Resources for Faculty and Staff
Degree and Catalog Resources
Course Program of Study (CPoS) Resources
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Overview
For a student to be eligible to receive Title IV financial aid for a course, the student's course must be part of their officially declared degree plan. Changes to a student's degree plan (exceptions, major changes, concentration changes, and catalog changes) must be processed before a semester's census to count toward the student's financial aid hours.
- CPoS only affects students who have a FAFSA on file with SHSU and who are receiving Title IV financial aid.
- For a student's courses to count toward their enrolled hours for CPoS, the course must fill a spot on the student's declared degree plan, either naturally or by a processed course substitution.
- CPoS is evaluated off of DegreeWorks. If a course falls somewhere into the student's degree plan on DegreeWorks, the course should generally count toward CPoS hours. If the course does not and is not a required prerequisite for the student's program, it generally will not count toward CPoS hours.
- The final deadline for Change of Majors and Degree Exceptions to be processed each semester is census. Early submission is preferred, as students may otherwise experience delays in financial aid paying to their account.
- Students pursuing programs that require a track (such as thesis/non-thesis) per the catalog must have their chosen track officially attached to their curricula to receive federal aid.
- "Unofficial" degree plans are not eligible for financial aid. Students admitted under an unofficial degree plan must have a Change of Major processed before they can receive federal aid. This includes the unofficial Dance, BFA; unofficial Music, BM; unofficial Theatre, BFA; unofficial Musical Theatre, BFA; and unofficial Theatre (with Teaching Certification), BFA.
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Programs Ineligible for Federal Aid
This list is updated as of 9/4/2024. If changes to program eligibility have occurred since then, they may not be reflected below.
If a student is enrolled in an eligible degree program and one of the programs listed below, the student would be eligible to receive aid for the courses that count towards their degree program only.
Programs Ineligible for Federal Aid/CPoS:
- All certification programs:
- Educational Diagnostician Certification
- Principal Certification
- Reading Specialist Certification
- School Librarian Certification
- Superintendent Certification
- Teacher Certification
- The following graduate-level certificates:
- Artist's Diploma Certificate: Post-Master's
- Data Science
- Digital Literacies
- Early Childhood Education
- Early Childhood Special Education
- Health Care Quality & Safety
- Marriage, Couple, & Family Counseling
- Play Therapy
- Performer's Certificate: Post Baccalaureate
- The following undergraduate-level certificates:
- Biosecurity & Pandemics
- Criminal Justice Equity & Inclusion
- Criminal Justice
- Investigative Forensic Science
- Jazz Studies
- Management & Leadership in Criminal Justice
- Real Estate Analysis
- Security & Resilience in the Chemical & Energy Sectors
- Security & Resilience in the Healthcare Sectors
- Security & Resilience in the Transportation Sectors
- Sport Coaching
- Technical Communication
- Victim Studies
- Woodwind Performance Pedagogy
Privacy Information
- Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (F.E.R.P.A.)
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Responsibilities as a Faculty and Staff Member
As an employee of Sam Houston State University, you may have access to Student Records. Their confidentiality, use, and release are governed by FERPA. Your utilization of this information is governed by the regulations and the duties and responsibilities of your employment and position.
Your job places you in a position of trust and you are an integral part in ensuring that student information is handled properly. Students have the right to expect that their academic records are being treated with care and respect.
In general, all student information must be treated as confidential. Even public or “directory” information is subject to restriction on an individual basis. Unless your job involves the release of information and you have been trained in that function, any requests for disclosure of information, especially from outside the University, should be referred to the Registrar’s Office. Release of information contained on a student’s transcript without the written consent of the person identified on the document is in violation of Sec. 438 Public law 90-247.
As university employees, you have an individual computer account, password, and PIN. You are responsible for your account and will be held accountable for any improper use. Protection of your sign-on password and procedure is critical for security. Refer to the Acceptable Use Policy for further details.
A printer-friendly version of the below infographic can be found here.
A Spanish version of the below infographic can be found here.
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Passing Out the Roll Sheet
The latest FERPA guide states the following information related to Students Opting for NO RELEASE In The Classroom Setting:
“Students cannot choose to be anonymous in the classroom setting. If a student has chosen “no release” for his or her directory information, that does not mean that an instructor cannot call on him or her by name in class or that the student’s email address cannot be displayed on an electronic classroom support tool such as a discussion board, blog, or chat feature.”
Based on this information, passing out a list with the student’s name “in a classroom setting” should not be a problem. As always, please make sure to remove other personally identifiable information. -
Posting of Grades by Faculty
The public posting of grades either by the student’s name, SamID, social security number, or other personally identifiable information without the student's written permission is a violation of FERPA. Even with names obscured, student identifier numbers are considered personally identifiable information. Therefore, the practice of posting grades by social security number, student identification number, or other personally identifiable information violates FERPA.
The returning of papers via an “open” distribution system, e.g., stacking them on an open table, is a violation of a student’s right to privacy, unless the student submits a signed waiver to instructor for such purpose.