intended learning outcomes, and verified by evidence of student achievement. Credit hours do not directly reflect the total number of hours per week a student spends in class and instead reflect each course’s workload. Fielding’s policy, which is in compliance with federal, state and accreditation standards, and is in historical alignment with the Carnegie formula, is that every one unit for which credit is given is understood to represent approximately three hours of actual coursework per week for the average student. This formula directly relates to instructional assignments, both in and out of class, and applies to all Fielding courses regardless of delivery method (e.g., residential with seat-time, independent study, online or hybrid). Coursework includes class contact time either asynchronously or synchronously, individual faculty/student contact time, and time spent studying, doing research, and completing homework assignments.
Academic Catalog 2020-2021
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