Academic Policies & Procedures

Christian Life College has established certain policies which aim to aid students in their progress toward educational excellence. Students should seek understanding of, and are responsible for, adherence to the policies outlined in the catalog. It is the student’s responsibility to inform himself/herself of degree requirements. Please refer to the most recent academic catalog.

Academic Integrity

Reporting student academic dishonesty is critical to preserving and advancing Christian integrity. As an academic community CLC must have guidelines in place to hold those who violate these standards accountable and to sharpen the thinking of those who believe that ethical compromise is inconsequential or irrelevant. Furthermore, reporting is an effective way for professors to identify repeat offenders. Without reporting, a student could plagiarize and cheat without anyone being aware of the consistent pattern of misconduct that marks this student as dishonest and therefore ineligible for Christian service.

A student who submits material as his/her own work which has been copied in whole or in part from another person’s work without proper acknowledgment. Material, whether published or unpublished, copied from another author not identified by the use of quotation marks and documentation with specific citation of the source.

A student who uses another author’s work as a guide for research or as an outline for a paper without giving proper acknowledgement to the author. Paraphrased material must likewise be attributed to the original author. Copying another student’s work, with or without his/her permission, or using his/her ideas with only minimal reworking is plagiarism, just as is copying material from printed books and magazines without giving credit to the original source.

Christian Life College defines cheating as follows:

Using unauthorized notes or other material when taking an exam.
Copying another person’s work and submitting it as his/her own.
Having another person do his/her work and submitting it as his/her own.
Submitting a paper for more than one course without the knowledge and consent of the instructor.
Copying answers to exam questions.
Unauthorized securing of exam questions from any source.
Aiding another person in securing unauthorized copies of exam questions.

Reporting Procedures

First Offense – The professor will confront the student with the information and evidence that has formed the basis of the perceived infraction. The student should be given an opportunity to respond. Taking the student’s response into account, the professor will indicate to the student what action will be taken according to the college policy and what procedures will be carried out for reporting the matter to the Academic Dean’s office. The professor will have the student sign the academic misconduct incident report and give the student a copy of the report. For the first offense, the student will receive a grade of “zero” for the assignment. The professor should then communicate to the student that another incident of plagiarism will result in the grade of “F” for the course.

Second Offense – To report a second offense, the professor should follow the same steps as for the first offense. However, if there is a second offense, the professor will be responsible to submit a copy of the academic misconduct incident report to the Academic Dean’s office, which will be placed in the student’s file. If this is the second offense, the student will fail the course.

Third Offense – the same steps as for the second offense should be followed. The student is placed on disciplinary probation and may be subject to dismissal from college.

Credit Hour Policy

All courses must meet a minimum of 15 instructional hours for each semester unit of credit granted. An instructional hour is defined as 50 minutes of classroom instruction, guided practice, discussion, or other activity supervised and facilitated by an instructor as part of the normal teaching-learning process. A three-unit course will usually meet for three 50-minute periods each week for 15 weeks.

One credit hour of college work is defined as “approximately three hours of recitation study or laboratory work per week” throughout a semester. This means one hour of lecture is equal to two hours of outside class study or three hours of laboratory with no outside work. Faculty members’ assignments should be geared to this definition in such a way that students with average college ability, putting in this amount of effort, might earn an average grade (“C”). For a course that is 3 credit-hours, students should expect to spend between 6 and 9 hours per week outside of class studying the materials and performing assignments.

Transfer Credit Policy

Students may petition the College to accept credits earned at other institutions, by submitting official transcripts from other colleges to the Admissions Office for evaluation. The maximum number of credits which may be transferred to the College for any degree program is 30 units for an Associate’s degree and 60 units for a Bachelor’s degree.

To be granted an Associate’s degree, transfer students must be in residence at the College for a minimum of 30 units of credits. To be granted a Bachelor’s degree, transfer students must be in residence at the College for a minimum of 60 units of credits.

Transfer students who do meet the in-residence requirements may petition the Transfer Credit Committee for possible additional credit transfer.

“NOTICE CONCERNING TRANSFERABILITY OF CREDITS AND CREDENTIALS EARNED AT OUR INSTITUTION”

“The transferability of credits earned at Christian Life College is at the discretion of an institution to which you may seek to transfer. Acceptance of degrees earned in any Christian Life College degree program is also at the discretion of the institution to which you may seek to transfer. If Christian Life College credits or degrees are not accepted at the institution to which you seek to transfer, you may be required to repeat some or all of your coursework at that institution. For this reason you should make certain that attendance at Christian Life College will meet your educational goals. This may include contacting an institution to which you may seek to transfer after attending Christian Life College to determine if your credits or degree will transfer.”

For high school graduates, baccalaureate level courses taken at a regionally accredited college or university, and in which the student earned a grade of “C” or better (or “P” if the courses were offered on a Pass/ Fail basis), are eligible for transfer toward a Christian Life College degree. College courses taken by high school students must meet the following accreditation criteria in order to be transferable to a Christian Life College degree:
– The college or university issuing the transcript must be an institution of higher education accredited by a regional accrediting body, national accrediting body, or professional accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
– Courses taken at an unaccredited institution will be considered on a case by case, course by course basis.

Applicants may be asked to provide course syllabi or other evidence needed to make those judgments. If experience shows that CLC can have confidence in a given unaccredited institution, then the Registrar’s Office may place it on a list of “approved colleges,” which will facilitate the transfer process. Christian Life College reserves the right to withhold recognition of credits awarded by any college or university that does not, in the opinion of the administration, meet sufficient academic standards.

Grading Criteria

The student’s grade point average (GPA) is the ratio of grade points earned to the number of hours attempted.

The grade “P” is used in Pass-Fail courses where the nature of the course does not lend itself to establishing a letter grade. Passing units apply toward graduation but do not affect the grade point average.

The grade “WP” is used for courses from which the student withdrew before the published Last Day to Withdraw and whose academic work in the class performed to date is at a passing grade. No credit is granted for the course and the grade is not considered in determining the grade point average. If a student withdraws after the Last Day to Withdraw a grade of “F” will be assigned.

The grade “WF” is used for courses from which the student withdrew before the published Last Day to Withdraw and whose academic work in the class performed to date is not at a passing grade. No credit is granted for the course and the grade is not considered in determining the grade point average. If a student withdraws after the Last Day to Withdraw a grade of “F” will be assigned.

A contest of grade must be made in writing, using the form provided, within two weeks of the date semester report cards are distributed.

If course work is incomplete at the end of the semester due to factors beyond the control of the student, such as extreme sickness or the funeral of a close relative, an instructor may report the grade as incomplete. Incomplete grades are entered in the student records as an “F” (failing). This grade is temporary and may be changed upon completion of the course requirements. Students who are reported as incomplete by their instructors must complete course requirements within two weeks after the last day of semester finals.

See Catalog, page 39 for the grading scale.

Academic Honors

Exceptional scholarship is recognized upon graduation according to the following scale.

Highest Honors (Summa Cum Laude), 3.70-4.00
High Honors (Magna Cum Laude), 3.50-3.69
Honors (Cum Laude), 3.30-3.49