Masters Academic Regulations and Student Responsibilities
All students are governed by School of Nursing Policies. Therefore, it is essential that students regularly review and familiarize themselves with those policies. Questions about policies should be directed to the Student Services Office or the appropriate faculty advisor.
Health Requirements
- Health Form (pdf format to download)
Upon admission, all graduate students in the School of Nursing are required to have a health examination that includes specific laboratory tests. A Hepatitis B vaccination is also required (unless student signs special waiver) as recommended by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). The cost of the examination, tests, and vaccine is the responsibility of the individual student. Students are required to have a health screening update annually thereafter. Also, nursing students are required to have medical and hospitalization insurance in addition to the coverage provided through the University Student Health Service.
Students enrolled in the School of Nursing (where exposure to human blood or other potentially infectious materials is probable or possible) must carry health insurance validated each term that will cover payment of treatment and follow-up procedures.
Nursing License
During the admission process, each student must provide a copy of his/her current Registered Nurse license to the Student Services Office, to be placed in the student's academic file. When the license on file has expired, a copy of the current license must replace it, and it is the student's responsibility to provide that updated copy to the Student Services Office.
Liability Insurance
All nursing students are required to participate in the blanket professional liability coverage offered through the University. The annual cost has been $12 per year, but is subject to change. This policy covers all activities while a student in the School of Nursing.
Transportation to Agencies
Students must assume responsibility for all transportation to clinical practice sites, community health agencies, and field trips.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
During each course in which the student is completing clinical activities, the student will be expected to provide the clinical instructor with evidence of current CPR certification. This certification must include a 1 and 2-person, as well as adult/infant CPR.
Clinical Requirements
Each student is expected to meet requirements established by clinical agencies where the student is participating in learning experiences. These requirements may include evidence of a PPD within the past year and Act 33/34 clearances. Information about specific requirements will be communicated to students after registration for a particular clinical setting.
Withdrawal from a Course
After the add/drop period and prior to the end of the ninth week of the term (fourth week of a session), a student may withdraw from a course by completing a monitored withdrawal form obtained from the Student Services Office. After that date, a student will be permitted to withdraw from a course or from all courses only in extraordinary circumstances and with permission of the Associate Dean of the School of Nursing. There is no tuition adjustment associated with a course withdrawal at that point. A student who stops attending a course and does not initiate the withdrawal or resignation procedures may be assigned an F grade.
Resignation
An official resignation occurs when the student notifies the University's Office of Student Accounts of the intent to terminate registration for all classes after the end of the add/drop period, but no later than the 60th calendar day of the term or the deadlines noted in the Schedule of Classes for the summer sessions. An R grade will be assigned for each course for which the student registered.
Credits
The full time credit load for graduate students in the School of Nursing is 9 credits for each 15-week term. Permission to take more than 15 credits in a term must be obtained from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (or designee) prior to registration. Credit overload will not be honored without approval. The student will be billed for each additional graduate credit above 15.
New Grading Systems
Effective the beginning of the Fall Term 2081, the School of Nursing will begin to include “pluses and minuses” in the grading system, and the school policies will be revised to reflect these changes.; Your instructors will inform you of how the policy will be applied in each individual course. However, all students should be aware that one of the effects of the change will be the minimum passing grade for all “NUR and Core Science courses will be a “B-".
H/S/U Grading
Students are permitted to carry one elective course per term on an H/S/U basis if that grade option is available for the course.
- No student may change the grading of a course to an H/S/U basis after the normal add/drop period.
- The H or S grades will not be used in computing the QPA, but will be counted as credit toward graduation.
- The U grade will not be counted as credit toward graduation and will not be used in computing the QPA.
- Once an H/S/U card has been submitted, a change to the letter grade system will not be permitted.
Satisfactory/Audit Grading System (S/N)
The Satisfactory/Audit system provides an alternative to letter grades to encourage students to enroll in elective courses they would not ordinarily select.
- The S grade is awarded for satisfactory completion of course requirements.
- Satisfactory completion is defined as a C grade or higher. If less than satisfactory work is done, an N grade is recorded on the transcript.
- Less than satisfactory performance is defined as a C- grade or lower.
- Courses for which an S grade is received are counted toward graduation but not computed in the QPA.
Students who choose this grading option must do so by submitting
a Grade Option form by the end of the third full week of classes
during a term (second full week of classes during the Summer Sessions).
This decision may not be changed. Grade Option forms are available
in the Student Services Office, Room 239, Victoria Building.
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Incomplete Grades
The incomplete grade, G, may be given at the option of the instructor when seriously extenuating circumstances do not permit the student to complete course work. University policy 09-01.05 requires"G" grade course requirements to be completed no later than one year or 3 terms after the term or session in which the course was taken. After the deadline has passed, the student is required to re-register for the course if it is needed to fulfill requirements for graduation.
If the G grade is given in a prerequisite course, the G grade must be removed before the end of the add/drop period or the student cannot continue in the subsequent course. To remove the G grade, the student must obtain a grade change authorization card (from the School of Nursing Student Services Office) which is given to the instructor. The instructor then records the grade change and returns the card to the Student Services Office. Except in unusual circumstances, a G grade that is not removed within the designated time period will remain on the student's academic record. If the course is needed to fulfill requirements for graduation, the student will have to re-register for the course.
Quality Point Computation
Students should keep track of their own term and cumulative Quality Point Average (QPA). Each credit carried is awarded quality points that are computed according to the following grade scale.
