Degree Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree

In order to complete a baccalaureate degree at the University of Saint Joseph, a student must have met the following requirements:

1. Completion of a minimum of 120 semester hours of course work contingent upon requirement of major (the equivalent of four years of full-time study); these hours can include a combination of courses at the University of Saint Joseph or within the Consortium.
2. A minimum GPA of 2.00 (a C average in all work completed); some majors or programs may require a higher GPA.
3. The residency requirement of earning 45 credits from the University of Saint Joseph. The last 24 credits counted toward a degree must be taken at the University of Saint Joseph. Internships or study undertaken at Consortium institutions are considered part of the residency requirement.
4. Completion of a comprehensive examination
5. General Education requirements (see below)
6. Writing Portfolio requirements (see below)

Second Bachelor’s Degree

Students from regionally accredited institutions who would like to complete a second bachelor’s degree must meet the following conditions:

• Departmental requirements for a major
• A minimum of 30 credits beyond the first bachelor’s degree
• A comprehensive examination
• A minimum of a 2.00 GPA at all times. Some majors or programs may require a higher GPA at all times.

Second degree students are not eligible for academic honors at graduation.

General Education

Undergraduate

General Education at the University of Saint Joseph is an integrated program designed to provide the skills, fundamental competencies, religious, spiritual, and philosophical foundations and essential perspectives necessary in the complex and global communities of the 21st century. To achieve these goals the General Education program is designed to extend throughout a student’s entire course of study and may incorporate major, minor, and professional courses as well as courses from the traditional Liberal Arts and Sciences.

General Education at the University of Saint Joseph includes four integrated areas: Integral Skills, Common Foundations, Mission Focus, and Perspectives.

A. Integral Skills
Integral Skills are the fundamental skills that students need to succeed in college and include: Oral and Written Communication, Critical Thinking, Research/Scholarship, and Collaboration. Over the course of their college careers, students develop these skills and improve on them. Every course in the General Education program (including those in the major, minor, professional, Liberal Arts and Sciences areas) emphasizes these integral skills and reflects these common components and outcomes.

Such courses require students to use at least three of the four integral skills. Exception: Kinesthetics students will meet their Integral Skills requirements by fulfilling the general education requirements. This requirement will not add additional credit hours.

B. Common Foundations
Common Foundations requirements insure that all students have common competencies for use throughout their career at the University of Saint Joseph. These foundations are expected in advanced courses. Common Foundations requirements can be met by courses in the academic major, minor, professional program, or Liberal Arts and Sciences. Students may also waive Common Foundation requirements. These courses can also be used to meet requirements in Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Perspectives:

Students will meet this requirement by successfully completing a course designated as QR. Students can waive this requirement by earning a score of 600 or higher on the Math section of the SAT.

For transfer students: Successful completion of one Quantitative Reasoning course or a course including quantitative reasoning components from another accredited college or university.

Students will meet these requirements by successfully completing two courses designated as WR. Students can waive this requirement by earning a score of 600 or higher on Critical Reading and Writing sections of the SAT.

For transfer students: Successful completion of two courses including intensive writing-reading components from another accredited college or university.

Students will meet this requirement by successfully completing a course designated as IT. Students can waive these requirements by completing an information technology test administered by the Information Technology department.

For transfer students: Successful completion of an approved technology course from another accredited college or university.

Students will meet this requirement by successfully completing a course designated LG in any language other than English, including American Sign Language. Students can waive these requirements by submitting test scores from the ACTFL OPI and WPT test; passing an oral/written test administered by the Foreign Language department; or advanced placement score of three on a Foreign Language exam; or by demonstrating at least one year of successful study at the high school level or above where a language other than English is the primary language of instruction.

For transfer students: Successful completion of an approved other language course from another accredited college or university.

Students will meet these requirements by successfully completing a course designated as KN. Students can waive this requirement by submitting evidence of ongoing, extended participation in physical activity, sports, or dance programs while enrolled at the University; or completion of basic training in the Armed Services.

For transfer students: Successful completion of an approved Kinesthetics course from another accredited college or university.

C. Mission Focus
Mission focused requirements are unique to the University of Saint Joseph, and introduce students to the specialized focus of the University of Saint Joseph: its religious commitment to helping students understand their own faiths and those of others, and the importance of serving others, both professionally and in civic life.

Students will meet this requirement by successfully completing a course designated as FYS. Transfer students: For students transferring with 24 credits or more, the requirement is waived. Transfer students at any level may transfer a similar course of at least three credits.

