of the Registrar. To obtain credit, the student must seek a higher level of language than previously completed. To view current CLEP score requirements, visit biola.edu/registrar/. Click on Transfer. Challenging a Course A student may be able to challenge a course or requirement if the department has a challenge exam available. Check with the specific department to see if a comprehensive challenge exam is available. By waiver: If a student's performance on a comprehensive examination demonstrates a good grasp of the course content, an exemption from taking the course may be given but no units or credits will be allowed. By registration: The Nursing, Biblical Studies and Intercultural Studies department offer some exams for which the student may be granted credit units based on the successful completion of the challenge exam. The exams are listed in the course schedule. A fee rather than tuition applies. Specific information regarding these examinations is available from the Nursing and Bible departments. For further information see the University Registrar. Academic Standards A minimum cumulative grade point average of "C" (2.00) is necessary to graduate. A grade of "D" is normally acceptable as a passing grade in a single course. However, some departments have different standards (for example: Business, Cinema and Media Arts, Communication Studies, the Conservatory of Music, the School of Education, Foreign Language, Journalism and the Nursing departments). Also, "D" quality work in general is normally insufficient to allow the student to progress from level to level. Higher GPA minimums are required before admission to teaching and nursing and other major departments. To determine whether a "D" is an acceptable grade in a required course and to review admissions requirements for a major, check with the appropriate academic department. Students receiving less than a "C" grade in a major course may be required to repeat the course to progress. Transfer students from other institutions must also maintain an average grade of "C" in all work completed at Biola University as a requirement for graduation since grades from other schools are not calculated into the student's cumulative grade point average. All students must have a minimum of a "C" average (2.00) in their major coursework. Academic Probation Any student whose cumulative grade point average in Biola University falls below "C" (2.00) is placed on academic probation. Probation indicates a period of trial and the student must achieve better than a 2.00 average the subsequent semester or face the possibility of being disqualified. A student is restricted from participation in extracurricular university activities and the academic load will be limited during this period of probation to a maximum of 13 units each semester. Students on academic probation must participate in the College Study Skills Program. Students on first semester probation are required to meet with the Office of Academic Advising. Academic Disqualification A student may be disqualified at any time if his or her grades are below a 1.00 GPA in one semester or if he or she has achieved minimum grades for two successive semesters. A student who is considered for disqualification may make written appeal to the Office of the Registrar to be allowed to continue on strict probation as determined by the Academic Standards Committee. A disqualified student may apply for re-admission only after a full year has elapsed. After one year, he or she may apply for re-admission only if evidence is given which indicates that chances for scholastic success are good. A student who has been disqualified twice may not be re-admitted.
For full statement on satisfactory academic progress, please see the Academic & Behavioral Standards section of the catalog.
General Education Program The general education program at Biola is designed to support the University's distinctively Christian mission by giving specific attention to four themes: (1) developing intellectual skills, (2) educating whole persons, (3) understanding our Christian heritage, and (4) becoming thinking Christians. All four themes presuppose the hallmarks of any genuine university education which are honest inquiry after truth and the development of creativity. The knowledge and skills gained from courses in general education will be further developed by students in their major fields of study and in their life long learning. Philosophy of General Education 1. Developing Intellectual Skills : Because all students need to strengthen and supplement the set of intellectual skills they acquired in their primary and secondary education, Biola devotes part of its general education requirement to specific and intensive training in those skills. Cultural, technological, and other developments may from time to time require changes in the list of skills studied in our general education courses. 2. Educating Whole Persons : Our general education courses seek to educate students as human beings rather than as prospective members of particular professions. This "whole person" approach to education is designed to help prepare our students to succeed in their roles in the family, the church, and the larger society of our culturally diverse world. It pays particular attention to the spiritual formation and character development of students by faculty members who are open and honest about their own need for growth. To assist students in their holistic development, the program includes traditional education in the arts and sciences, supplemented by contemporary explorations of important issues. As a Christian university, Biola rests its primary understanding of what "whole persons" are and need on the basis of the central teachings of the Christian faith. This understanding guides every aspect of our general education program. 3. Understanding Our Christian Heritage : An essential element of Biola's general education program is its requirement in biblical and theological studies. This curricular emphasis is integral to Biola's institutional history, and it is foundational to a mature understanding of our heritage as Christians. Although the biblical and theological courses may address any aspect of the Christian heritage right up to contemporary developments, they are supplemented across the general education curriculum by other courses that give students further exposure to the broad range of Christian thought and cultural contribution since the close of the New Testament canon. 4. Becoming Thinking Christians : The general education program at Biola aims at assisting our students to develop an intellectually mature understanding and practice of their Christian faith. To accomplish this, the program provides students with biblically-informed critical assessments of beliefs and practices prominent in the contemporary world, and it trains them to make their own Christian assessments of these things. A goal of every course is to challenge the students to put their maturing Christian thinking to use in the conduct of their lives.
46
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker