Political Science and International Relations Department
Undergraduate Program Registration Rules
1) Unless they are going to graduate in two semesters, students should take at least 15 credits per semester. Normally they take about 18 credits. For 21 credits and above, students should have a GPA of over 2.00 and for 26 credits they should have a GPA of over 2.00 and their advisor’s approval. To be able to take 26+3 credits, students should be able to graduate at the end of the semester and should have the approval of their advisor.
2) DD and DC grades can be repeated.
Note that regular students can not repeat the courses from the third and the fourth year of curriculum for which they have received a DC or DD. These rules apply to all courses.
Also note that at most six of the courses with a DC or DD grade (from the first and second years) could be repeated. Only one such course can be repeated in a given semester and the course should be repeated within the three semesters following DC or DD grade.
3) Students are advised not to postpone their required courses. Note that this may not be possible for irregular, double major or transfer students. If a student has to skip a required course for some reason or another, s/he must necessarily take it as soon as it is offered in the subsequent semesters. Ideally, students should not have unfulfilled requirements dating back 2 years (for example, a 3rd year student should have completed all her/his 1st year required courses).
4) Students should take required courses the year they are required for. For instance, a 2nd year student should not take a 3rd year required course. This may be allowed if the student is irregular, double major or transfer.
5) Failed 1st year courses must be taken the first semester they are offered. In other words, students must pass first year courses as soon as possible.
6) Students are not allowed to take elective courses from 2 classes below or above. (for example, a 4th year student cannot take a 2nd year elective course and vice versa).
7) Students may have no more than 2 conflicts (2 x 1 hour) on their schedule. This means that they can only have one conflict with two DIFFERENT courses. Two hours of conflict with the same course is not allowed.
8) Complementary electives are courses from the following departments: History (HIST), Economics (EC), Management (AD), Sociology (SOC), Psychology (PSY), Philosophy (PHIL), and ATA.
9) Language courses are considered as complementary electives only if they are 4th year (e.g. GER 417) courses. Otherwise all language courses are considered as unrestricted electives.
10) The first year Humanities elective can be taken from either the History or the Philosophy departments. (Hist 105/106, HUM 101/102, SCI 101/102 and all 1st year Philosophy courses are considered as Humanities electives)
11) Those students whose Proficiency Exam Grade is A or B are required to take the Humanities electives, they are not allowed to take Advanced English Courses. Those students whose Proficiency Exam Grade is C should take Advanced English Courses.
12) Foreign students can take one departmental elective course instead of POLS 102.
13) Foreign students may take an elective course of their choice instead of AD 131 only during semesters when AD 131 is not offered in English.
13) Failed Unrestricted or Complementary electives can be repeated with any other course unrestricted or complementary course, respectively. For graduation, the student must not have an unrepeated F on his/her transcript.
Failed courses, probation and repeating status
Failed Courses
Students who have received an F grade from elective courses must repeat that course in the first semester it is offered or take an equivalent course with a notation of "R". In this case, the grade received in the new course replaces the F, but the F grade will appear in the student's academic record.
Probation Status
Article 19: A student whose GPA is lower than 2.00 at the end of any semester, is "on probation." A student who is "on probation" is not allowed to carry extra credit hours. These students cannot be president, vice president or member of the board of administrators of any student club of BU.
Repeating (Underachieving) Status
Article 20: Students who are admitted to any undergraduate program of the University have to maintain a GPA of 2.00 and above.
A student whose GPA is lower than 2.00 is considered an "underachieving" student if his/her SPA remains lower than 2.00 for two consecutive semesters.
The course load of an "underachieving" student cannot exceed 15 credits. In addition to repeating the course in which he/she has received a grade of F, he/she can repeat a DD or DC course and/or take a maximum of 2 new courses, on condition that the total credits of these courses do not exceed the department's average semester credits.
Underachieving students can take up to 3 courses or 10 credits in the summer term. They can repeat the course for which they have received a grade of F, DD, or DC, and may take no more than 2 new courses.
