Objectives of General Education
The pursuit of truth in a Christian Liberal Arts setting is ambitious in scale and humbling in its responsibilities. Yet given the light of faith and understanding that God and centuries of human cultural and intellectual endeavor provide us, we accept the project as exciting and life-changing not only for those who learn, but also for those who teach.
In that spirit, the Faculty Senate General Education Review Task Force proposes that the general education curriculum at Concordia University Chicago should nurture the following eight intellectual capabilities essential for a lifetime of reflection and seeking meaning.
Specifically, CUC’s general education curriculum should enable students to:
- Evaluate different viewpoints and defend these using appropriate research methods and sources of information based in the various academic disciplines.
- Read texts critically and demonstrate discipline-specific understanding.
- Communicate ideas, concepts and information effectively through written, verbal and non-verbal means.
- Communicate ideas effectively through writing.
- Communicate ideas effectively through verbal and non-verbal means.
- Examine and articulate one’s place in the human, natural and aesthetic worlds through verbal and non-verbal means.
- Integrate knowledge across the arts, sciences and humanities.
- Utilize philosophy and Christian theology to answer significant questions about the value and meaning of life.
- Use knowledge and wisdom to serve as responsible, effective and ethical citizens of our diverse nation and world.
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a Christian world view and its implications for living.
Credits
Concordia University Chicago operates on the semester system. The months of August through May are divided into two semesters of approximately 16 weeks each. The summer term makes it possible for a student to earn additional semester hours of credit. The unit of credit is the semester hour. Normally, one equivalent semester hour of credit is awarded on the basis of one 50-minute class session per week. The outside preparation required is approximately twice the time spent in class. Double/triple laboratory periods requiring less preparation are equivalent to a single lecture period.
Our ADP (Adult Degree Program) operates on a semester system. Please see the academic calendar for information.
The normal undergraduate/ADP student course load is 15-18 hours per semester. A student who drops below 12 hours in a 16-week semester is considered a part-time student. A student must be enrolled in at least 12 semester hours in a 16-week semester to be eligible to live in a residence hall.
Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors with a high academic average (normally a cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 or better) may secure permission from the Registrar to carry more than 18 hours. Please see your academic advisor for full details and forms needed. Additional charges occur for any credits over 18.
Classification of Academic Class Level
| Class | Semester Hours |
|---|---|
| Freshman | 0-29 |
| Sophomore | 30-59 |
| Junior | 60-89 |
| Senior | 90 or more |
The credits used to determine academic level include those earned at the University and any transfer credits. Second-degree seeking students will be classified on the basis of transfer credit and/or previous CUC credit.
Course Numbering
Courses carry the abbreviations of the academic discipline. The number of the course indicates the level of the course.
Prerequisite
A prerequisite is a requirement that students must successfully complete prior to taking a course. Please note that not every course has a prerequisite – prerequisite information is found in the catalog course description. With student success being the focus at CUC, if a student has not yet completed the prerequisite, they will be required to meet the minimum prerequisite at the time of registration based on the current catalog. Students who completed the prerequisite requirement prior to the standardization will not have to retake the prerequisite if they previously earned a lower eligible grade or score than currently required.
Midterm Grades: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading
Undergraduate students are provided with midterm progress halfway through a semester or session. Midterm grades play an important role in informing students of their academic progress in their courses. Students making unsatisfactory progress are connected to university resources.
- Students earning a grade of C or higher at the time of midterm grading will receive a midterm grade of ‘S’ or Satisfactory
- Students earning a grade of C- or lower at the time of midterm grading will receive a midterm grade of ‘U’ or Unsatisfactory
Midterm grades do not appear on student transcripts.
Pass/Fail Grade Selection Option
A grade of C or higher shall be equated with Pass for students graded on the Pass/Fail option. A grade of Pass will not be included in the student’s grade-point average. A grade of C-, D+, D, D- or F will be computed as an F in the cumulative GPA. Limitations on the Pass/Fail option may be established by individual colleges or programs. The Pass/Fail option is not available to anyone receiving Veteran’s Benefits. The instructor will not be informed of the student’s choice to be graded on a Pass/Fail basis. Applications for Pass/Fail option may be available online in the student portal.
If the Pass/Fail option is student initiated, a student:
- May choose to be graded on a Pass/Fail basis in a maximum of 3 semester hours in any one semester with a maximum of 18 semester hours in the total program.
- Must be carrying an academic load of at least 12 semester hours of CUC credit during any semester in which a Pass/Fail course is elected.
- Must file the intention to be graded on a Pass/Fail basis via the Pass/Fail Grade Option form with their Academic Advisor. Please review the University Academic Calendar for deadlines. This choice may not be altered after that time.
Courses offered as Pass/Fail will be identified in the course description. In such courses, every student will be graded either Pass or Fail. A designated Pass/Fail course does count toward the 18 semester hour limit.
The College of Education (COE) Initial Licensure Program has a stipulation indicating that students in COE may not take any course as Pass/Fail without permission of the Division Chair or College Dean. Students may not take a course as Pass/Fail if the course is mandated by their licensure program through the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Students may not take a course as Pass/Fail with the following course subject codes - EDEC, EDEL, EDMG, EDSC, EDSP, EDKS and EDUC. All student teaching internship courses and the edTPA course are excluded from this policy because they are graded on a Pass/Fail basis. General education courses outside of the required licensure programs may be taken as Pass/Fail if they are in alignment with the University policy as noted. The work of students engaged in early childhood, elementary, secondary or PK-12 student teaching is evaluated as Pass/No Pass. No Pass allows the completion of additional student teaching experiences or additional coursework when necessary. No quality points are equated with student teaching evaluation. Comprehensive forms, accompanied by the evaluation, become part of the student’s credential file.
