Johnson School
Cornell University

Faculty By-Laws

Chapter Five - Academic Standards

The faculty has the responsibility for establishing academic standards, including graduation requirements.

I. Academic Standards Committee (ASC)

The Academic Standards Committee (ASC) interprets faculty legislation and makes decisions that provide exceptions to this legislation. The ASC also has continuing authority for the granting of degrees, including the authority to select up to fifteen (15) percent of the graduating class for Degrees with Distinction, based on academic records for all semesters the student is in residence.

The ASC has the authority to modify existing Academic Standards legislation by circulating proposed changes to the faculty and other appropriate groups for comment and receiving the approval of the Dean. Any change adopted by the ASC is subject to faculty recall at the next regularly scheduled Faculty Meeting. If ten (10) members of the faculty submit a written petition to the Dean requesting such a recall, the implementation of any change will be postponed until after discussion at the next Faculty Meeting.

The ASC meets regularly to consider student academic performance and grant exceptions to regulations guiding student academic programs. Procedures are given later in this Chapter.

II. Core Courses and Sequence

Students must pass or exempt all core courses by the end of the second semester of residency. These courses, each consisting of 2.5 credit hours, are: Financial Accounting (NCC 500); Statistics for Management (NCC 501); Micro-Economics for Management (NCC 502); Marketing Management (NCC 503); Managing and Leading in Organizations (NCC 504); Managerial Finance (NCC 506); Managing Operations (NCC 508); and Strategy (NCC 509). Any changes to the list of or credits for these courses must be approved by a vote of the entire faculty.

III. Exemption and Substitution of Core Courses

Exemption without credit from a core course may be granted by course instructor(s) on the basis of examination, appropriate professional or academic accomplishment or substitution of another approved course in the subject area.

Core faculty shall make available to incoming students before exemption examinations, a syllabus of the course and, where available, copies of previous examinations.

Faculty administering the exemption exam make the determination of the performance required to achieve one of the following outcomes:

1. Fail - student is required to take the course.
2. Exempt with substitution - student may either take the core course or an approved substitute to fulfill the core requirement.
3. Exempt - student passed the exam and is not required to take additional classes in this field.

In no case will credit be given for an exempt course. The core course instructor may choose to allow the student to take the core course for a letter grade or on an S/U basis, even after passing an exemption exam.

IV. Advanced Standing

Advanced standing and exemption by substitution may be provided for in special programs, described in Chapter Seven.

In all other cases, advanced standing may be granted only by the faculty members of the Admissions and Career Services Committee, and is subject to the following restrictions:

A. Advanced standing may only be awarded at matriculation.

B. No more than sixteen (16) credit hours of advanced standing may be awarded.

C. The School's courses taken prior to matriculation will count as advanced standing credit, providing that they have not been used to fulfill degree requirements in a Cornell academic unit.

D. Courses taken elsewhere may be eligible for advanced standing credit providing that they are at the graduate level and are comparable to material covered in the School's core courses. The faculty members of the Admissions and Career Services Committee shall decide eligibility. The candidate must subsequently pass the exemption exam for the corresponding core course to retain the advanced standing credit(s).

E. If, and only if, twelve (12) or more credit hours of advanced standing are awarded (and retained by passing exemption exams where necessary) one (1) residence unit will be awarded. An award of fractional units or more than one (1) unit is not allowed.

V. Credit and Residence Units for Summer Courses

Credit and residence units for Summer courses that are part of recognized School academic programs are subject to the same regulations as Fall and Spring semester courses. Exceptions for special programs are described in Chapter Seven.

Other Summer coursework must be approved in advance by the ASC. Without this approval, the courses will not count toward graduation or grade-point average. To request approval, the student must petition the ASC. Petitions that are approved are subject to the following conditions:

A. Courses must be taken at the graduate level;

B. All S/U grades (including mandatory S/U) must be converted to a letter grade by the institution giving the course;

C. Grades of B or higher must be earned;

D. No more than six (6) credit hours will be counted toward the School's graduation requirements;

E. No residency units will count toward the School's graduation requirements; and

F. The student must make sure that the School's Registrar's Office receives an official transcript of the Summer coursework at the conclusion of the Summer.

VI. Grading and Grade-Point Averages

A. Letter Grades

The faculty shall give letter grades to the Registrar, unless the entire course is graded S/U. The administration will publish for the faculty a grade distribution for each semester.

B. Grading System

A graduate grading system is employed in all School courses. Possible grades are as follows:

Grade
Level of Performance
Grade-Points
Equivalent Grade for Pass/Fail
A
Excellent
4
S
B
Satisfactory
3
S
C
Minimally Acceptable
2
S
D
Barely Passing
1
U
F
Unacceptable
0
U

The faculty has approved a non-binding, but highly recommended, grading policy as follows for the in-residence MBA program.

  1. For core courses other than TMO core courses, the GPA for the same course and instructor over time should not average above 3.3 and should not exceed 3.35 in any semester.
  2. For TMO core courses, the instructor should try to give each student the grade he or she would have received given the same performance level in a non-TMO section. However, GPA should not exceed 3.5 in any semester.
  3. For elective courses, the GPA for the same course and instructor over time should not average above 3.5 and should not exceed 3.55 in any semester.


C. S/U Option

Core courses may not be taken on an S/U basis, except when students who exempt a core course elect to take it anyway.

Students may elect the S/U option for a maximum of two (2) elective courses, excluding courses taught only under this option. They indicate their choice of this option when pre-enrolling in the course or by use of the appropriate University Course Change Form and submit it to the School's Registrar's Office prior to the last day of the first week of the course. After completion of the course, the instructor submits a regular letter grade to the School's Registrar's Office, which will convert and record it according to the following outline: C- or above = S; D+ or below = U.

Grades of S and U do not count in computing the student's grade-point average. However, if the instructor submits an F as the student's grade in the course, the School's Registrar's Office will consider that the student received an F in computing his or her grade-point average. An instructor may choose not to offer his or her elective courses on an S/U basis. An instructor may also choose to offer his or her elective course under the following "safety net" option. At the start of the semester, each student may select a lower bound for his or her course grade from a range of grades specified by the instructor. The student will then report this lower bound to the Registrar; the instructor will not know who elected this option, or his or her lower bound. If the student's grade meets or exceeds this lower bound, then this letter grade is recorded. If the student's grade is instead below this lower bound, then the grade is converted to an S or U, according to the outline above. Regardless of whether the student receives a letter grade or an S/U, courses taken under this option will count towards the limit of two (2) electives taken under the S/U option.

D. Grade of Incomplete (INC)

The School adheres to the legislation of the University faculty with regard to incompletes.

E. Grade-Point Averages

Grade-point averages are computed utilizing letter grades for all graduate level courses taken while registered as a student at the School. (For purposes of calculating grade-point average, the credit limit of eighteen [18] credit hours described in Chapter Five, Section VII[B][3] per semester does not apply.) (See also Chapter Five, Section VII, Graduation Requirements.)

F. Re-Taking a Course: Effect on Grade-Point Average

A student may re-enroll in a course for which a grade of F is recorded and with satisfactory completion of the course, obtain academic credit. However, the course and all reported grades therein shall remain a matter of record and be included in the computation of a cumulative grade-point average. (See also Chapter Five, Section VII, Graduation Requirements.)

VII. Graduation Requirements

To be eligible for graduation a student must:

A. Have four (4) residence units (semesters of at least twelve [12] credit hours), including advanced standing residence units. Residence units for Summer courses are allowed only under conditions set forth in this Chapter.

B. Have sixty (60) credit hours, including exemptions with credit, advanced standing credits and credit for passing work (excluding F and U). The following restrictions apply:

1. Credit is allowed for the School's courses, Cornell University courses taken at the graduate level, courses specifically allowed under a Joint Degree Program or other programs authorized by the faculty or other courses certified by the ASC.

2. Credit for Summer courses is allowed only under conditions set forth in this Chapter.

3. No more than eighteen (18) credit hours in any semester will be allowed to count toward the graduation requirement, subject to the following exception: up to four (4) hours in excess of the eighteen (18) hour maximum will count toward graduation if the student's grade-point average for the semester is at least 3.7 and no grade was below B.

C. Satisfy all core course requirements.

D. Have at least twenty-five (25) credit hours of the School's elective courses.

E. Have grade-point averages of at least 2.7 overall and 2.5 in core courses, excluding the first grade for any course that was required to be retaken. Grades of INCOMPLETE (INC) count as F in these averages.

VIII. Petitions for Exceptions to Academic Programs

A student desiring an exception to the standard MBA requirements or academic procedures must file a written petition with the ASC explaining the nature of the request and reason for it. The ASC renders a decision on the petition and the student is informed accordingly.

If the student is dissatisfied with a decision of the ASC regarding an academic petition, he or she may submit these concerns in writing to the ASC, which will then either revise the initial decision or allow it to stand. Decisions of the ASC concerning academic programs will be final and non-appealable.

IX. Student Academic Performance

At the conclusion of each semester, the ASC reviews the performance of students in academic difficulty (defined as grade-point averages that do not satisfy the graduation requirement, or one [1] or more F's or U's on the past semester's transcript).

A. COMMENDATIONS: If the student was previously warned about a deficiency in his or her academic performance and that deficiency is corrected, the ASC sends a letter of commendation and encouragement.

B. WARNINGS: If the ASC believes that the student's performance does not represent dangerous academic jeopardy, a simple letter of warning is sent.

C. HEARINGS: If the ASC deems a student is in academic jeopardy, it sends a letter requesting that he or she appear before the ASC to discuss his or her academic performance. This letter indicates the actions the ASC is contemplating and alerts the student that he or she may have witnesses with pertinent information and/or a faculty member acting as an advisor attend the hearing.

D. ACTIONS AFTER A HEARING: Upon completion of the hearing, the ASC will exercise one (1) of the following options by majority vote:

1. Send a letter of warning that the student's record will be reviewed at the end of the next semester for further possible actions;

2. Specify conditions under which the student is permitted to re-register. These conditions typically specify a minimum grade-point average that must be attained in the next semester; or

3. Take the formal action, "May not Reregister, Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management." This action is taken when the ASC deems the student incapable of satisfactory completion of MBA degree requirements. An accumulation of nine (9) or more credit hours of failing grades or a grade-point average of less than 2.0 will be considered prima facie grounds for this action. This action must be reviewed and approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs prior to student notification.

E. APPEALS: Decisions of the ASC regarding academic performance shall be final and non-appealable except that a decision "May not Reregister" may be appealed to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. He or she decides either to confirm the ASC's decision or request the ASC to reconsider the case.

F. CORRESPONDENCE: Copies of all correspondence between the ASC and students will be sent to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Last Modified: December 31, 2003