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At matriculation, every student is assigned an academic adviser who will help the student plan his or her course of study while at Earlham. It should be noted that while academic advisers assist students in this way, the responsibility for meeting all graduation requirements rests finally with the student. Once a student is ready to declare a major, he or she should arrange to have an academic adviser within that field or department. Forms for changing academic advisers are available from the Registrar's Office. Students and advisers receive an Academic Audit at the beginning of each academic year, outlining outstanding General Education and credit requirements for degree completion.
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At the beginning of each academic year, returning students receive an academic audit from the Registrar's Office. The audit informs the student of his or her standing in terms of graduation requirements, indicating which requirements have been completed and which are still in need of completion. Students are advised to pay very close attention to the audit, and to remember that it is, finally, a student's responsibility (not the academic adviser's) to fulfill all graduation requirements in a timely way.
The credit or semester hour of credit is the unit of academic measurement at Earlham. Normally, a full-time student will earn 30-32 credits annually. With approval from the academic adviser, a student may take as few as 12 or as many as 18 credits during a single semester. Students who enroll in more than 18 credits should expect to pay an additional tuition fee per credit hour.
The major usually consists of 10 to 14 courses in a single department, and may include one or more capstone requirements, such as a senior seminar, senior thesis or comprehensive examination. Guidelines for the major are established by the department. Students declaring an intention to major within a department must receive approval from the department's faculty and must submit a Declaration of Major to the Registrar's Office no later than the end of the fourth semester.
Minors are available in 36 departments and programs. Students should file their intention to minor in a field with the Registrar's Office no later than the fifth week of the eighth semester.
Students may appeal grades and evaluations on procedural grounds. That is, they may question whether the grade was awarded fairly, according to clear standards, and in a manner consistent with Earlham’s stated practices. An appeal should begin with a conversation between student and instructor. If this discussion leads to no conclusion, the student, possibly along with her or his adviser, should contact one of the Deans in Academic Affairs. The Associate Academic Dean or Registrar may advise the student on the merits of the case and shall, at the request of the student, mediate between student and instructor. This mediation must occur within one semester after completion of the course. A meeting of all parties or separate meetings of the Associate Academic Dean with each party may be arranged. Sometimes the Associate Academic Dean may recuse her/himself and refer the case to another dean within the academic administration.
If this mediation does not lead to a result agreeable to the parties, either or both may request a mediation hearing before an ad hoc Academic Mediation Board. The Associate Academic Dean (or her/his designee) shall convene a board, comprising two faculty members and two students. The Associate Academic Dean shall choose two faculty members and invite the student members from a short list prepared by Student Government. Either the student appellant or the faculty member under appeal may reject nominations to the Board. Board hearings shall be recorded during the presentation and discussion of evidence with all parties present. The Board shall meet in executive session for deliberation.
The Board will review the documents of the case and listen to both parties. It then meets by itself and frames a recommendation. The Board shall consider itself charged to act equitably and in the interest of both parties as it seeks to determine if grading procedures were somehow faulty and if a remedy is feasible. By Earlham’s bylaws, grading is in the province of the faculty, and a Board’s recommendations may not infringe on the academic freedom of the instructor.
If the Board finds itself unable to reach a consensus, or if either party is unwilling to accept the recommendation of the Board or the other party’s response to it, then the Associate Academic Dean shall confer with the Academic Dean and the Clerk of the Faculty to devise a way forward.
Highly motivated students who matriculate with credits (through Advanced Placement [AP] scores, the International Baccalaureate, or other transferred credit) may choose to accelerate the time in which they earn their Earlham degree. Please meet with the Registrar as soon as possible to outline your degree plan.
All students participating in a varsity sport are required to be registered as full-time students who are enrolled in a minimum of 12 academic credits prior to any competition.
Students are expected to attend classes on a regular basis. Individual faculty may set specific requirements for their courses as indicated on course syllabi. Students who do not attend classes on a regular basis are reported to the Registrar's Office. This behavior may jeopardize academic standing as well as federal financial support.
Some courses have additional fees that cover costs of specific materials. These fees are indicated on the Course Schedule.
Students making normal progress toward the Bachelor of Arts degree will earn 30-32 credits each year. With an adviser's approval, a student may take as few as 12 or as many as 18 academic credits during a semester. Registering for more than 18 credits requires both an adviser's signature, additional tuition fees, and the Registrar's approval.
In rare instances, a student may arrange to take a course at a time when it is not normally offered. This arrangement requires the written approval of both the instructor and the Associate Dean. Permission of the instructor must be obtained and the fee paid before such arrangements are made.
Students sometimes have the option of studying independently and successfully passing a special examination prepared by the instructor of a course in order to be granted credit for a regular Earlham course. Students pursuing this option are not permitted to sit in on the regular course before taking the examination.
One credit hour expects one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours out-of-class student work per week.
Students are expected to confirm their enrollment in person on the designated Enrollment Confirmation Day, held two days before the first day of classes for each semester. At Enrollment Confirmation students verify their mailing/billing addresses, emergency contact information, and their full-time status for financial aid, scholarship and insurance purposes. Students must present their Student Identification Card for enrollment confirmation.
Students should review their accounts through Self-Service, available at theheart (Earlham’s portal) online, prior to enrollment verification to avoid delays. To be eligible to confirm enrollment, student accounts must be paid or cleared by the published deadline or appropriate arrangements made with the Accounting Office.