Effective fall 2013, new students will satisfy this requirement by successfully completing two courses designated RE, the first of which must be RELS 125 Faith, Theology and the Modern World.  Current students will satisfy this requirement by successfully completing any two courses designated RE. Transfer students: For transfer students with 24 credits or more, one course designated as RE. For Religious Studies majors: six credits of Religious Studies courses will count toward this requirement. Additional credits may be counted if they exceed the Religious Studies major requirements.

Students will meet these requirements by successfully completing a course designated as PH. Transfer students: For transfer students with 24 credits or more, either a PH course or a VE course (described below under Values and Ethics) is required.

D. Perspectives
Perspectives requirements present a range of academic inquiry and call on students to use skills developed in earlier courses to understand the world, the place of women, science, the arts, and politics in history and in current times. These courses aim to empower students as citizens to understand and influence their lives and the lives of others.

Perspective requirements may be met by courses in the major, minor, or professional program, and by courses in Liberal Arts and Sciences. While some courses may carry more than one perspective notation, the course may count for only one perspective requirement. Students will meet these requirements by successfully completing six courses, one for each perspective: WS, VE, GI, HE, SI, AE.

For such courses students will show the ability to meet at least two-thirds of the stated objectives.

To complete their General Education requirements, students must take at least 36 credits in Liberal Arts and Science (LAS) courses approved for Integral Skills. These credits do not include the Liberal Arts courses used for the Mission Focus requirement but may include any Perspectives or Foundation course that is also a Liberal Arts or Sciences. To satisfy this requirement:
     a. No more than three courses from a single discipline may be counted toward LAS
     b. 12 three or four credit courses must be taken
     c. 18 credits must be courses at the 200 level or above
     d. Coordinating seminars, independent studies, internships, practicum, and field studies may not be used
     e. Students may not use major courses to meet this requirement with three exceptions:
          1. Students pursuing teaching licensure with a liberal arts and science major may count up to 2 classes as both a major requirement and general education or liberal arts and science elective
           2. Students with two majors in liberal arts and science disciplines may count up to 2 classes per major as both a major requirement and general education or liberal arts and science elective
           3. Students who transfer into HDFS interdisciplinary majors with 24 credits or more may count up to 2 classes as both a major requirement and general education or liberal arts and science elective

Writing Portfolio

Undergraduate
The achievement of competent writing skills is an integral component of students’ undergraduate education at the University. Students receive a superior education that focuses on the importance of writing as a means to express ideas clearly and effectively. Critical thinking skills and the ability to integrate research with theory are emphasized in the instructional process. The University holds that the acquisition of strong written communications skills helps to insure one’s success in graduate school and in professional settings. To assess competency in writing, the University uses a portfolio system.

Students submit papers annually. The papers are ones written for courses at the University. Students receive a preliminary evaluation at the end of sophomore year and a final evaluation at the conclusion of junior year. Portfolios are evaluated holistically on a five-point scale. A score of three or better on the Writing Portfolio is required for graduation. Once students complete their portfolios, a notation to this effect appears on their transcripts. The University’s Writing Portfolio booklet delineates the process and the evaluation system.

Full-time students with at least 90 credits who have not submitted portfolio papers will be notified that their registration for classes will be put on hold per the following: the student will be able to enroll for the upcoming academic semester (fall or spring), but not for the subsequent semester until work is submitted. Students will have six months to submit work.

Writing portfolios are read between September and May. Students who have not submitted their papers for the writing portfolio requirement by the submission date established will normally not be eligible for May or August degree conferral. Students who have not passed the writing portfolio prior to the May Commencement may not participate in the May Commencement ceremonies or graduate in May.

Comprehensive Evaluation

Graduate
All master’s degree students must satisfactorily pass a comprehensive evaluation after having completed the planned program. The purpose of the graduate comprehensive evaluation is to review the candidate’s ability to integrate the content and application of the field of study as a culminating experience. It is not designed to assess the totality of a student’s knowledge. The comprehensive examinations require the student to demonstrate an ability to synthesize and apply the content of the area of study. Each department will determine the method of evaluation.

The following are possible methods of evaluation:

1. Comprehensive Examination—written only, oral only, or both written and oral
2. One Comprehensive Examination question and a Research Project/Thesis
3. Research Project/Thesis only
4. An Integrating Seminar of an additional three credits with a project and/or major paper or integrating essay
5. Paper and presentation of final research project 

Please contact the appropriate program director for information regarding content and format. It is the responsibility of all graduate degree candidates to file an application for the comprehensive examination at the appropriate time in their program. Applications are available on the Student, Graduate & School of Education tabs of MyUSJ.

