Academic Honesty & Plagiarism

Valdosta State University now has a new resource available for you to report incidents of student misconduct, including Academic Integrity violations. The link to this reporting mechanism is available at the Student Conduct Office, on the Faculty Resources site at Academic Affairs, and on the Academic Honesty webpage.

New Form: Academic Integrity reports (AIR) 

LETTERS OF GOOD STANDING (Transient Letters)

What if your advisee wants to take a course at another institution and transfer it to VSU?

Instructions for Requesting Letters of Good Standing (Word Format)

• The student must be a "degree-seeking" graduate student
• The request must be initiated by you, the advisor, in memo form or e-mail
• Include student's name, ID, institution address, course to be taken
• After completing the course the student must request a transcript showing the grade and course be sent to VSU Graduate School
• Only 6 grad hours can transfer
• Do not use Transient Permission forms issued by the Registrar's Office

Requests for Extension of 7-Year Rule (course age extension)

• A student's advisor must send a memo to the Dean of the Graduate School requesting an extension. Include a brief justification. Please include student's ID number. The student's transcript will be reviewed - the Dean will then respond with a memo to the advisor and cc: the Registrar's Office if the request is approved or denied.

Enrollment By Undergraduates

A student with senior standing at Valdosta State University, with an overall academic grade-point average of 3.0 or better, may register for graduate courses during the final two semesters of undergraduate work under the following conditions:

• No more than a total of 9 semester hours may be taken for graduate credit, and no more than 6 semester hours of graduate work may be taken in a given semester.
• A student registering for one or more graduate courses is limited to the normal graduate academic course load of 12 semester hours per semester.
• Permission for a student to take graduate courses under this provision is granted only by the Dean of the Graduate School upon recommendation of the student’s advisor.
• To request permission, the student’s advisor must submit a request to the Dean of the Graduate School on behalf of the student. The request should contain the student’s full name, student ID number, and verification that the student meets all requirements outlined, and a brief justification for the request.
• Permission must be obtained for each semester in which the student desires to take graduate courses. Once permission is granted, the academic department must manually place the undergraduate into the approved graduate-level courses.
• Deficiency points will apply if graduate courses taken by undergraduates are counted toward graduate degree requirements.

Program of Study Forms

An embedded Excel spreadsheet can be accessed and modified endlessly by double clicking on it. The form
itself is a Word document. Each department/program can modify language on the form to fit its needs.

• for Master's Degree
• for Second Master's Degree
• EDD & DPA Programs - check with doctoral advisors

Graduate Student Appeals Forms

• Grade appeals are handled at the Departmental and College levels. Students first contact instructors responsible for assigning the grade or department heads to initiate the appeals process. (Depts utilize the University's Grade Appeal form.)
• If students are denied admission to graduate school or dismissed from their programs, please direct them to the following web site for appropriate appeals forms: click here. 
• Appellate Procedures

Handbooks & Guides

• Graduate Catalog
• Thesis and Dissertation Information Page 
• Thesis Committee Appointment Form (PDF)
• Graduate Student Handbook (under revision!)
• EDD Doctoral Program Handbook
  • EDD Faculty and Student Resources
  • Emergency Stop-Out Form
  • COE Doctoral Faculty Application (must have full, associate, or temp status to be eligible)

• DPA Program Handbook

Conflict Resolution

• Conflict Resolution Process and Committee Information (fomerly Alternative Dispute Resolution)
• FOR FACULTY, STAFF, AND STUDENTS -- In 1994, the University System of Georgia Board
  of Regents' initiative and the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution established
  a system-wide conflict resolution program as a way to:
  1. communicate differences without opposition
  2. resolve conflict at lowest level
  3. improve institutional environment
  4. lead the development of ADR in higher education