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.

GRADUATE STUDENT APPEALS

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.)

GRADUATE STUDENT WRITING RESOURCES - Dissertation Dive In and other writing tools. 

LETTERS OF GOOD STANDING (LoGS) - Transfer Credit Requests

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

(Please note that graduate students who seek transfer credit should consult with their advisor to see if a course is appropriate for transfer credit, and to determine how many hours can be transferred based upon the policies of a given program.)

The student must be a "degree-seeking" graduate student

  • The request must be initiated by the advisor (not the student) through the  online LoGS request form
  • Include student's name, ID, institution address, course to be taken
  • After completing the course the student must request that a transcript (showing the final grade) be sent to VSU Graduate School
  • Consult with advisors or the Graduate School regarding how many hours can transfer
  • Graduate students 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.

Enrollment by Undergraduates in Accelerated Programs (4 + 1)

  • A student enrolled in an Accelerated (4 + 1) Program may enroll in graduate hours if they have earned at least 60 undergraduate hours and have an overall academic grade point average of 3.0.
  • The number of hours of graduate coursework taken as an undergraduate will be established by the Accelerated Program guidelines.
  • Permission for an undergraduate student to take graduate courses in the Accelerated Program 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, the student ID number, and verification that the student meets all requirements outlined in the Accelerated Program guidelines.
  • Students in the Accelerated Program must take at least 21 graduate hours post-baccalaureate to earn the master's degree.
  • Deficiency points will apply once a student is admitted to her/his graduate program and the courses 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.

> GETTING READY FOR GRADUATION

Handbooks & Guides

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