Updates to CCAS Academic Policy for 2020-2021

We would like to inform you of new academic policy changes that will go into effect beginning in Fall 2020. Please take a moment to carefully review these new changes and e-mail your DGS or student services at [email protected] with any questions. Thank you for your attention.

Incomplete Courses

When requesting an incomplete grade for a course, all students must fill out an Incomplete Contract and have it signed by their course instructor and DGS. The default time to complete an Incomplete course will be reduced from one calendar year to one semester. Please note that your instructor may still specify a shorter or longer schedule (up to one calendar year) on the form.

Any student who took an Incomplete in a Spring 2020 course also has the right to take courses CR/NC (if allowed by your program). You may submit the Spring 2020 Grade Mode Change Form to [email protected] with the subject line “[Program Name] – CR/NC” from your GW e-mail account within five days after your grade is posted.

New Academic Warning Status

To help us intervene more quickly and assist students who are not on academic probation but whose academic progress has raised concerns about the ability to complete degree requirements, OGS will institute a new “Academic Warning” system. Students will be placed on academic warning:

if a single Incomplete is received within the first nine credits of the degree;
if two or more Incompletes are on the transcript at any given time, or;
if a grade of C, C-, or F is given but the GPA is above the minimum required to remain in good academic standing in the program.

Students placed on academic warning will receive an email and be encouraged to address any ongoing academic issues. Please note, this will NOT place any restrictions on enrollment and there will be NO changes in academic standing on transcripts.

Academic Standing notation on Transcript

Students who are dismissed from their program will now have Academic Dismissal noted on their GW transcript.

Limits on Undergraduate Courses Counted Toward Graduate Programs

No more than 25% of the credits completed for a graduate program may consist of upper-level (2000+) undergraduate courses taken for graduate credit. Graduate students may still take such courses for graduate credit, provided they complete additional, graduate-level coursework and have the instructor’s permission to do so. But students who wish to fulfill more than 25% of their degree requirements via undergraduate courses will need to petition the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies for permission to do and provide an academic justification for this requested exception.

Eligibility for the MPhil degree (Ph.D. students only)

In order to be eligible for the M.Phil., students are now required to have completed 18 credits at GW towards their Ph.D. degree.

Changes to Ph.D. Candidacy and Dissertation Credits (Ph.D. students only)

The number of credits required to advance to Ph.D. candidacy has been reduced from 48 credits to 45 credits. The maximum number of dissertation research credits has been increased from 24 to 27 credits.

Updated 1 July 2020