Comprehensive exams are administered twice a year for on-campus programs. Application deadlines vary by department and students will be notified via USJ email and postings on MyUSJ as to the deadlines. Information regarding late applications and fees is listed on the comprehensive exam application. 

On-line students will work with the graduate office and their department to have their comprehensive examination remotely proctored in a secure environment. Online nutrition students will present their final project at the end of the fall and spring semesters either by video Skype or in person.

A graduate student who has failed a comprehensive exam twice can submit an appeal to the student’s department for consideration.

Thesis

Graduate
Students in master’s degree programs may undertake a thesis, with the approval of the Program Director. Normally, a thesis is a year-long research project. During the first semester, the student develops a detailed research proposal and conducts an extensive review of the literature. Data is then collected during the end of the first semester or the beginning of the second semester and the data is analyzed. The results and conclusions are written and defended during the second semester. Thesis format varies by department.

Thesis committees normally consist of three faculty members, the thesis director and two readers, one of whom is typically from outside the student’s major department.

Three copies of the final thesis, approved and signed by the thesis director and at least one of the two readers, must be submitted to the Graduate Office no later than April 15 of the year in which the student plans to graduate. The student is also responsible for making arrangements with and providing payment where applicable to the Graduate Office for binding the thesis.

Until the thesis is completed and successfully defended, the thesis is not graded and credit for the thesis is not awarded.

For additional information and a copy of Thesis Guidelines, students should consult  the chairperson of the department in which they are matriculated.

GPA to Graduate

In addition to any department requirements, all undergraduate students must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.00 (2.80 for Nursing) or better to graduate.  Graduate students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.67 to graduate.

Application for a Degree

Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees

An undergraduate student must complete a degree application, degree audit, writing portfolio, and then pay the graduation fee in order for the University to assess eligibility for graduation. Applications, audits, and fees should be submitted together to the Degree Auditor in the Office of the Registrar by the deadline indicated in the Registrar’s section of MyUSJ. Writing portfolio information will be submitted by the Center for Academic Excellence. Degree applications and audits can be found on MyUSJ.

A graduate student must complete a degree application and pay the graduate fee in order for the University to assess eligibility for graduation. Degree applications and audits can be found on the Student tab of MyUSJ.

Certificates

A student must complete the requirements for a certificate program of study with a minimum Grade Point Average of 2.67 and file an application for certificate completion through the Office of the Registrar by the deadline dates posted on MyUSJ.

Time to Degree

Undergraduate and Graduate
Requirements for the degree should be completed within six years from the date of matriculation. The appropriate department chair may grant an extension for completion of the degree.

Graduation with Honors

Undergraduate
Degrees with honors are awarded on the basis of cumulative GPA alone with no other evaluative process. Academic honors are awarded as follows:

Summa cum laude: 3.90 and above
Magna cum laude: 3.80 and above
Cum laude: 3.70 and above

Commencement

Undergraduate and Graduate
Degrees are granted three times in the academic year: December, May, and August. One Commencement ceremony occurs in May, allowing all recipients to participate.

Undergraduate

• A student who expects to complete degree requirements (no more than six credits) by the end of the summer session in August may petition to participate in the May Commencement ceremony.
• Undergraduate students who petition must: have a GPA of 2.0; have completed their writing portfolio; and have no more than six credits remaining to complete during the summer session, which must be completed at the University of Saint Joseph.
• Writing portfolios are read between September and May. Students who have not submitted their papers for the writing portfolio requirement by the submission date established by the Center for Academic Excellence will normally not be eligible for May or August degree conferral. Students who have not passed the writing portfolio prior to the May Commencement may not participate in the May Commencement ceremonies or graduate in May.

Graduate

• A student who expects to complete degree requirements (no more than three credits) by the end of the summer session in August may petition to participate in the May Commencement ceremony.
• Students must have received notification that they have passed their comprehensive exam or master’s thesis prior to the Commencement ceremony to be eligible for participation.

The deadline for the petition to be submitted to the dean of the School in your major is the deadline date set for the graduation application. The petition should include evidence that the student will complete degree requirements by the end of the summer session. The student’s name will be listed in the Commencement program alphabetically with an asterisk indicating degree requirements will be completed in August. The student’s name will be called in normal rotation at Commencement.