Registration

Students who attend a course for which they are not officially registered will not receive credit or grades for their work. The registration of all students is conducted under the direction of the Registrar, according to the schedule of classes for the College year. The official registration records are compiled and administered in the Office of the Registrar. All full-time undergraduate and graduate students are registered at specific times and dates as listed in the official calendars. The registrar publishes, in advance of each registration, specific instructions regarding procedures. Students who fail to register by the registration deadline may be required to pay a late-registration fee. Courses with low enrollments are subject to cancellation. Not all courses listed in the course description section of the Catalogs are offered each semester.

All graduate students (full- and part-time) must report to their advisors for registration clearance prior to registering and adding or dropping courses..

Springfield College maintains a five-day add period and a ten-day drop period at the start of each semester. Late registration will be permitted only in an emergency, and a fee may be assessed in such cases.

No graduate student will be placed in a supervised fieldwork or student teaching experience until admitted to graduate standing and candidacy for a degree. Students will not be eligible to register for a course by arrangement, Guided Individual Study (RSCH 618), Thesis (RSCH 625-635), or Dissertation (RSCH 735) until the above condition has been met.*

*On the recommendation of the department and upon approval by the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, exceptions to this regulation may be made for students pursuing approved certification programs.

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Springfield College maintains a five-day add period and a ten-day drop period each semester (excluding summer). During the first five days of each semester, students may request additions to their schedule of courses. Students must complete a Change-of-Schedule Form to complete schedule additions. The form may be obtained from the Office of the Registrar. All Change-of-Schedule Forms must be signed by the students advisor before they are brought to the registrar for processing. After the five-day add period, students may not make additions to their academic schedules. Students are urged to refer to the Academic Schedule each semester for more specific information.

During the first ten days of the semester, students may drop a course for which they have registered. An approved Change-of-Schedule Form must be signed by the students advisor. Students are encouraged to refer to the Colleges publication of Fiscal Facts for additional information.

After the ten-day drop period, students may, with the approval of their advisor and course instructor, withdraw (receive a grade of W) from a course anytime up to a point at which eighty percent of the course is completed (twelve weeks in a fifteen-week semester). Exceptions to the withdrawal deadline can be made only by the Assistant Vice-President for Academic Affairs. A “W” grade cannot be submitted for a student by the course instructor.

Springfield College will maintain student confidentiality rights and protect access to information as provided by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Except as provided by law, information from a students records will not be released without the prior written consent of the student. This legislation also provides numerous exceptions whereby the College may release information without prior notice and/or consent of the student, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Directory information may be provided unless a student has filed a written request to withhold this information. Students must advise the Office of the Registrar in writing no later than September 15 of each academic year if they wish to restrict the release of this information. Springfield College considers the following information as directory information: name, campus mailbox, campus phone number, enrollment status, dates of attendance at the College, major, credit hours earned, degrees earned, honors received.
2. Information may be shared with and by Springfield College faculty and staff who have a legitimate educational interest in the student.
3. Academic information may be shared with parents of students who complete an authorization to release academic records information, or if parents provide the Registrar with an annual copy of their federal income tax return documenting the student as a dependent.

Any request for information regarding current or former students? academic records must be directed to the Registrar.

Students retain the right to review the contents of their educational and academic records. In order to do so, a formal written request must be made through the Office of the Registrar. In such cases, a meeting will be established within forty-five days of the request to permit the student to review materials. Springfield College will comply with a written request initiated by the student to supply information in their behalf. Such requests must be signed and dated and include the specific records or information to be disclosed, the purpose for the disclosure, and the individual(s) to whom the information should be released. Details concerning FERPA are available at the Office of the Dean of Students and the Office of the Registrar.

Students may obtain student-issued, unofficial copies of their academic transcripts for the duration of study at Springfield College. Applications for these transcripts are made in writing to the Office of the Registrar.

A $5 fee is charged for transcripts requested to be officially sent to a third party. Official transcript requests must include name and address of the official to whom the information is to be mailed, along with a students signature as permission to release a record.