Incomplete Grades
An Incomplete (I) grade is a temporary grade requested by the student to postpone course work due to extenuating circumstances (e.g. illness, death in the family). An agreement must be made between the student and the instructor outlining the remaining work needed to complete the course by submitting the Incomplete Grade Authorization Form to the Office of the Registrar. This signed form and related documentation must be received by the Office of the Registrar by the appropriate deadline below. Incomplete submissions, late submissions, or submissions for students who do not meet the criteria (satisfactory standing in the course at the time of the request and documentation of extenuating circumstances) will not be processed. Students must resolve the incomplete grade within six weeks from the day the course ended. Upon completion, the instructor will change the “I” to the appropriate letter grade by submitting the Change of Grade Form to the Office of the Registrar. If the student fails to complete the course work, a grade of “F” is recorded. A one-time extension beyond the six-week deadline may be granted only with the approval of the instructor and the Office of the Registrar and must be received prior to the official posting of the student’s final grade. Whether or not the student is enrolled during the following term has no effect upon this completion date. In the event that the original instructor is no longer available to grade the work, the Division Chair, where applicable, or the College Dean will identify the faculty member who will resolve the incomplete.
Incomplete Grade Submission Deadlines
| Semester/Session | Incomplete Request Deadline |
|---|---|
| 8-Week | Friday of Week 7 |
| 16-Week | Friday of Week 15 |
Students must contact the Office of Financial Aid once the grade change has been processed in order to re-evaluate their SAP status for the semester they did not meet SAP. The Director of Financial Aid will review and make any necessary changes to the SAP status.
Change of Grade/Grade Appeal
Final grades are considered final and may not be changed by submitting additional work, assignments, exams, discussion posts, and/or extra credit after the end of course. All work must be submitted by the last day of the term unless the student has been approved for an incomplete request. A student may request a review of a course grade. If the student believes there is a substantial, unreasonable, or unannounced departure from the syllabus, rubrics, course outcomes, and/or assignments a student must initiate a grade appeal within fourteen days after final grades are due for that course. The Grade Appeal Process and Form are found in CUConnect. If needed, the names of division chairs and deans are found on the current organization chart in CUConnect. All final grade changes and grade change appeals must be resolved and must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar within six weeks after final grades are due. Grade change requests submitted after the six-week deadline will not be processed by the Office of the Registrar.
Grading
Concordia University Chicago does not have a University-wide grading scale or policy. Grading scales can be and are set internally by a college, a department or a professor. Grade reports are not issued by the Registrar’s Office. Final grades are available to all students via CUConnect, Concordia-Chicago’s online student portal. Any technical problems accessing this information should be referred to CougarNet for assistance. If a Concordia Chicago course is repeated, the highest grade will be used to calculate the grade-point average.
Quality Points and Transcript Key
Quality points are a set number of points issued for each credit hour granted at a specific grade level. The student’s work is evaluated according to the following scale:
| Grade | Description | Quality Points |
|---|---|---|
| A | Excellent | 4.00 pts. |
| A- | 3.67 pts. | |
| B+ | 3.33 pts. | |
| B | Good | 3.00 pts. |
| B- | 2.67 pts. | |
| C+ | 2.33 pts. | |
| C | Fair | 2.00 pts. |
| C- | 1.67 pts. | |
| D+ | 1.33 pts. | |
| D | Poor, but passing | 1.00 pts. |
| D- | 0.67 pts. | |
| F | Not passing | 0.00 pts. |
| I | Incomplete | 0.00 pts. |
| S | Satisfactory | 0.00 pts. |
| U | Unsatisfactory | 0.00 pts. |
| P | Pass | 0.00 pts. |
| AU | Audit | 0.00 pts. |
| AW | Administrative Withdrawal | 0.00 pts. |
| CT | Transfer Credit (Undergraduate only) | 0.00 pts. |
| NG | Not Graded | 0.00 pts. |
| NP | No Pass | 0.00 pts. |
| NR | Not Reported | 0.00 pts. |
| W | Withdrawal | 0.00 pts |
Course Repeat
Students are allowed to repeat a course to fulfill degree requirements with certain exceptions. If a Concordia University Chicago course is repeated, the highest grade will be used to calculate the cumulative grade point average (GPA). The course must be an allowed repeatable course or a grade improvement is required in order to meet the degree program minimum requirements. A grade of ‘P’ would not be considered a repeatable course. Any student receiving Federal or State financial aid will have additional restrictions based on regulations established by the Department of Education, Illinois Student Assistance Commission and Department of Veterans Affairs.
If receiving financial aid, you may repeat a course for which you did not previously earn a passing grade (ex. F or W) regardless of the number of times. This will be factored into your attempted hours versus earned hours (see SAP policy for completion rate). If repeating a course with a passing grade (D- or higher), a student will be allowed to retake the course one additional time. This will apply whether or not financial aid was received for the first passed course. On the third attempt of retaking a passed course, the student will be required to pay out of pocket. For specific questions, please contact the Office of Financial Aid at financial.aid@cuchicago.edu or 708-209-3113.
If receiving military educational benefits, a student may retake the course one additional time. If a third attempt is needed, the student may be responsible for the amount already paid in a previous semester. A debt letter will be sent directly to the student from the Department of Veterans Affairs. For specific questions related to military educational benefits, please contact the Veterans Certifying Official in the Office of Financial Aid at 708-209-3113.