Whether you're looking to build your resume, move up at work, or just learn something new, going back to school can be a great decision. If you've enrolled in one of the University of Denver's University College continuing education (CE) programs, you're to be commended for your commitment to self-improvement.
Anything rewarding, though, comes with challenges. University College offers bachelor's degree completion programs, master's degrees, graduate certificates, and stand-alone professional development courses. All of these come with high expectations. You have the skills and the self-discipline to meet these expectations, but you shouldn't try to meet them blindly. You're always better off if you know exactly what you're facing.
Generally speaking, there are two types of problems that can come up for University of Denver CE students. The first has to do with academics. Getting a degree or completing a training program means taking courses and doing well in those courses. That's sometimes easier said than done. School isn't just about the classroom, though. Colleges and universities are communities, and like any other community, they have to have rules if everyone's going to get along. Below, you'll find detailed information on how to deal with issues in both of these categories. Some issues can be tricky, though, so you'll also find details on how to get help when a problem is too big to handle on your own.
Academics
Let's start with academics. After all, that's why you're going back to school in the first place. University College at the University of Denver offers courses in subjects as diverse as Arts and Culture Marketing, Healthcare Policy and Regulatory Leadership, and Supply Chain Management. No matter what you decide to study, you can be sure you'll be held to high expectations. Like every other college at the University of Denver, University College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a nationally-recognized accreditation agency. Accreditation requires rigorous standards.
Degree and Certificate Requirements
University College offers several different types of degrees and certificates, or students can take individual courses.
- Bachelor's Degree Completion: Designed to allow students who began a degree but never finished it to obtain their bachelor's degree. Students can transfer up to three years' worth of credit from a previous institution. Then, they're required to take ten courses in the major and an additional 11 core courses.
- Bachelor's Certificate: Certification is available in various subjects, for those with a high school diploma looking to move ahead at work or for those who simply want to earn college credit. The program requires four courses.
- Master's Degree: Full master's degree in various professional subjects. Degree requirements vary by discipline, but most require between twelve and fifteen courses.
- Graduate Certificate: For students who have already obtained a bachelor's degree, graduate certificates provide students with credentials in specific subject areas. Specialized Graduate Certificates require four courses. Graduate Certificates require six courses.
Gaining a degree or certificate isn't just about taking courses. You also have to do well in those courses. To remain in good standing, a bachelor's degree or certificate student must maintain a 2.2 GPA. Students whose GPA is between 2.0 and 2.2 are issued an academic warning, and students whose GPA falls below 2.0 are placed on academic probation and could be subject to dismissal. Master's degree and certificate students must maintain a 3.0 GPA or risk probation and possible dismissal.
Finally, keep in mind that the University of Denver uses a plus/minus grading system. Only an A garners 4 points. An A minus is worth just 3.7 points. The same is true for all other grades.
Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
Meeting degree or certification requirements may not be your only academic concern as a University College student. If you receive financial aid, you may also be subject to the school's Satisfactory Academic Progress, or SAP, Policy.
SAP reviews are designed to determine whether students are making sufficient progress toward their degree or certification. They are meant to ensure that no one becomes a permanent student, living off government-funded financial aid.
Should you fail to meet SAP standards, you could lose grant and loan monies even if you are still meeting school expectations to remain enrolled in the program.
University College requires all students receiving financial aid to meet three standards:
- Students must maintain a cumulative GPA above 2.0.
- Students must complete and pass at least two-thirds of all the courses they attempt.
- Students must complete their degree within 150 percent of the minimum credits required to graduate.
The University of Denver conducts SAP reviews once a year, in mid to late summer. Students who fail this review are suspended immediately and ineligible for financial aid until they can meet standards.
The school does offer an appeals process. Students can submit such appeals to the Office of Financial Aid Appeals Committee, and if the appeal is granted can continue to receive aid for an additional term. However, progress is re-evaluated at the end of that term, and continued failure to meet standards means the reinstatement of the suspension.
It's not always easy to hold on to your financial aid under SAP programs, and getting aid back can be even more difficult once you've lost it. The right attorney-advisor can help you gather evidence and draft documents to make sure your financial support is safe.
Attendance Policies
The University of Denver's attendance policy notes that “Students are expected to attend all meetings of classes for which they are registered,” and in particular, they are expected to attend the first and last days of every course.
Ultimately, however, the school leaves the specifics of attendance policies to faculty. Instructors are entitled to set their own limits on absences and impose whatever sanctions they deem appropriate for those who miss. UD does point out that there are three situations in which an absence must be excused:
- Participation in a university activity
- Personal emergency
- Religious observance
Academic Misconduct
You should know that University College maintains a strict Honor Code designed to ensure no one has an unfair advantage in obtaining their degree or certification. That code lists eight separate kinds of violations.
