Department of Psychology University of Houston
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Department of Psychology University of Houston 2018 - 2019 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT HANDBOOK Academic Regulations and Requirements 2 Introduction The information provided in this handbook is pertinent to the psychology degree at the UH main campus and supplements the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) and University of Houston Student Handbook. The university reserves the right to change the provisions of the undergraduate catalog. Faculty, staff, and academic advisors are available to assist and guide students throughout their academic careers; however, it is the students’ responsibility to know and abide by the department, college, and university rules, requirements, and deadlines. How this Handbook is organized This handbook outlines the Department of Psychology policies and degree requirements and introduces several state, university, and college regulations. Students may use this handbook as a reference, but should always consult the Undergraduate Catalog and Student Handbook for more information. The degree requirements are presented in the following order: State, University, College, and Department of Psychology. Degree Requirements and Regulations State Level Requirements Texas Core Curriculum 6 Withdrawal Limit Undergraduate Enrollment Cap 120 Hrs Required for a Bachelor’s Degree 36 Advanced hrs required for a Bachelor’s Degree University Level Policies and Requirements Residency Requirements (30 Hr Rule) Scholastic Requirement (2.0 cumulative GPA required) Honor Requirements Repeat / Remedial / Best Attempt Rules 66 hr transfer credit limit 7 Year course rule College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences (CLASS) 9 hrs of CLASS electives B.S. / B.A. Requirements P.E. and KIN course limits and restrictions Department of Psychology Requirements and Regulations Minimum of 33 hours in psychology Department Residency (at least 15 PSYC hrs must be completed at UH) Major Pre-Requisites (PSYC 1300, 2301, 3301) 2.0 minimum GPA in major required 3 Attempt Rule for PSYC core courses Minimum grade of “C” required for PSYC core courses 3 State Requirements and Regulations Texas Core Curriculum All bachelor's degrees from the University of Houston require completion of the core curriculum. Students must meet the 42 credit hour requirements for all ten of the categories. Core guidelines are available in the Undergraduate Catalog, http://catalog.uh.edu/content.php?catoid=6&navoid=1092. Core Curriculum Requirements Hours Communication 6 Mathematics 3 Mathematics/Reasoning 3 U.S. History 6 American Government 6 Language/Philosophy/Culture 3 Creative Arts 3 Life & Physical Sciences 6 Social Behavioral Sciences 3 Writing in the Discipline 3 6 Withdrawal Policy Beginning the Fall semester 2007, up to six (6) 'W' grades may be used by an undergraduate student in his or her UH career. This includes courses attempted at Texas public universities since Fall 2007 and prior to transferring to UH. http://catalog.uh.edu/content.php?catoid=6&navoid=1020&hl=6+Withdrawals&returnto=search#Dropping _Courses. Undergraduate Enrollment Cap Students are allowed to enroll in a maximum of 30 hours beyond their degree requirement. Students who exceed the hour cap will be charged a premium tuition rate (an additional $100 per semester credit hour over the Texas resident rate) for all subsequent hours attempted. http://catalog.uh.edu/content.php?catoid=6&navoid=1224#Undergraduate_Enrollment_Limit. Hour Requirement Students must complete at least 120 semester hours of courses. At least 36 of the 120 semester hours must be advanced, according to the requirements of respective degree plans. A repeated course cannot be counted as elective or toward the minimum of 120 hours credit toward graduation, unless the course is identified in the Undergraduate Studies catalog as repeatable. For more information consult: University of Houston Undergraduate Course Catalog http://catalog.uh.edu/index.php?catoid=6. 4 University Requirements / Regulations The last 30 hours prior to graduation MUST be Residency Requirements completed at the UH (main campus) only. Dual Students must complete at least 25 percent of the semester hours enrollment with other required for a degree in residence (at the University of Houston main schools is not allowed. campus). These residency hours are not to include credit by examination, special problems, or individual research courses taken at the University of Houston. UHD, Victoria, Sugar Land, UHCL, & other satellite The 30- hour residency starts the semester after the date of the last campuses are considered transfer course (i.e. the 30 hr residency for a student who transfer credits. transferred a summer course starts in the fall; residency for a student who took/transferred a fall course starts in the spring). All winter mini-sessions are considered part of the Spring semester, thus the 30 hour residency at UH starts in summer. For example, courses completed