MBA Academic Policies and Procedures

The College of Business Administration has policies and procedures in place that are unique to our college. It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of the policies.  Listed below are three (3) of the more common policies for your information. Please refer to our CBA Academic Standards Policy Manual for a complete list of all CBA Academic Standards and detailed explanations of the policies below.

Repeating Courses: Graduate students may only repeat two graduate courses—one at the Foundation level and one at the MBA/MS level.  

Effects of Repeating Courses: The grade received in the first repeat (second attempt) of a course will replace the grade received in the original attempt at the course. All course grades will be shown on transcripts.

 

ACADEMIC STANDING

In May 2010, the Faculty Senate approved Academic Standing Action Categories for graduate, credential, certificate, and unclassified students.

 

Graduate Academic Action Categories

Good Standing — Graduate, credential, certificate and unclassified students whose Sacramento State and cumulative grade point aver-age (GPA) is 3.0 or above are considered in good academic standing.

Academic Probation — Students whose cumulative Sacramento State grade point average or overall grade point average falls below 3.00 will be placed on academic probation. Students on probation are eligible to enroll in the subsequent semester.

Continued Probation — Students on probation will be placed on Continued Probation if they earn a 3.000 in the current semester, but have a Sacramento State GPA and/or overall GPA below 3.000.

Students placed on Continued Probation will be limited to a maximum course load of 9 units per semester until they return to academic good standing.

Academic Disqualification — If a graduate, credential, certificate, or unclassified student is on academic probation and the Sacramento State or cumulative grade point average is below 3.0 for the active term, the student will be academically disqualified.

Students not on probation will be disqualified if the Sacramento State or cumulative GPA is 2.000 or less.

 Disqualified students will not be allowed to register unless they are formally reinstated and/or readmitted to the University.

Administrative Probation and Administrative Disqualification — Graduate, credential, certificate, and unclassified students are subject to Administrative Probation for the following reasons:

• Withdrawal from all or a substantial portion of their courses in two successive terms or in any three terms.
• Repeated failure to progress toward a degree or other program objective, when such failure is due to circumstances within the control of the student.
• Failure to comply, after due notice, with an academic requirement or regulation.

 

Students who do not meet the conditions for removal of administrative probation may be subject to further administrative actions, including Administrative Disqualification.

Notification — Students will be notified of their academic status (academic probation, continued probation, or academic disqualification or academic dismissal) by letter, and/or My Sac State message and/or email at the end of each semester. Graduate, credential, certificate and unclassified students on Probation or Continued Probation are required to meet with an advisor in their major department, the credential office or the Office of Graduate Studies. Academic departments and units may block registration of students who fail to meet advising appointments. Students receiving veterans’ educational benefits may be ruled ineligible for continued benefits if, after one semester of unsatisfactory achievement (probation or disqualification), they do not return to academic Good Standing at the completion of the next semester.

 

Reinstatement 

Graduate students seeking reinstatement to the College must complete a Reinstatement Petition available on the College’s Graduate Business Advising Center (GBAC) website. Students must file the Petition via email with the GBAC, attaching an explanation, with relevant documentation, supporting their request for reinstatement.

The petition will be reviewed by the College’s Academic Standards Committee. Approval of a petition requires a majority vote of the Committee. Discretion will be used by the Committee in granting reinstatement, and it should be noted that the only basis for reinstatement is the expectation (supported by evidence provided by the student) that the student is now likely to progress towards the satisfactory completion of the College’s degree requirements in a timely manner.

 

Deferral of Action

The College’s Academic Standards Committee may defer on a petition for reinstatement, pending additional input (e.g., the committee may wish to wait for an additional semester’s grades before rendering a decision). 

Students who have been academically disqualified may petition for reinstatement. If reinstated, students will be placed on an academic contract that may stipulate maximum units, specific courses and achievement levels. Failure to meet the conditions of the reinstatement contract and/or failure to achieve a subsequent semester GPA of 3.00 or higher will result in academic disqualification.

Students who are administratively disqualified or not recommended by their academic department for continuation in the graduate degree, credential, or certificate program must formally apply to the University as well as a graduate degree, credential, or certificate program and submit a petition for reinstatement. Reinstated unclassified students will not be allowed to enroll in graduate level courses during the period of the reinstatement contract without the permission of the department chair or designee for that major.

