Jenzabar University

The services provided and the policies implemented in the areas of community life, spiritual life, and residence life are designed to help create and support a campus atmosphere in which students can function at their maximum capacity in the area of academic life. The primary goal of a University is to provide the necessary resources and personnel that will allow students to mature intellectually in their ability to think and analyze, and to obtain knowledge and skills that will enable them to function adequately in a career and in life.

Official academic policies and procedures are listed in the University Catalog. Students are expected to know and follow these policies and procedures and, therefore, are encouraged to review them periodically. A student is required to complete all course requirements listed in the Catalog for the year in which he/she first became continuously enrolled or all the requirements of a subsequent Catalog for the period in which the student is enrolled.

Each student is assigned an official University advisor. The list of these advisors is maintained in the Registrar’s Office. The functions of the University advisor include guidance in course registration, serving as a resource person in relationship to University policies, procedures, and administrators, and providing advice and assistance in any academic, vocational, or personal problems that may arise. The first recourse in any difficulty should be to consult with the advisor.

It is the student's responsibility to see that the proper courses for the intended major are taken in the proper sequence. Special care should be taken with courses offered in alternate years. The faculty advisor should be consulted for assistance in planning, but the student accepts responsibility for registration in the desired and needed courses.

Students are expected to be punctual and regular in class attendance and to accept responsibility for all assigned work. Any student who has been absent for as many as one-third of the total class sessions for a course will have failed and will be suspended from the course. Within this framework, each instructor may set his/her own class attendance policy and will inform students of this policy at the beginning of the term. Class sessions missed because of illness or late registration will be counted as absences. There are no “excused” absences (illness, funerals, athletic contests, and other necessary absences are included in the total number of absences counted). In case of extenuating circumstances, a suspended student may petition the Academic Concerns Committee to be readmitted to the class.

Students who are ill are expected to notify their instructors and to arrange to make up any missed work. Students are not excused from class for illness. A student who is forced to miss classes for any extended period shall notify the Registrar’s Office of his/her absence and the reason for it. A student who is absent from class for a period of two weeks without such notification will be considered as having unofficially withdrawn from the course and will receive a grade of “F.” If the student has been unable to notify the institution for reasons beyond his/her control, he/she may be reinstated by petitioning the Academic Concerns Committee.

Occasionally class absences result from a field trip scheduled for another course or from an authorized co-curricular activity (i.e., athletic event, music ensembles, etc.) that falls within class hours. Such group absences do not excuse a student from obligations to regularly scheduled courses, and it is the student’s responsibility to be informed about the work missed and to complete all requirements satisfactory to the instructor. Students who participate in co-curricular activities, which may require class absences, should regularly attend class so that absences for co-curricular activities do not lead to course failure.

A student wishing to drop or add a class may process a change of registration on the campus portal. Instructions for dropping and adding classes are found on the student tab. A student may drop or add a course through the fifth day of the semester or the first class day of summer terms (prorated for courses that do not follow the regular semester schedule and for special terms). The class will not appear on a student’s transcript. A student wishing to withdraw from a course after the above-mentioned dates may complete an Individual Course Withdrawal form on the campus portal. To withdraw from a class, a student has through the tenth week of the semester or prorated for summer classes. The student will receive a grade of W. This W will appear on a student’s transcript but will not be calculated into his/her G.P.A.

For specific information about adding, dropping, or withdrawing from an online class, please contact the Registrar’s Office.

Anytime you drop or withdraw from a course, be sure to check with the Registrar in the Registrar’s Office to ensure your athletic eligibility. NAIA has specific guidelines established regarding the number of credit hours an athlete must earn per semester.

Graduating seniors who wish to drop a class should check with the Registrar’s Office to be sure that your change will not jeopardize your graduation.

International students who drop or withdraw from a course must check with the Designated School Official for international students in the Student Life Office to ensure their F1 status is still valid. SEVIS (INS) has specific guidelines established regarding the number of credit hours an international student must earn per semester to keep F1 status.

A student wanting to change his/her major may submit a change from the campus portal. The student will be notified of his/her new advisor.

