Loyola Marymount University Bulletin 2011-2012 > College of Business Administration > Master of Business Administration > MBA Program Policies

MBA Program Policies

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Master of Business Administration

Academic Advising

The MBA Coordinator will serve as Academic Advisor for all MBA students and will meet with students periodically to assist in navigating through the Program curriculum.

Students must be advised by the MBA Coordinator who will assist in selecting classes each semester. Advisor Holds are placed on student records and will not be removed until the student has been advised.

Registration takes place exclusively online by accessing the PROWL system. Click on the Student Resources tab to get to the Registration menu.

Academic Probation and Disqualification

Please review the LMU Honor Code for definitions of academic dishonesty and detailed information on the Honor Code process.

Conditions for Academic Probation

Any MBA student who, in any semester, fails to earn a "B" (3.0) average or whose cumulative grade point average in the MBA Program falls below a "B" (3.0) will be placed on academic probation.

Conditions for Disqualification

A student already on probation who has less than a "B" (3.0) grade point average for the semester and who has not achieved a "B" (3.0) grade point average in the MBA Program is subject to disqualification from the Program. This decision will be made after review of the student’s academic coursework by the Program Director.

Please also note that a student can receive no more than two grades below B- throughout their Program. Should the student earn a third grade below B-, the student will be given one opportunity to retake that class the following semester (assuming the student does not also have two semesters on probation). The student may not enroll in other classes concurrently with the repeated course. If the student does not earn at least a B- when retaking the class, the student will be disqualified.

Disqualification terminates a student’s relationship with the University. A disqualified student may not register in any division or session of the University, and is denied all privileges of the University, including all organizations or activities in any way connected with it.

Change of Program or Emphasis

A student who wishes to change a program before completing a degree must submit a new application form to the Graduate Admission Office. A student who wishes to transfer from one emphasis to another before completing a degree must request an approval by the MBA Coordinator.

Course Loads

Fully-employed MBA students should take no more than six semester hours in the Fall or Spring semester unless they have permission from their advisor. All other students may take a maximum of 12 semester hours unless they receive permission from their advisor. During the Summer session, fully-employed students should take no more than three semester hours each term.

Repeating Courses

Students may repeat a course previously taken at LMU in a subsequent term one time only, including any withdrawals; the prior occurrence is excluded from the cumulative grade point average but remains on the transcript. Please note that although the GPA for that term will change accordingly, the academic status of the previous term will not change.

A student who earns an F in a class or receives a third grade below a B-minus will be required to repeat that course. The student will only be allowed to enroll in the repeated course and will not be allowed to take additional classes in that semester.

A student who receives an F in any course must repeat that course before being able to take additional classes.

Grade Appeals

A student who wishes to appeal a grade should first contact his or her faculty member. If a student wishes to appeal the faculty member’s decision after the grade posting, he or she must submit a written request within three weeks to the Chair, Program Director, or Dean of the student’s college. If the appeal process cannot be resolved, an impartial three-person faculty panel will be assigned by the Dean of the respective College to review the request. The panel will individually interview the faculty person and the student. After the interviews, review, and discussion, the panel will submit a formal decision to the Dean of the College, whose decision will be final.

Incomplete Grades

"I" (Incomplete) indicates that the student’s work is incomplete. The student must remove the "I" within one year of receiving it. For students in the MBA Program who elect to do the Integrative Project, the time limit is one year. In those cases, the IP (Work in Progress) code is used. If an Incomplete has not been removed after the specified period of time, the Incomplete grade will automatically change to a "W" (Withdrawal). Students who wish to retake the course must pay regular tuition for the repeated course.

When a professor has granted an "I," it is the student’s responsibility to arrange a deferred grade. The professor submits a "Deferred Grade Form" with the final grade to the Office of the Registrar. Incompletes which are not removed within the time limit given are computed as "I." A student with two Incompletes will be blocked from registration.

Any graduate student who in a given term receives a grade of I (Incomplete) for a course and who subsequently completes the course will receive a grade that is retroactive to the term when the student first registered for the course with all the impact it entails on the student’s academic standing.

Independent Study

Independent Studies classes must be sponsored by a full-time faculty member and approved by the MBA Program Director. Independent Studies can only be invoked twice during a student’s MBA program.

There are time constraints associated with an Independent Studies course. The approval process for Independent Studies must be completed during the semester prior to the one during which the student expects to enroll in the course.

All questions about Independent Studies should be directed to the MBA Coordinator. The MBA Coordinator is the arbiter of the process facilitating Independent Studies.