during December 2019 (winter term) will post in the UH system as “Spring 2020” courses. Scholastic Requirement (2.0 cumulative GPA required) The University of Houston requires that students of all classifications maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 to remain in good academic standing. When a student’s GPA falls below 2.00, one of the following academic standing categories will apply: Academic Notice: Freshmen with fewer than 15 hours attempted at UH at the end of the enrollment period will be placed on Academic Notice. Probation: UH places students on academic probation if their cumulative GPA falls below 2.0 at the close of a semester or summer session. Students on probation must earn at least a 2.00 each semester they are enrolled, may not enroll in more than 12 semester hours during fall/spring (6 hours during summer), and will need to meet with an academic advisor prior to enrolling for future semesters. Suspension: Regardless of classification, students on academic probation who fail to earn a 2.0 semester GPA are placed on suspension. During the first suspension, students are not allowed to return to campus for one semester. The second suspension is for a period of at least 12 months. Students who are suspended a third time are ineligible to return and earn a degree at UH main campus. Honor Requirements Students must complete a minimum of 54 hours at UH main campus and meet the following grade point averages to qualify for honors: Summa Cum Laude 3.90-4.00 with highest honors Magna Cum Laude 3.70-3.89 with high honors Cum Laude 3.50-3.69 with honors 5 Repeat / Remedial / Best Attempt Rules Hours from Remedial courses cannot apply towards the degree. ENGL 1300, READ 1300, and MATH 1300 will only count for establishing “full time status” for health insurance, financial aid, or housing purposes, but will not be counted towards the degree. Repeat Courses A repeat course is any course taken more than once. Courses may be taken twice to raise GPA, however, the course will only count once towards the total hours needed for graduation. Example: PSYC 1300 was taken Fall 2009 and completed with a D. PSYC 1300 was repeated SPR 2010 and completed with a C-. PSYC 1300 was repeated Summer 10 and completed with a B. Even though the course was taken 3 times, only 3 credit hours (not 9 hrs) will be counted towards the degree. Students may only receive credit for a course once regardless of the number of times they attempt it. Best Attempt When a course is repeated, only the best attempt will count toward satisfying degree requirements, but ALL grades will factor into GPA calculations (see Grade Replacement). Example: A repeat course is any course taken more than once. Courses may be taken twice to raise GPA, however, the course will only count once towards the total hours needed for graduation. PSYC 4321 taken Fall 09 – grade C – credit hours awarded 0.0 PSYC 4321 taken SPR 10 – grade B- credit hours awarded 3.0 Grade Replacement UH does NOT offer grade replacement. All attempts at a course will remain on a student’s official transcripts. Retaking a course will NOT replace the original grade. Students who enroll in any course more than twice will be charged a higher premium. 6 Duplicate Courses Duplicate courses are courses that teach the same fundamental material/content and may not be combined for credit. Students are responsible for reading the course description, pre-requisites, and undergraduate catalog before enrolling in courses. Example: SPAN 1505 (Intro to Spanish for Native Speakers) and SPAN 1501, 1502 (Intro to Spanish for Non-Native Speakers) -or – BIOL 1310 – (General Biology) and BIOL 1361 – (Introduction to Biological Science) Although the courses have different numbers, they teach similar content and credit will only be awarded for one. The catalog will clearly state, “credit may not be received for both” Departments that often have similar course restrictions include foreign languages, BIOL, CHEM, PHYS, MATH, and P.E.B. 66 hr transfer credit limit A maximum of 66 lower level credit hours may transfer to the University of Houston. Anything above 66 hrs will NOT be counted towards the 120-hour graduation requirement. Any courses taken at a community college will ALWAYS be considered lower level credits. Additionally, there are no limits on the number of upper level courses (3000/4000 classes) that may transfer from other universities. 7 Year course rule Students cannot satisfy any degree requirements in their major with advanced courses that were completed more than seven years before the semester in which the degree is awarded. 7 College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences (CLASS) CLASS Electives Students must complete a minimum of 9 hrs of College of Liberal Arts & Social Science Electives outside of their major and from at least 3 different fields of study. CLASS electives are separate from the Core Requirements and Psychology Major requirements. Psychology courses and other courses being used to satisfy the core requirements may not be used as CLASS electives (i.e.