The status of underachievement in the beginning of the fall semester is determined by taking into account the student's GPA at the end of the summer term. The student's summer term average is not taken into consideration in the calculation of the student's SPA, but is included in his/her GPA.
Students who have raised their GPA to over 2.00 by repeating courses can continue their education as regular students.
Graduation and pass exam:
Graduation
Article 23 - (Amended paragraph 1: OG-13/02/2007-26433) -To be eligible for graduation from an undergraduate program and receive a diploma, a student must complete the undergraduate program, as defined in the first paragraph of Article 9, within the maximum legal period of study, with a minimum GPA of 2.00.
The following rules apply to students who do not meet these requirements:
a.A student who has a GPA of 2.00 or above but has failed to meet graduation requirements because he/she has received a grade of F in no more than two courses may be allowed by the related Executive Committee (with the approval of the course instructor) to take an examination or carry out an equivalent academic study, without having to repeat the course.
(Amended paragraph 2: OG-13/02/2007-26433) The highest grade that this student can receive is DD. The grade should be reported to the Registrar's Office before the end of the registration period of the following semester. If the student fails, he/she or she must repeat the course; in this case, other relevant provisions of these Regulations will apply.
b.A student who fails to meet graduation requirements because his/her GPA is lower than 2.00 is allowed by the relevant Executive Committee to take an examination in a specified number of courses offered in the last four semesters of his/her program before the end of his/her legal period of study in order to raise his/her GPA.
In order to benefit from the provision of Article 23 item (b), students shall apply to the relevant Dean's Office or School Administration before the end of the late registration period and state in writing the courses they wish to take examinations in, they must pay the registration fees determined by the Dean of the related Faculty or School Administration. Such students cannot benefit from any students' rights other than the right to take examinations. Students who cannot meet graduation requirements by the end of their legally allowed period of study may benefit from the provisions of Article 23 item (c) if they apply to do so.
c.Students who fail to meet graduation requirements before the end of their legal maximum period of study are dismissed from the University. However, if those students have enrolled and attended all courses included in their program,
1.those who have received more than five F grades are allowed to take two examinations in each of these courses (one being an E exam) the earliest semester they are offered. Students who have four or five F grades after they have taken these additional exams are allowed to take an unlimited number of exams during a period of three semesters, and those who have no more than three F grades are entitled to take an unlimited number of exams in up to three courses.
Students who have not taken the additional exams but have no more than four or five F grades are entitled to take examinations during a period of four semesters; those who have no more than three F grades are entitled to take an unlimited number of exams.
2.those who do not have any F grades but whose GPA is lower than 2.00, may be allowed by the relevant Executive Committee to take an unlimited number of final examinations for courses offered in the last four semesters of their program without benefiting from students' rights. However, it is obligatory to attend the practice sessions of applied courses. Those students who successfully complete the practical applications can take the final examination of the course.
In accordance with Article 23 item (c) ("Students who fail to meet graduation requirements before the end of their legal maximum period of study are dismissed from the University."), students who wish to use their right to take exams must apply to the relevant Dean's Office or School Administration with a petition and a copy of the registration fee payment slip before the end of course add-drop period for applied courses, and before the end of the withdrawal period for others.
Students who wish to take exams in accordance with this Article cannot enroll in classes, but have to fulfill all requirements stipulated by relevant laws. Students who have not taken any examinations for six consecutive or alternate semesters forfeit their right to take an unlimited number of examinations. Students who exercise their right to take an unlimited number of examinations will continue paying their registration fees; however, they cannot benefit from the rights granted to regular students, with the exception of the right to take examinations. (Amended last sentence: OG-13/02/2007-26433) For each examination, the student must apply to the relevant Dean's Office or School Administration during the course add-drop period.
For all those courses, the final grades received in the exams will be valid. Students who meet the graduation requirements after these examinations will graduate.
d.In accordance with other provisions of these Regulations, the provisions of this Article do not apply to students who are dismissed from the University.
In order to graduate, a student has to receive a passing grade from all other courses not included in the program but taken for credit, even if he/she has completed the courses stipulated by the program.