Academic Policies
Student Identity Verification Policy
Woodmont College takes measures to assure that students’ identity is verified and only the individual who was accepted and is enrolled in the college has access to course materials, proctored examinations, and grade reports.
Student identity is verified during the application process by submitting a copy of a valid government-issued photo identification document, such as a driver’s license or passport.
In addition, a phone or online interview helps the Admissions personnel to confirm that personal identifying information is accurate, through informal discussion and verification of personal details.
A student applying to Woodmont College receives a unique login and password. Course content and online gradebooks can only be accessed when the student logs into the website with this identifying information.
Prior to sharing information with a student on the phone, the student is asked to provide identifying information.
Many courses culminate with a proctored exam. The exams are proctored through approved online proctoring services. Online proctors use legal photo IDs as well as publicly available information to verify the student’s identity before giving the student access to the proctored exam.
The best indicator of student identity is the way Woodmont College assignments are designed. Many assignments require students to apply the new content knowledge to their personal situations. When completing these assignments, students use their own “voice”.
As teachers read and respond to students on a weekly basis, teachers get to know each student’s “voice”. With a small number of faculty members, faculty teach multiple classes and often teach students in more than one class. Therefore, the faculty and students develop a relationship with faculty recognizing each student’s “voice.”
Academic Engagement Policy
Academic Engagement Requirements:
Students are responsible for all material taught in a course. This includes material taught via lecture, interactive class session, or discussion board. Assignments must be submitted on time. The teacher may reduce the grade for an assignment as penalty for discussion posts or work submitted late. Graded work that receives below a 70% will require a discussion with the instructor.Instructor
Interaction:
Instructor’s interact with students via the Learning Management System, during weekly Office Hours, and via phone and email.
Office Hours:
Instructors offer up to two hours per week to meet with students live. The office hours are usually by appointment, and posted on the course homepage as well as in the syllabus. These sessions will take place either by phone or online. Students are sometimes provided with an online calendar link to schedule appointments with their professors. Additionally, students may email the professor directly.
Professors inform students of their email address and any other contact information of their choice, and respond within 24 hours, unless it is a holiday or weekend. Students may post general questions or comments in the appropriate venue within the course.
Assignment Submission Policy
All assigned coursework should be submitted in the format outlined, unless the student has received prior approval. This includes but is not limited to forum postings, projects, and oral assignments. Each assignment must be submitted by its due date. Assignments submitted late may be subject to partial credit, or in some cases not accepted as determined by the course instructor. All assignments should be submitted prior to the end of course date.
Students who fail to submit all coursework by semester end will be issued a Fail (F) for the course. If special circumstances require an extension for submitting coursework past the end of the semester, students may request an extension and be issued an Incomplete grade.
For information on requesting an extension and earning an Incomplete grade, refer to the Incomplete Grade Policy. Course extensions carry a fee of $130.
Instructors have the option to modify the Woodmont College Assignment Submission policy. If an instructor selects to modify the Woodmont College Assignment Submission policy, the instructor is required to inform students of the policy during the first week of class. The default policy for late work is as follows:
Faculty and staff of Woodmont College realize that emergencies do occur. If a student will be unable to complete an assignment by the due date, the student is to contact the instructor PRIOR to the due date. Early contact is best, as plans can be made to keep the student from falling behind, and ensure the highest possible grade.
Course Extensions
Academic Integrity Policy
Woodmont College Statement Of Ethics
The goal of higher education is to promote knowledge and to help students attain their aspirations. To accomplish these goals, ethical conduct and consideration of others is required.
Violations
At Woodmont College, we expect our student body to maintain a strong honor code throughout their academic career at the college. This honor code begins from the very outset of their engagement with Woodmont College. Falsifying information on admission documents will be classified as a violation of the integrity policy.
All forms of academic dishonesty such as cheating, plagiarism, and misrepresentation are violations of academic integrity standards.
Definitions
Cheating includes copying from another’s work, or exam. Violations include facilitating cheating by divulging exam information to other students and helping them to cheat.Plagiarism refers to the presenting work of another as one’s own i.e. not attributing the idea or statement to the rightful author. Any source which a student uses in an assignment, whether in a paper or even in a discussion post, must be properly cited (quoted). This includes electronic sources as well. Plagiarism includes submitting the same assignment in two separate courses.
We encourage our students to reach out to each other for support. However, students may not complete assignments together and submit identical content unless the assignment is specified as a collaborative assignment. Working together on assignments that are not specified as joint projects violates the academic integrity policy.
The Moodle platform includes a plagiarism checker which reviews and scores all submissions. Any submission with a score of over 10% will be reviewed. Professors may also use plagiarism checking technology such as Grammarly.com, PlagTracker.com, or Plagiarisma.net to check student work and detect plagiarism.
Misrepresentation includes forgery of official academic documents, presenting oneself as another student for the purposes of completing an assignment, or taking an exam for another student. Using artificial intelligence to complete assignments also falls under this category. Work submitted must be completed by the student who is submitting it.
A note about artificial intelligence: Using artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT to complete assignments is prohibited at Woodmont College. It is equivalent to hiring someone else to write an assignment on one’s behalf and violates Woodmont’s academic integrity policy, the college’s ethical and moral standards, and Torah values. It includes content that distorts Torah ideas and is not in line with Woodmont’s religious identity statement.
