1. All course work must be preplanned in conjunction with the student's supervisory committee. Each student's program of study is first approved by the advisor, then the supervisory committee and department head, and finally by the School of Graduate Studies.
    
2. A minimum of 24 Utah State University credits is required. Of these 24, no more than 8 workshop credits will be accepted.
    
3. Normally, 6 credit hours of transfer credits from other accredited graduate institutions are acceptable. The student's supervisory committee may recommend transfer of course or research credits earned at another accredited institution that has a graduate program, the grade earned is a B or better, taken within the past 8 years, and has not been used for a previous degree. Credits with P grades will not be accepted as transfer credits. Transfer credits cannot replace required residency credit.
    
4. Work for a master's degree must be completed within 6 years. If a master's student has not completed his or her degree within the 6-year limit, a letter from the student's supervisory committee to the Graduate School is required.
    
5. Course work for the master's degree is valid for 8 years. To revalidate outdated course work, the supervisory committee and the major professor must sign a statement of procedures taken to update such credits. Procedures may be testing or requiring additional course work. This statement must be submitted to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies for approval. The 8-year time limit also applies to transfer credits and procedures for validation are the same as above.
    
6. Credit earned by special examination (e.g., in challenging a course) cannot be used for satisfying the requirement for a graduate degree nor used to meet the resident requirement for graduation.
    
7. No more than 12 graduate credits taken prior to matriculation will be accepted toward a master's degree.  Credits cannot have been used towards another degree.
    
8. Graduate students are required to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA. Students whose semester GPA falls below 3.0 will be notified that the semester's grades were below the acceptable standard for a graduate degree program. Students whose accumulative GPA falls below 3.0 for two consecutive semesters will either be reduced to nonmatriculated status or terminated from the degree program. Nonmatriculation requires a special application to regain matriculation. In addition, grades below C will not be accepted. Students will be permitted to retake a maximum of one course only one time. Students receiving more than two course grades below C may be terminated from the program.
    
9. Dissemination of Course Session Videos:  As a general policy, videos are not available to students.  In certain cases, they may be available under the following circumstances:
   • Incapacitating illness which requires medical attention for the student or a member of his or her immediate family
      
   • Death in the immediate family
      
   • Professional responsibilities related to the student's employment (e.g., required attendance at a district meeting on the same night as class).

   In all other cases, students will need to obtain information about the missed class from their peers.  Videos will be viewed at the extension site.  Students will not be allowed to take videos home.
    

10. Elective Course Credit:  Twelve of the thirty six credits associated with the Distance Masters degree program in Special Education are elective credits.  The criteria used to determine if a course qualifies for elective credit is, the course number is 5000 level or above and the course is educationally relevant.
    
    Subject to the discretion of the committee, no more than six elective credits may come from nontraditional courses, (e.g., workshops, conferences, institutes, PBS, UEN, KUED).   All nontraditional courses must be graded and be affiliated with a university graduate program.  Finally, all nontraditional courses must be pre-approved by the student's graduate committee to determine if the course qualifies for elective credit.
     
11. Creative Project/Thesis Grades:  A "P" or "F" grade will be given for the first three credits of Creative Project/Thesis (proposal stage).  For the final three credits of Creative Project/Thesis (defense stage) students producing exceptional creative projects may be awarded an "A," others would receive a "P" for pass or an "F" for fail.  The decision to use an A or P/F grade is left up to the committee.

 GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES

Department of Special Education & Rehabilitation
Graduate Programs

The department’s Graduate programs provide students with a rigorous course of study. As students proceed through their program, they may occasionally feel they have been treated unfairly. This may include unfair application of existing rules and regulations or grievances against the department or professors whom a student believes is not following the policies and procedures described in university, college or department student handbooks.

When a student believes that rules and regulations were not applied fairly or that department policies and procedures were not followed, there is a sequential process which should be followed in handling the situation.

1. The student should go to the specific professor and discuss the situation. It may be resolvable at this level. Should no agreement be reached;
    
2. The student may present the case in writing to the Chair of the department’s Graduate Committee, Dr. Tim Slocum. The Graduate Committee will review the student’s grievance. During this review the student may be asked to clarify information either in person or in writing. The Graduate Committee will provide the student with a written response after considering the student’s grievance. If the student is not satisfied with the decision rendered by the Graduate committee;
    
3. The student may present the case in writing to the Department Head, Dr. Benjamin Lignugaris/Kraft. The Department Head will meet with the student and attempt to resolve the situation. After considering the student’s grievance, the Department Head will provide the student with a written response. If the student is not satisfied with the decision rendered by the department head;
    
4. The student may take the problem to the Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Laurens Smith. The Dean will conduct an inquiry and attempt to resolve the matter.