Graduate Program: Grades and Academic Standing

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To remain in academic good standing in the English MA Program at Sam Houston State University, a student must maintain at least a B average in all graduate work (3.0 on a 4.0 scale).

An explanation of the academic expectations and qualifications follows:

Good Academic Standing:

3.0 average. A student who earns a C in one class, then, must either retake the class or offset the C with a grade of A in another class.

Grade of D or F:

Any course in which a student earns a D or F is not accepted for graduate credit. If a student receives an F in a course, she or he is terminated from the English MA Program and must sit out for at least one long term. The student must address any appeal for readmission in writing to the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

A Second Grade of C:       

A second C imperils one’s future in the English MA Program: A student who earns two Cs in coursework will have his or her graduate status reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee. The GSC will make a recommendation to the Chair of the Department of English about the student’s continued enrollment in the English Graduate Program. The Chair will make a final decision about the student’s academic status.

A Third Grade of C:

A student who earns a third C is terminated from the English MA Program and must sit out for at least one long term. The student must address any appeal for readmission in writing to the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Course in Progress (IP):
           
With the permission of the instructor of record in a class and the Chair of the Department of English, a student may take an incomplete in a course; his or her transcript will carry a grade of IP (“In Progress”) until the requirements for completing the course are met. The student is typically expected to complete the requirements by the end of the next long term.

A student enrolled in English 699 (Thesis II) will receive a grade of IP and continue to enroll in the course until the thesis is completed. Once having registered for ENG 699, the student must enroll continuously in this course until completing the thesis. If the candidate begins in ENG 699 and then withdraws from the program for any amount of time, with the thesis incomplete, she or he will be required to pay back-tuition upon reinstatement and re-enrollment in ENG 699 to complete the project.

A student in ENG 698 (Thesis I) may not take an incomplete.

Grade of Credit (CR) or No Credit (NC)
           
A grade of credit (CR) or no credit (NC) is awarded to students in ENG 698 (Thesis I), according to their success or failure in completing requirements for the class. See Writing the English Master’s Thesis.  

The CR carries with it three semester hours of credit; the grade of NC (obviously) carries with it no credit hours. Neither grade, however, figures mathematically into the student’s graduate GPA.  

 

Contact Information

Dr. Bill Bridges, Department Chair
bridges@shsu.edu
Trina Strange, Department Secretary
Trina@shsu.edu
Evans Complex 458
(936) 294-1404
(936) 294-1408

P.O. Box 2146
1901 Sam Houston Avenue
Huntsville, TX 77341