The Daily Bulletin

At its April 12, 2019, meeting, the College Senate voted in favor of a resolution on a revised DOPS Policy on Repeating Courses, to be implemented as follows. Proposed revisions to the policy are indicated below in ALL CAPITALS, ITALICIZED, BOLDFACE TYPE.

Introduced at the March 8, 2019, College Senate meeting by the Standards for Students Committee.
Voted on at the April 12, 2019, College Senate meeting.

WHEREAS, the current policy does not allow students to repeat courses outside of Buffalo State and penalizes students for a failed repeat at Buffalo State; and

WHEREAS, students who wish to improve their academic standing or GPA by completing courses at another institution are prevented by current policy from applying successfully completed transfer courses (except for Cross Registration courses) to their Buffalo State transcripts and from removing the earlier Buffalo State grade from their GPA; and

WHEREAS, students who are able to repeat a course successfully at another institution when that course is not being offered at Buffalo State may be more likely to recover, maintain their plan of completion, and/or successfully graduate in a timely manner from Buffalo State; and

WHEREAS, 73 percent of our student population receives federal financial aid that is governed by Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards (Pace and GPA),

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Buffalo State amend its DOPS policy on Repeating Courses as revised in this document to enhance student success and completion; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT this policy change go into effect beginning with the 2019–2020 academic year and that the college catalog and college website be updated to ensure that DOPS language is consistently reflected in the catalog and on the website for this policy.

BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE
DIRECTORY OF POLICY STATEMENTS
Policy Number: I:16:08                                                         
Subject: Repeating UNDERGRADUATE Courses

A student may repeat a given course once for which a C-, D+, D, E, EV, F, OR U grade was earned. The course must have the same prefix number, title, and credit hours. The repeated course must be taken at Buffalo State College. Only the HIGHER OF THE TWO GRADES AND those semester hours completed will be used in determining the GPA. A student may not repeat a course for a third time.

All grades remain on the permanent record. Students may not use pass-fail to repeat a course for which a C-, D+, D, E, or EV grade was earned. COURSES MUST BE REPEATED IN THE SAME GRADING MODE AS THE FIRST ATTEMPT. A passing grade will not replace an F or a U grade, since F and U are not computed in the GPA. Courses with letter grades above C- cannot be repeated. Courses that were illegally repeated will not be used in computing the cumulative average. Practicum courses may differ. Check with the department that offered the course. Repeating courses affects financial aid. Students should check with the Financial Aid Office for more information regarding repeating courses and financial aid policy.

Once a student has completed a bachelor’s degree, a final average for the degree is computed. Courses from that degree may not be repeated, and that final average is not affected by any subsequent coursework at Buffalo State College.

REPEATING COURSES AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS

A BUFFALO STATE COURSE IN WHICH A C-, D+, D, E, EV, OR F WAS EARNED MAY BE REPEATED AT ANOTHER INSTITUTION PROVIDED THE STUDENT HAS RECEIVED PRIOR DEPARTMENT APPROVAL OF COURSE EQUIVALENCY AND FILED THE APPROPRIATE OFF-CAMPUS STUDY FORM THROUGH THE REGISTRAR’S OFFICE.

A MINIMUM GRADE OF C IS REQUIRED FOR TRANSFER CREDIT TO BE APPLIED AS A REPEATED COURSE. THE TRANSFER CREDIT WILL COUNT TOWARD DEGREE COMPLETION, BUT THE TRANSFERRED COURSE GRADE WILL NOT BE INCLUDED IN THE OVERALL BUFFALO STATE GPA. UPON TRANSFER OF THE REPEATED COURSE, THE BUFFALO STATE COURSE WILL BE EXCLUDED FROM THE GPA AND WILL BE SO INDICATED ON THE TRANSCRIPT. 

NO MORE THAN 16 CREDITS MAY BE AWARDED THROUGH COURSE REPEAT AT ANOTHER INSTITUTION. TRANSFER CREDITS OBTAINED THROUGH COURSE REPEAT OUTSIDE OF BUFFALO STATE WILL COUNT TOWARD THE MAXIMUM TRANSFER CREDIT ALLOWANCE.

I hereby accept the resolution of the College Senate regarding the revision of the DOPS Policy on Repeating Undergraduate Courses at Buffalo State. I charge the provost with responsibility for overseeing the implementation of this policy change and for communicating the change to the campus community.