Discussing, reporting and adjudicating violoations
Any form of academic dishonesty or inappropriate conduct must be reported directly to the Dean and will result in penalties ranging from a personal warning to dismissal from the College, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction.
Penalties:
In the case of a first offense, faculty members have the option to allow students to re-do an assignment with a grade penalty, except if AI has been used. The use of AI to complete an assignment results in an automatic zero for the assignment. Students are placed on Academic Probation after a first offense. After a second infraction, the student will be dismissed from the college with no refund.
Leave Of Absence
Students may request a Leave of Absence (LOA) for up to one calendar year. To request a LOA, the student submits the Leave of Absence form to the Registrar. Included in the request is the expected date of return. The Registrar maintains contact with the student during the LOA to monitor the student’s plans to return to studies.
Course Enrollment and Withdrawal Policy
Students self-enroll in courses. To withdraw, students should fill out the drop form and submit it to the Registrar. Withdrawals within 2 weeks of enrollments are removed from the student’s record. Withdrawals within 2-4 weeks of enrollment remain on the student record with a W. If a student withdraws after 4 weeks in a course, the grade is an F.
Unit of Credit
Woodmont College offers all degree programs on a semester credit hour basis. One semester credit equals 15 hours of academic engagement and 30 hours of preparation time totaling 45 hours. A 3-credit course includes 45 hours of academic engagement and 90 hours of preparation.The following table outlines the number of credits required for graduation from each program offered at Woodmont College:
Standards for Satisfactory Progress in a Course
The minimum standards considered for satisfactory progress in a course or program for credit earned and to graduate are:
- Eighty percent (80%) participation in online discussion board
- Completion of all tests and assignments at 70% or better
- A student must maintain a CGPA of 2.0
Proctored Exams
Many courses culminate with a final exam, which is proctored using industry-standard online proctoring services. Online proctoring services are modeled after the in-classroom experience. The proctoring services use specific protocol for identity validation, including having students show an official ID. The proctors monitor the students through audio and video connections and employ screen-sharing technology that allows the proctor to view the student’s computer screen during the exam session.
Proctored exams are spread out within the program, with some lower level and some upper level courses requiring proctored exams. This ensures that students throughout the program will be properly identified. Standard general education courses such as algebra, introductory technology courses, and social science courses also require proctored exams.
Many courses that require a final require students to complete the final exam with an online
proctoring service
Standards for Satisfactory Progress in a Program
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is a tool that is used to evaluate whether students are progressing in their programs and are on track to graduate in a reasonable timeframe. Both qualitative and quantitative standards are used to evaluate student progress. SAP contains three elements : Cumulative Grade Point Average, Completion Ratio, and Maximum Time Frame.
1. Cumulative Grade Point Average (Qualitative Standard)
Undergraduate students maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.0. Graduate students maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0.
2. Completion Ratio (Quantitative Standard)
Students pass 2/3 of credit hours attempted. In other words, students pass 67% of courses attempted. This is calculated by dividing cumulative hours of credits completed successfully by cumulative hours of credits attempted.
3. Maximum Time Frame
Students are within SAP as long as they are on pace to complete the degree within 150% of the maximum time frame. Time frame refers to the number of attempted credit hours. For an associate degree, that is a maximum of 90 credit hours. For a bachelor’s degree, that is 180 credit hours, and for a master’s degree, that is 54 credit hours. If a student attempted 100 credit hours for a bachelor’s degree, yet has 90 credit hours remaining to complete his degree, he or she is officially out of SAP.
Full time students have four years to complete associate degree programs and six years to complete bachelor degree programs. During this time, students must take at least two courses a year to remain active students. Once during their program of study, students are allowed to take a formal Leave of Absence for one calendar year. This Leave of Absence period is not counted towards a student’s allotted program completion time.
Maintaining enrollment
Many students transfer in credits to Woodmont. Once a student completes all of their courses at Woodmont College, they have one year from the date of completion of their last course at Woodmont to fulfill all remaining degree requirements and graduate.
During this one-year period, when students are not taking Woodmont courses, the students must complete any additional courses, exams, or transfer credits needed for graduation. They must transfer in these credits and file for graduation during this year.
If students do not complete their degrees within that year, they will be required to pay a $500 fee to maintain enrollment for an additional year. If the student chooses not to pay the fee, the student will be withdrawn for inactivity.
If, after the additional year, the student has still not completed all graduation requirements, the student will be withdrawn from Woodmont for being inactive. To return and complete their degree, the student must reapply for admission and will be subject to the current program requirements and tuition rates in effect at the time of readmission.
SAP Appeals and Probation
Appeals
Students may appeal if unusual and/or mitigating circumstances affected academic progress. Such circumstances may include a severe illness or injury to the student or an immediate family member, the death of a student’s relative, student military service activation or other circumstances as deemed appropriate for consideration by the Dean.
To appeal, the student must submit a letter and supporting documentation to the Dean. These must explain in detail why the student failed to meet the minimum academic standards, what unusual and/or mitigating circumstances contributed to the failure, and how their situation has changed to allow the student to meet SAP requirements by the next calculation.
Submit appeals to the SAP Appeals Committee care of: registrar@woodmontcollege.edu Appeals are reviewed within 15 working days of receipt of all required documentation. Students will be notified by email if the above timeframe is revised during peak processing times.
For more information about appeals and probations click here