Important Academic Policy Reminders, Helpful Tips and Webinar, Nov. 15

Academic Affairs will be hosting a webinar to go over important academic policy reminders along with some helpful tips for advising. The webinar will be held on Friday, November 15 from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. It will also be recorded for those who cannot attend. Click here to register for the webinar.

Read on for an overview of the Academic Affairs topics that will be covered:

Transfer Virginia Curricular Changes Blog: The Transfer Virginia Curricular Changes Blog has been moved to the “What’s New in this Catalog” section.

Multiple degree limits: Students should be placed in only one degree (i.e., A.A.S., A.S., A.F.A.) at a time, but as needed, may be placed into a maximum of two degree plans simultaneously. In addition, students may be placed into a maximum of three additional stackable career studies or other certificates (SIS advisement reports are limited to display five programs, including Passport). 

Policy on 25% Difference for Multiple Degrees: Students who wish to earn a degree, diploma, certificate or career studies certificate in addition to any other degree, diploma, certificate or career studies certificate must complete all requirements of both programs, and the awards must differ in content from one another by at least 25 percent of the credits.

Written documentation and a video tutorial have been created to demonstrate how the 25% difference can be calculated. The links will be shared at the webinar and are also available in the Academic Affairs CANVAS page.

3-Year Discontinuance Rule: Students in programs that have been discontinued must graduate within 3 years from the term of discontinuance. Click here to see a list of discontinued programs and the last date to graduate.

7-Year Expiration Rule: The catalog used in certifying the student’s graduation may not be more than seven academic years old at the time of graduation. For example, a student placed in the 2018-2019 catalog year may be eligible to graduate up until Summer 2025. The catalog’s “What’s New” page contains a table that demonstrates the seven-year rule and the last date a student can graduate from a specific catalog year.

Course directives vs substitutions: Course directives can be used to manually move a course on a student’s SIS advisement report in situations where courses are misplaced because of programming issues. Directives can only be used for courses that meet requirements as determined by the college catalog. Send course directive requests to academics@nvcc.edu. 

Course substitution requests can be made in situations where a student takes/has taken a course that is not approved by the catalog and wants to use it to satisfy a program requirement. Requests should be made using Form 125-032. Submitters must include relevant information, such as links to course descriptions for transfer courses and/or students’ transfer or career plans.

Submitted by:
Ana Lescano, Ac Affairs-Curriculum Support Analyst, ALescano@nvcc.edu