International students: Notify the Designated School Official for international students in the Student Life Office to update your SEVIS (INS) record. USCIS has specific guidelines established regarding the change of majors to keep F1 status.

Classes are rarely canceled for winter weather conditions. Most full-time students live on campus or near Huntington, and if it is possible for the professor to get to campus, classes are expected to meet. When there is a severe storm or blizzard, or roads become impassable, an announcement that classes have been canceled will be posted on the university website and broadcast over WLAB (88.3), WAJI (FM95), WBCL (FM90), WMEE (FM97), and WOWO (AM1190 and FM103). The campus switchboard may be contacted if there is a question as to whether the University is in session. If commuter students are unable to attend class due to weather conditions, they should consult with their professors as soon as possible about the coursework missed.

Final examinations are two hours in length and are to be taken at the scheduled hour during exam week. Students who miss a final examination must seek permission to make up the examination at the discretion of the faculty member. Permission to give a final examination at any time other than the officially scheduled time must be obtained from the Academic Dean of the University. Students may not change final exam times in order to make more convenient travel arrangements; air flights particularly should be reserved well in advance so that reservations may be obtained for the end of the examination period.

Students who have four final examinations in one day and students who have three finals in one day including two comprehensive exams may petition the academic dean of the University to arrange to take one of the exams at another time. Petitions are to be completed one week ahead of exam week.

A final grade cannot be changed after it has been turned in to the Registrar’s Office unless there has been an error in calculation or recording of the grade. Students have two weeks from the date of issuance of grades to report errors to the Registrar.

In any university, disagreements will sometimes arise about grading and other academic matters. Huntington University wishes to resolve these matters in a respectful manner consistent with biblical principles. In nearly all circumstances, the student should first seek to resolve the disagreement directly with the faculty member. If all possible means to resolve it directly with the faculty member have been exhausted, the student may resolve the disagreement using the following process. All complaints will be kept confidential to the extent permitted by law. No adverse action will be taken against the student filing the complaint.

Grievance Procedure for Grades

Students who wish to appeal the final grade for a course on the grounds that it was assigned arbitrarily or capriciously must first seek conciliation directly with the professor. If a satisfactory agreement cannot be reached through informal discussion, the student may seek to resolve the dispute through the following process.

A written appeal to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the University must be made within two weeks of the formal posting of semester grades by the Registrar. The Dean may grant exceptions to accept appeals after this length of time in the case of compelling extenuating circumstances.

The student must provide the following information in support of the appeal. Appeals will not be processed until all materials have been provided to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the University. The burden is on the student to show that the grade is arbitrary or capricious in light of the evidence.

A written explanation of the basis for challenging the grade.

Copies of all relevant graded assignments and examinations.

A copy of the course syllabus as distributed to the class.

The Dean may ask the professor to provide similar documentation when necessary.

The Dean will examine the evidence provided to determine whether the grade was arbitrarily or capriciously assigned.

If the determination is that the grade was not arbitrary or capricious, the Dean will sustain the professional judgment of the faculty member and the grade will stand. The Dean will communicate this decision to the faculty member, the Division Chair, and the student.

In the event that the grade assignment is determined to have been arbitrary or capricious, the Dean will recommend that the faculty member change the grade. The new grade will be determined by the faculty member, the Dean, and the faculty member’s division chair or appointed division member.

Any appeal of the Dean’s decision will be referred to a panel consisting of three members of the Academic Concerns Committee. The panel’s decision is final and not subject to further appeal.

Grievances About Other Academic Concerns

Students who have concerns about other academic matters involving a faculty member should, in most cases, first seek conciliation with the faculty member.

If student and faculty member cannot reach an agreement or if the nature of the appeal is such that the student does not feel free to take the matter directly to the faculty member, the student should approach either the Chair of the Division or the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the University. In order for the University to evaluate and respond to the concern, the student must submit a brief written statement that describes the concern. Supporting materials and documentation, if any, should be included with the written statement.

The Chair of the Division and the Dean will coordinate efforts to address and to decide the resolution of the student’s concern.