Enrollment Confirmation clearing through the Accounting Office (including approved payment arrangements) must be completed within 48 hours of the close of Enrollment Confirmation Day or the student is removed from all class lists until enrollment is cleared. Enrollment must be verified by the fifth class day or the student may be withdrawn from the semester.
The traditional letter grades "A" through "F" may be assigned alone, or with a plus or a minus.
Numerical Equivalents of Letter Grades for Transcripts:
The GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of honor points by the number of graded courses. In cases where an F is assessed, the faculty member forwards a written assessment of the student's work, including reasons for failure to achieve a passing grade. A copy of the F assessment is sent to the student, to his/her adviser and to the student's file in the Registrar's Office.
College Honors are awarded to graduating seniors with cumulative grade point averages of 3.4 or higher.
Departmental Honors are awarded to students at the recommendation of the department, and only if they have met the following criteria:
Students who receive scores of 5, 6 or 7 on higher-level subject examinations of the International Baccalaureate (IB) may receive a range of credits as indicated below with a maximum of 18 semester hours.
An official copy of the test results must be sent to Earlham's Registrar for evaluation of credits.
Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most respected undergraduate honors organization in the United States. The Society has pursued its mission of fostering and recognizing excellence in the liberal arts and sciences since 1776. Earlham is among nine percent of four-year colleges and universities nationwide and is one of only three liberal arts colleges in Indiana that have been granted a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. Approximately 10 percent of each graduating class is elected to Earlham's Phi Beta Kappa Chapter each year. For more information, visit the Phi Beta Kappa website.
Students register for classes through Self-Service, available at theheart (Earlham’s portal) online. Academic advisers work with students to assist in decision-making about the courses to be taken. Each semester, students are notified via e-mail of the two-week academic advising period, one-week registration period and polices associated with registration.
A fee of $25 is assessed for late registration, with the following exceptions: students enrolled in off-campus programs, readmits, returnees from leave and new students.
For fees associated with enrollment policies, please consult the the Registrar's Web site.
A student who so wishes may retake any Earlham course as part of his/her regular semester course load. In such cases, the highest grade earned for the same course appears on the student's transcript; only the highest grade is calculated into the student's GPA. Academic credit is awarded only one time for courses that are retaken. The lowest grade is replaced with RT (Retake). The petition for retaking a course is available in the Registrar's Office. A course may be retaken only one time toward grade improvement. The course credits count in the semester credit load.
Policy found under Financial Aid Eligibility.
Effective August 2004, Earlham's Comprehensives was re-labeled the "Senior Capstone Requirement." Every academic major at Earlham culminates in a senior-year demonstration of proficiency and accomplishment in an area of study. This demonstration may be an examination, a public presentation or exhibit, completion of a thesis, or successful participation in a designated senior seminar. It may be some combination of these.
The faculty of the department or program shall determine the form of the Capstone Requirement and advise majors in a timely manner of its form. It is consistent with variety of majors that there be a variety of Capstone Requirements. All Capstone Requirements, however, must have these common features:
Regular degree-seeking students are those who were admitted to the College with the expectation of completing the Bachelor of Arts degree.
While attending Earlham, regular students who have earned 0-28 credits are classified as first-year students. Sophomores are those who have earned 29-58; juniors have earned 59-88; and seniors have earned 89 or more credits.
It is possible to earn an Earlham degree in any of our regularly offered majors within eight semesters, and most students who earn Earlham degrees complete them within this time. Some students choose to complete their degree in slightly less time, and some extend the time beyond four years.
Transfer students are defined as those who are admitted to the College having completed a semester of academic work in a degree-seeking program at an accredited college or university.
Part-time students seek the degree while enrolled in fewer than 12 credits during a semester. A student must seek permission from the Registrar's Office to pursue a degree as a part-time student. Part-time status is generally granted only to seniors in their final semester as they complete degree requirements.
Dual enrollment students are high school students who complete college-level work that is counted toward the completion of their high school diploma. If such a student earns 16 semester hours, he or she is then considered a transfer student at Earlham, and the credits are counted toward Earlham requirements. If the student has completed less than 16 semester hours, he or she is considered a regular degree-seeking student and is expected to complete all of the requirements for an Earlham degree.
Special students include non-degree-seeking and postgraduate students.
High ability students: Local high school students who enroll in Earlham courses may only count 16 semester credits should they matriculate at Earlham.
An official transcript is available on request from the Registrar's Office. Students and their faculty advisers may view their transcripts online through a password protected service.
Earlham students who take part of their coursework at another accredited college or university with the intent of transferring credit to Earlham should obtain approval in advance from the Registrar and from the department(s) concerned. A maximum of 16 credits may be transferred. Earlham does not accept credits from distance learning or correspondence courses.
Note: Grades do not transfer.
Credit alone will transfer only if:
Courses submitted for transfer without prior approval are not accepted toward the Earlham degree.
It is the intent of the Earlham Faculty that General Education courses are completed within the Earlham curriculum and that a student cannot transfer in an entire requirement area.
The importation of General Education credits by transfer students presents special difficulties, thus considerations of this shall be left to the Registrar. However, the importation of outside credits by present students should be avoided whenever possible. This may occur only with the prior consent of the Committee on Academic Programs (CAP) on grounds of strong academic need and may in no case exceed eight semester hours of work. Outside credits also may not count for any of the first-year requirements (Interpretive Practices or Earlham Seminars).
Petitions for the Senior year must be presented by April 1 of the student's Junior year. CAP considers such petitions from seniors only if the senior fails a required General Education course. In that case, the senior may petition to have comparable work at another campus satisfy Earlham's requirement. Questions may be directed to the Registrar's Office.