Deadlines to petition for immediate reinstatement are as follows:

• Spring Semester: Second week of January
• Fall Semester: Mid June

 

NOTE: Please check the Graduate Business Advising Center at 278-6772 for specific dates.

Students whose petitions are approved are subject to review each semester until the Sacramento State GPA and overall cumulative GPA reach the minimum standard of 3.00. Students may not earn the degree, credential, or certificate unless they are in good academic standing and their Sacramento State GPA and overall cumulative GPA reach the minimum standard of 3.00.

  

Minimum Grade Requirements

The purpose of this requirement is to assure that all business administration students attain the minimum level of competency in all their coursework required for the business administration degree.

The minimum acceptable grade for any graduate business course is ‘C.’ No more than two (2) courses with the grade of ‘C’ will be counted for satisfaction of graduate program requirements. A grade point average of at least 3.0 (B) is required in each semester, in all foundation courses taken at California State University, Sacramento, and program requirements courses presented for the degree. 

 

GRADE CORRECTIONS, DELETIONS, AND APPEALS

Grade Correction Policy — grade correction is possible only in the case of a declared clerical error. A correction in letter grade must be approved by the instructor of record and the department chairperson by the last day of the semester, either spring or fall, after the grade is posted to the student’s record. The definition of clerical error is an error made by the instructor or assistant in grade determination or posting. Under no circumstances, except for completion of work when an “I” was issued, may a grade change be made as the result of work completed or presented following the close of a grade period. Grades cannot be changed to “W” nor can they be changed from a letter grade to Credit/No Credit.

Withdrawal Unauthorized — Sacramento State requires that students process an official drop online or by petition within published deadlines. Failure to withdraw properly from a course may result in assignment of a “WU” grade in the course. The symbol “WU” indicates that the student did not withdraw from the course and also failed to complete course requirements. It is used when, in the opinion of the instructor, completed assignments or course activities, or both, were insufficient to make normal evaluation of academic performance possible. For purposes of grade point average, this symbol is equivalent to an “F”.

Deletion Policy — In the first term that a student receives one or more “WU” grades, the student may petition to have these “WU” grades dropped from GPA calculation. To do so the student must obtain a “Petition to Discount First U/WU Grade” from the Office of the University Registrar and meet with an academic advisor prior to submitting the petition. This policy only applies to the first term in which the student receives one or more “WU” grades. This policy does not apply to “WU” grades earned in subsequent terms or “WU” grades received at institutions other than Sacramento State. The petition may be submitted anytime until a degree is conferred (i.e., posted to the transcript). While the petition will result in the “WU” grades being dropped from the GPA calculation, the grades will remain on the student’s transcript.

A petition to delete grades other than the first“WU” may be submitted for consideration for the following reasons only:1. to remove penalty grades assigned due to failure to complete a course for causes related to illness. Medical verification is required;2. to correct errors by academic departments. Department verification is re-quired; to correct errors made in registration (e.g., use of wrong class num-ber). The Registrar’s Office must con-firm this error. Petitions must be submit-ted within one academic year from the end of the semester in which the grade was received. After a degree has been awarded, no petitions will be considered to delete grades posted prior to that award.

For more information please visit: http://catalog.csus.edu/12-14/first%20100%20pages/academicpolicies.html#Corrections.

 

Effective Fall 2010, there are changes in the grade appeal process.

Informal Process

When: During the first two weeks of the semester following the semester in which the grade was assigned, the student must accomplish two things:

• The student should contact and meet with the faculty member who assigned the grade.
• The student should also contact and meet with the department chair (program coordinator or director) of the academic unit (division or program) in which the grade was assigned.

 

If there is not an informal resolution, what happens?If there is no resolution during the informal process, the student must accomplish the following: No later than the last business day of the third (3rd) week of instruction the student must notify the department chair (program coordinator or director) of the academic unit (division or program) in which the grade was assigned that and informal resolution of the dispute was not possible.

Formal ProcessWhen: No later than the last business day of the fifth (5th) week of classes, the student must do the following:1. The student must fill out the Student Grade Appeal Form.2. The student must submit four (4) copies of the Student Grade Appeal Form to the Office of Academic Affairs located in Sacramento Hall Room 234, no later than the last business day of the fifth (5th) week of classes.

For more information on the grade appeal process, please visit: http://www.csus.edu/acaf/Policies&Procedures/GAP 2010 _2_.pdf