Either the student or faculty member may appeal this decision by presenting his or her case to the Academic Concerns Committee. The decision of the Committee is final and not subject to further appeal.

For Students residing in and taking classes in Arizona: If the complaint cannot be resolved after exhausting the institution’s grievance procedure, the student may file a complaint with the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education. The student must contact the State Board for further details. The State Board address is 1400 W. Washington Street, Room 260, Phoenix, AZ 85007, phone # 602-542-5709, website address: ppse.az.gov.

All forms of dishonesty including cheating, plagiarism, knowingly furnishing false information to the institution, forgery, alteration, or use of University documents or instruments of identification with intent to defraud is subject to strict disciplinary action. Students are held directly responsible for knowing the difference between legitimate and illegitimate use of published and unpublished source material. Illegitimate use is called plagiarism, which is the act of representing the work of others as one’s own. Disciplinary action for such activity is at the discretion of the instructor and may range from a grade of “F” on the work in question to failure of the course. Students are encouraged to read a “Statement of Plagiarism” (See Appendix D). The instructor has the right to dismiss from the classroom any student who cheats, refuses to cooperate, makes a nuisance of himself/herself, or whose conduct, in general, is unbecoming of a University student.

Want to see the world and earn college credit while doing it? Every year HU students participate in many semester-abroad programs. Information is available through the Global Studies Office https://www.huntington.edu/global-studies-office.

In writing papers, reports, and summaries for your University courses, you will be held responsible for knowing the difference between legitimate and illegitimate use of published source material. Illegitimate use is called plagiarism, and at Huntington University, the penalty for plagiarism may range from a grade of F on the work in question to failure of the course. (Intentional plagiarism is a much more serious offense than “unconscious” plagiarism, although the student is obligated to avoid both).

Plagiarism is the use of the ideas, information, or wording of another without proper acknowledgment, leaving the false impression that the material is original to you. Everything that you quote, paraphrase, or summarize from another source must be referenced properly (in the current MLA or APA style, as requested by your professor). The only exception to this is information that is common knowledge in the field that you are exploring-that is, facts, dates, and figures that are well known to the experts in the discipline and thus are not the property of any specific author. A more extensive statement on plagiarism is in the Appendix.

A student who fails to meet minimum scholastic standards is placed on academic probation. See the University Catalog for the scholastic index, which is used to determine probationary status. Students placed on academic probation are precluded from participation in co-curricular activities.

Huntington University has partnered with Parchment to provide official transcripts. Whenever you need to have your transcript sent, follow the ORDER TRANSCRIPTS link on this page https://www.huntington.edu/registrar/transcripts to connect to the Parchment website. You may request electronic or paper transcripts on this site. A transcript request from a student on hold (for unpaid fines or bills) will not be processed until his/her financial obligations are met. Transcripts are generally processed within 24 business office hours of the request.

When a student is enrolled at an institution of higher learning, a substantial amount of personal information and educational data is collected, maintained, used, and disseminated. Huntington University recognizes and desires to protect the rights of privacy of the student, providing access to his or her educational data, and the right to challenge the contents of his or her records for inaccurate or misleading information.

In general, only those persons directly involved in the educational process have access to the student’s records unless the student gives written permission to release this information. Parents of dependent children may have access to academic and disciplinary information. Some information has been designated as directory information by the University. The University may release directory information to outside parties without the student’s prior consent. Directory information includes the following: name, identification number, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, major fields of study, classification, participation in recognized activities and sports, photograph, dates of attendance, full-time and part-time status, eligibility for licensing or certification and degrees and awards received. Students may request that directory information not be disclosed by completing a request in the Registrar’s Office. The University maintains a complete policy statement in accord with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, which can be obtained in the Registrar’s Office.

A student deciding to discontinue traditional undergraduate academic studies must inform the Office of Student Success to initiate the withdrawal process prior to leaving campus. An exit interview with the Associate Dean of Student Engagement is required. The process takes about 20 minutes to complete and benefits the student by documenting the withdrawal and initiating the return of the student’s deposit.