Academic Expectations & Policies

University GPA Requirements

Credential candidates, like all graduate students are held to high standards for professionalism and academic performance. To remain in good academic standing, graduate students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on program coursework. Students falling below this level will be placed on academic probation by the Office of Graduate Studies for one semester. Two consecutive semesters of academic probation will result in academic disqualification from the university. Please be vigilant about your grades, and never hesitate to speak to your professors and your adviser about your performance in your coursework. Please consult the university's policy on academic standing for more information.

Program Grade Requirements

In addition to maintaining a 3.0 GPA, students must earn a minimum of a "C" grade in foundations courses, a minimum of a "B" grade in the Subject Specific Methods course and "Credit" in the fieldwork courses in order to have that course counted towards completing the requirements for a preliminary credential. Students are allowed to take any class a maximum of two times. Failure to meet minimum grade requirements when retaking a course will result in academic disqualification from the program. Being on  probation may prevent you from moving forward with student teaching.

For a complete list of university-wide policies, visit the SJSU Academic Senate Grades, Drop Policies, Registration, Fees, and Schedule webpage.

University Policy on Incompletes

An incomplete grade - also referred to as an "I" - can be assigned at the discretion of the instructor when a student has completed the majority of the requirements - generally 70-80% - in a course and can provide justification for an extension of requirements.

An incomplete must be made up within one calendar year immediately following the end of the term in which it was assigned. This limitation prevails whether or not the student maintains continuous enrollment. Failure to complete the assigned work will result in an incomplete "I" being converted to an "IC" - or an "NC" for non-traditionally graded courses - which will affect the grade point average. Please consult the University Catalog for complete information on Incomplete grades.

Readmission

Students who drop from matriculation without prior approval from the university and department must reapply for admission. Students who have left the program in good standing are invited to schedule an appointment with an advisor to review application requirements for readmission. A student's prior performance in the program, including GPA, credit in Phase I or II student teaching and CalTPA scores, will be considered in the review of their application. Poor performance on any of these key measures may lead to administrative disqualification from the program and denial of admission.  

Academic Integrity Policy

SJSU emphasizes responsible citizenship and an awareness of ethical choices inherent in human development. Academic honesty and fairness foster ethical standards for all those who depend upon the integrity of the university, its courses, and its degrees. University degrees are compromised and the public is defrauded if faculty members or students knowingly or unwittingly allow dishonest acts to be rewarded academically. This policy sets the standards for such integrity and shall be used to inform students, faculty and staff of the university's Academic Integrity Policy.

Plagiarism

At SJSU plagiarism is the act of representing the work of another as one's own without giving appropriate credit, regardless of how that work was obtained, and/or submitting it to fulfill academic requirements. Plagiarism at SJSU includes but is not limited to:

• The act of incorporating the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts of, and/or the specific substance of another's work, without giving appropriate credit, and/or representing the product as one's own work;
• Representing another's artistic/scholarly works such as musical compositions, computer programs, photographs, paintings, drawing, sculptures, or similar works as one's own.

University faculty may subscribe to or use plagiarism detection services as a routine part of their grading practice. Please consult the University's Policy on Plagiarism for more information.

Student Ethics and Disposition Review

Teacher credential candidates in the Teaching Credential Program are expected to abide by the Code of Ethics of the National Education Association and the department program's candidate dispositions statement.  Graduate Studies disqualification policy allows a department to determine if a student fails to behave in a manner commensurate with professional standards of the discipline.  Such a disqualification is called an administrative-academic disqualification.  In cases where there has been breach of ethical conduct by a teacher credential candidate, individuals may request a review of that conduct by a review panel according to the following process:

Student Conduct Review Steps

1. Incident is brought to the attention of the Department Chair or Credential Program Coordinator who reviews the case, confers with all parties involved (including school site personnel, faculty, the student teacher, etc). A report of the incident must be filed with a clear statement of the breach of the code of ethics and dispositions and a detailed listing of evidence.
2. If the Department Chair or Program Coordinator finds evidence of a breach of program standards for student ethics and dispositions, she/he shall convene a student conduct review panel.
3. Review panel composed of a committee of five: the program coordinator (or proxy) as a non-voting moderator, the supervisor (in cases of student teaching) or faculty member responsible for submitting the report (when the report is submitted by a faculty member) as a non-voting member, and three voting faculty members, one of the student’s choosing, if the student elects to make a choice. The panel shall review the report and evidence, as well as a written response made by the student under review.
4. The review panel votes and recommends a course of action to the Department Chair or Program Coordinator.
5. Department Chair and Program Coordinator, in consultation with the Lurie College of Education Dean's office and the office of the university ombudsperson, makes a final decision regarding a course of action and communicates the decision to the student under review.