Academic Policies

Academic policies are set by the Augustana College faculty. The Committee on Advanced Standing and Degrees (AS&D) is responsible for overseeing academic policies and degree requirements set forth in the college catalog. The committee consists of a non-voting chair (Registrar) and five faculty members elected every two years.

Statement of AS&D Procedure 

By providing numerous planning tools and opportunities for academic advising, the college makes every attempt to see that all students may graduate with a single major within four years. However, students may choose programs or opportunities that include additional requirements which may extend the degree beyond four years or beyond their planned timeline. The student assumes the responsibility for seeing that all requirements are complete regardless of the time required and agrees to pay all tuition and fees associated with those choices. The Committee on Advanced Standing & Degrees (AS&D) does not waive degree requirements, institutional policies, tuition or fees for participation in those programs.

Students who feel they have a rare and exceptional circumstance, may petition for a waiver. Waivers for degree requirements or academic policies must be made by the student in writing to the Office of the Registrar a minimum of two business days prior to a scheduled AS&D meeting. The agenda deadline is typically the Thursday at noon of odd weeks and meetings typically happen on Mondays of even weeks (contact the Office of the Registrar for the exact meeting schedule). All petitions require a detailed rationale statement supplied by the student, as well as other relevant details, such as instructor name(s), sections titles/number/details, and relevant dates/deadline if applicable. Requests will not be considered if information is missing and will be denied due to expiration after 10 days or less. Waivers are granted only in rare and exceptional circumstances. In some cases, policy cannot be waived due to state or federal regulations of the Department of Education, or standards set by our auditors and accreditors. The AS&D committee wishes to inform students that petitions are not routinely granted for:

• scheduling convenience of the student;
• creating a lighter course load for the student;
• changes in major/minor or adding multiple majors/minors;
• poor planning on the part of a student;
• failure to adhere to well published policies and deadlines;
• failure to read and respond to email;
• acceleration of graduation timeline (graduate in fewer than equivalent of 8 semesters);
• students who have repeatedly dropped coursework;
• poor performance or poor attendance in coursework;
• avoidance of tuition and/or fees;
• requests from prior academic terms and those from prior academic year are rarely considered, or
• students who interrupt their enrollment at the college for one or more semesters.

Students should consult the college catalog for all current faculty academic policies.

Note: The following degree requirements are not eligible for substitution or waiver under any circumstances.

• Total credits required to graduate (undergraduate BA/BS or MS-SLP)
• Total credits in residence required (undergraduate BA/BS or MS-SLP)
• Total upper-level credits required (40, undergraduate BA/BS)
• Earn an academic major
• 2.00 grade point average in an academic major
• 2.00 grade point average overall
• Changes to the college's grade scheme or grading procedures (see Grade Appeals) 
• Application to graduate

Petition forms are available from the Registrar's Office forms page. Petitions expire within 3-5 business days of submission if proper action is not taken. Students will be notified of the committee decision by email within 5 business days of the scheduled meeting or a status update will be provided within 8 business days of submission of the form for matters considered by the Registrar with an approximate timeline for a decision. Start-of-term and end-of-term processes may delay these response timelines. Students requiring a printed and signed copy of the committee decision may request one from the Registrar. All approved petition results and actions of the AS&D Committee expire one year from the date of the email notice.

Written appeals to Committee decisions may be made to the Associate Dean in the Office of Academic Affairs within 10 days of the date of the email notification from the Committee by sending an appeal to academicaffairs@augustana.edu. Appeals will be considered only when it is determined that the committee did not follow faculty policy, procedures or committee protocols when a decision was rendered, or if new and relevant information becomes available that was not available at the time the petition was considered. 

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT CAMPUS RESOURCES AND MEETING DEADLINES: The college understands all of our students experience some degree of challenge while in college. The college has repeatedly communicated many resources and supports to students to help manage their college experience. Students are expected to reach out to campus offices and take advantage of those supports when they are needed and follow all published faculty policies and academic deadlines. Students are expected to petition for exceptions within the same academic term and within the deadlines communicated. The AS&D committee should not be used as a means for seeking exceptions retroactively for students who do not make use of campus supports, nor communicate with campus offices, faculty and advisors in a timely fashion. 

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY: While the senior audit, program evaluation, academic support resources, as well as academic guidance from faculty and advisors are all available to every student at no additional cost, these resources are provided for use in planning only. It is the responsibility of the student to maintain an accurate schedule at all times and pay for all tuition and fees associated with their registration in accordance with all published fees and deadlines. Students must report any printed schedule error to the Office of the Registrar within two semesters. The responsibility for understanding and meeting degree requirements rests entirely with the student.