To calculate the term QPA, divide the total number of quality points earned that term by the total numbers of credits carried (excluding credits for courses for which the grades G, N, R, H, S, U, or W are given.) The cumulative QPA is calculated in the same manner using the quality point and credit totals for all work completed. When a course is repeated, only the most recent grade, credits, and quality points will be used to determine the QPA and, therefore, the student's scholastic standing.
Although the credits earned through transfer of credit/advanced standing from another school count toward fulfillment of quantitative graduation requirements, the grades earned in such courses are not included in quality point computations. Dean's List, graduation honors, provisional status, warning, and probation depend only on the official QPA derived from courses taken in the program at the School of Nursing.
Class Designation
Class designation is based upon successful completion of course requirements for each year of the curriculum.
Acceptable Academic Status
All students must maintain a cumulative QPA of 3.00 (B average) or better throughout the program. Any graduate student whose cumulative QPA falls below 3.00 is subject to academic action.
Students admitted with Provisional Status must achieve and maintain a cumulative QPA of 3.0 or above in courses required for the degree sought, following the completion of 12 credits after admission, in order to remain in the program.
Warning, Probation, and Dismissal
A student who has received a term QPA below 3.00 will be sent a letter of warning. There may be an unlimited number of warnings. The warning will not be recorded on the transcript.
After completion of 12 credits, a student whose term QPA falls below 3.00 or whose cumulative QPA falls below 3.00 will be placed on academic probation. To be removed from probation, a student's cumulative QPA must be at least 3.00 after the completion of 9 additional credits.
Unless extenuating circumstances exist, graduate students will be dismissed from the school if: (1) their cumulative QPA falls below 3.00 after the completion of 12 credits if admitted on Provisional Status; (2) their cumulative QPA falls below 3.00 after the completion of 9 credits on probation; (3) they earn an unacceptable grade for a second time in any course; or (4) they earn an unacceptable grade in more than two courses.
Students may also be suspended or dismissed for (1) illegal or unethical professional conduct or (2) a pattern of unsafe or incompetent clinical practice. The publication, Guidelines on Academic Integrity, and the school's policies on academic integrity shall be the references for appropriate procedures for adjudication. See section, Academic Integrity.
Policies governing warning, probation, and dismissal are subject to change. The same system of warning and probation that exists for full-time students will be applicable to part-time students.
Repeating of Courses
A
student may repeat a course only once if an unsatisfactory grade
has been earned. Only the final grade earned is counted in computing
the credits earned and the QPA. To register to repeat a course,
the student must obtain permission on the appropriate form, which
is available from the School of Nursing Student Services Office.
Re-examination or extra work cannot be used as a basis for a change
of grade.
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Registration
Students must register during the official registration period each term. Permission must be obtained from the Director of Student Services or designate to register after the designated period, but the student will be charged a late registration fee.
Students who need to add or drop courses can do so only during the designated add/drop period according to the University's academic calendar, usually through the first two weeks of the term. Students must consult their advisor in the School of Nursing and complete the appropriate form.
Degree Requirements
To earn the degree of Master of Science in Nursing, the student must demonstrate satisfactory academic achievement in required course work prescribed by the curriculum with an overall academic achievement of a minimum QPA of 3.00.
Statute of Limitations
Degree requirements must be fulfilled within a period of five years. After the five-year period, re-evaluation of credits will be required.
Courses Taken Elsewhere
Official transcripts certifying graduate courses taken at another college or university should be submitted at the time of admission. After admission, the program advisor may evaluate courses taken elsewhere for acceptability as transfer credit. This should be done early in the student's graduate program. No more than one-third of the total number of required credits in the student's program here may be granted as transfer credits from another institution. Grades accepted for transfer courses must be B or higher.
Cross Registration
Cross-college and cross-university registration is a program designed to provide for enriched educational opportunities for graduates students at any of the ten institutions that comprise the Pittsburgh Council of Higher Education (PCHE): Carnegie Mellon, Carlow College, Chatham College, Community College of Allegheny County, Duquesne University, Point Park College, La Roche College, Robert Morris College, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and the University of Pittsburgh. Under the terms of this program, full time students at any one of these institutions are granted the opportunity to enroll for one class per semester/term at any of the other institutions. Courses must be selected from those regularly accredited toward master's degree programs, and a student registering for them must meet all prerequisites. Priority in registration goes to the students of the host college. Full credit and grades are transferred. Students interested in cross registering should consult their advisor. Cross registration is not permitted in the Summer Term.
Comprehensive Examination
Each Master's degree student must successfully complete the comprehensive examination before graduation. The comprehensive examination is a one day proctored exam that tests the student's ability to critically analyze, organize, and synthesize material learned over the total period of the graduate program. It is comprised of questions which require application of knowledge acquired in the core and specialty courses, and is generally taken at the beginning of the term in which the student is expected to graduate.
Application for Graduation
The application for the degree must be filed at least three months before the degree is to be conferred, and the student must be enrolled in the term in which the degree is conferred. Students must be in good financial standing with the University to receive their diploma. Unless a student specifies otherwise, the diploma along with a complimentary official copy of the final transcript, will be mailed to the permanent address at no charge approximately six weeks after the end of the graduation term. Each student should check this transcript carefully and bring any discrepancies to the attention of the Registrar's Office immediately. Candidates are encouraged to appear in person at commencement exercises.
For more Information please contact Student Services at sao50@pitt.edu