- Plagiarism: The attempt to pass another person's words or ideas off as your own
- Unauthorized Use: Use or even possession of resources forbidden by the instructor in the completion of coursework
- Cheating: Engaging in “falsification of academic materials” such as “copying answers on a test.”
- Repeated Submission: The submission of the same academic work in two or more classes without advanced permission
- Fabrication: The invention of any materials, like sources or research data, as part of an academic exercise
- Impediment: Doing deliberate damage to another student's work
- Syllabus Violation: Refusing to abide by rules listed in a course syllabus
- Violation of professional standards: Failure to meet the professional standards applicable to a given field of study
Violations of the Honor Code are subject to action by faculty, who may assign classroom sanctions up to and including failure in the course. In addition, faculty must report all incidents to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (OSRR) which may assign additional disciplinary sanctions, such as
- Formal admonishment
- Probation
- Revocation of rights to access certain buildings on campus
- Suspension of registration privileges
- Mandatory withdrawal from a course or program
Students can appeal their instructor's decisions or those of the OSRR to a Student Accountability Board (SAB), which holds hearings into such matters. As with other kinds of appeals at the university, procedures can be difficult to navigate, and you're always better off with an attorney-advisor.
Academics: What Could Go Wrong?
Students are sometimes surprised at the idea that they might need an attorney to help them handle academic issues. However, an attorney with experience working directly with students can help in many ways. You never can tell, for example, when a professor might decide that the car wreck you suffered on the way to school isn't enough of an excuse for missing class, or that forgetting to include a source in your paper qualifies as plagiarism, or that your work just doesn't merit the grade you think you deserve.
An attorney can help you negotiate with faculty, draft appeals, and prepare for hearings. In some cases, they may even be able to accompany you to proceedings. Whether you're accused of some complicated cheating scheme involving telescopes and text messaging, or you feel like you deserve credit you've been denied towards an undergraduate certificate, a skilled attorney-advisor may be able to help.
Disciplinary Misconduct
A school is a community, and as such, it has to maintain rules beyond the classroom that govern how you treat other students and the school itself. Like every college or university, the University of Denver's University College maintains a disciplinary policy that dictates how you're supposed to behave when you're on campus. That policy runs to some sixty pages and includes criticisms on everything from coercing others to consume alcohol to climbing on the roofs of buildings. These are grouped into nineteen different categories.
- Academic integrity
- Alcohol violations
- Drug violations
- Dishonesty
- Endangerment
- Fire safety
- Harassment
- Hazing
- Interference
- Noncompliance
- Physical misconduct
- Property damage
- Provocation
- Theft
- Unauthorized presence
- Violations of Residence Life standards
- Violations of laws
- Violations of the school's discrimination policy
Many of University College's courses are offered through online platforms. The University of Denver expects students to follow the same set of rules in digital spaces that they follow in “real-life” spaces. That includes,
- Behaving professionally
- Treating others respectfully
- Avoiding profanity and socially-offensive language
- Dressing appropriately
- Avoiding inappropriate surroundings
One particular sort of disciplinary misconduct is treated as its own special category of offense: sexual misconduct. That's because these offenses aren't simply a matter of school policy. Title IX, a federal law, mandates that all federally-funded educational programs follow specific procedures in handling sexual misconduct allegations. CE programs, such as those offered by University College, are not immune. While disciplinary misconduct is always serious, a sexual misconduct violation typically means expulsion with a transcript notation about the nature of the offense. You can't afford to risk representing yourself in such a case. You need an attorney who knows the law and has experience helping students get justice.
Joseph D. Lento: Continuing Education Student Attorney-Advisor
If you've been out of school for a few years, the first thing you need to know is that things have changed in education. Cheating is on the rise, so professors are warier than ever about classroom behavior. Academic expectations grow higher every year. In today's political environment, no school can afford to be seen as soft on discipline, and every school conducts rigorous investigations and doles out stiff penalties.
It's worth recognizing, though, that you've changed too. Sure, you care about passing your courses and getting your degree, but that's not the highest priority in your life anymore. You've got a partner, a mortgage, and kids to worry about. Satisfying your boss's demands is far more important than pleasing your professor.
Most continuing education faculty understand the particular stresses you're under, and most are willing to work with you to make your educational experience rewarding. If you should find, though, that an instructor won't let you make up an exam you missed because one of your kids was down with the flu, or an administrator wants to dismiss you from your program because you didn't put a quotation mark in the right spot, know that you have options.
Joseph D. Lento has years of experience helping students deal with school-based issues. He's represented hundreds of clients over the years. He knows the law as it applies to education, and he's practiced in dealing with faculty and administrators. Whatever problem you might be facing, from issues with technology to accusations of sexual misconduct, don't wait to see what will happen. If you're in trouble, contact the Lento Law Firm today, at 888-555-3686, or use our automated online form.