Official transcripts, bearing the College seal, are sent by the registrar directly to the receiver and may not be transmitted by the applicant. Ordinarily, transcript requests will be processed and mailed within ten days of the written request.

Currently enrolled students; non-enrolled students; students who have been separated, dismissed, suspended, expelled, disciplined, withdrawn, or were on a leave of absence may not obtain an official transcript, access to registration for courses, selection of a residence hall room, and/or a diploma if their accounts are not paid in full, as and when due.

Students who do not intend to complete their graduate degree program at Springfield College may withdraw from the College. To withdraw from Springfield College, a student must meet with the School Dean or her/his designee for an exit interview, at which time the various steps of the withdrawal process will be reviewed. The purpose of the interview is to provide the student with an opportunity to review options and bring closure to the experience at the College. At the interview, an effective withdrawal date will be determined. This date will be used in processing any potential refunds. Withdrawal from the College closes out the student’s academic record. A withdrawal may not be rescinded, but a student may choose to reapply for admission to his or her program.

Any matriculated graduate student, who is both within his or her candidacy period and in good academic standing, may apply for a leave of absence. A leave of absence allows for a temporary interruption of the student’s graduate program and by definition will extend the candidacy period of the student for a time period equivalent to the leave. A leave of absence should be requested through the student’s department chair, graduate coordinator, or Campus Director and must be approved by the Dean of the School. The leave of absence option allows the student to re-enroll within the agreed upon time period without going through readmission procedures. A leave of absence may not extend for more than two terms; although the length of a leave may vary as necessitated by program requirements. Specific conditions for academic preparation to return to the program may be required. A written request for an extension of a leave due to extenuating circumstances will be considered by the school Dean. If students do not enroll after their leave of absence expires, they may lose their matriculation status, and may be required to reapply for admission.

Matriculated graduate and post-graduate students at Springfield College are expected to be registered each term until they graduate, unless they file an official leave of absence from the College. Those students who are eligible to enroll for classes, but are not registered for the current term and are working on the completion of a research project, thesis, dissertation, or coursework will be assessed the Continuous Registration fee for each term until degree completion occurs or the candidacy period of the student expires. This status allows students to maintain use of campus facilities including but not limited to off-campus access to library resources.

Springfield College endeavors to promote research in four areas: institutional research, research related to the Colleges objectives and programs, individual and new research, and service research.

The Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, in consultation with the Graduate Council, administers a General Research Fund that is designed to stimulate faculty research and to lead to larger studies that may receive further assistance from private or public sources. Support has been given to a wide variety of investigations. A student research fund, administered by the Graduate Office, is also available to provide financial assistance to graduate students who are conducting research studies.

The College Counseling Center, the East Campus, and the Babson Library offer campus opportunities for conducting research related to student interests and areas of study. Within the community, research is conducted in collaboration with agencies and schools. The Allied Health Sciences Building offers well-equipped laboratories for physiology, physiology of exercise, motor learning, biomechanics, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.

Other study and training projects financed or sponsored by federal and state governments, private industry, the YMCA, other social organizations, and philanthropic foundations are conducted from time to time making the College campus a lively place for students to enlarge their interests and to participate under supervision in many enriching experiences.

Computers on Campus
Computers are increasingly a necessary tool for instruction throughout the curriculum. Their use extends beyond simple word processing and includes a wide variety of applications which include spreadsheets, E-mail, group discussion databases, presentation programs, Internet research, library search services, and other specialized programs required within individual courses. The Information and Technology Services department (ITS) maintains a student public access computer lab and several training and instructional computer labs in the basement of Babson Library. All computer labs are connected to the campus data network and most provide printing services.

All labs run Windows 2000 operating systems; Apple OS is not supported by the college. The campus software package includes Microsoft Office and Microsoft Internet Explorer Internet access. All Springfield College students are given an individual E-mail account. Each campus residence room is equipped with a live data network outlet for each student.

For specifics on computing on campus, see the computing resources page at http://www.spfldcol.edu/homepage/dept.nsf/its.