Registration and Grading Policies

Enrollment Maximums

There is a limit on the number of units students may register for per semester without approval:

Undergraduates - 16 units

Graduates - 13 units in fall or spring; 10 units in summer

Approval for overload registration must be submitted in writing to the Registrar's Office. The approver for undergraduate students is the Director of Undergraduate Programs. The approver for students in the School of Professional Psychoogy is the student's academic advisor. The approver for students in the School of Consciousness and Transformation is either the student's academic advisor or program/department chair.

International students wishing to register for more than these units must also receive written approval from the International Student Advisor.

Enrollment Status Classifications

Your enrollment status is dependent upon your academic division and either

1. The number of units you are registered for within the semester; Or,
2. If you are registered in one of the courses listed below.

To see the classifications, please go to page 156 of the Catalog.

Holds

The Business Office and the Library apply holds to the accounts of students with outstanding financial obligations to the Institute. Such holds prevent the student from registering or receiving official transcripts and the diploma. To remove a hold or inquire about its status, contact the Business Office at 415-575-6132 or businessoffice@ciis.edu.

Independent Study

Up to one-sixth of a student's unit requirement for a graduate degree may be fulfilled through Independent Study undertaken at CIIS. An Independent Study is defined as coursework designed to meet a program requirement or to extend a student's field of inquiry beyond current Institute courses. An Independent Study must not duplicate what is offered in the normal class schedule and is subject to faculty availability. Approval of the proposed work of the Independent Study must be made by the director of your academic program. To register, submit an Independent Study Contact with the syllabus attached to the Registrar's Office. The contract must be signed by you, the instructor, and the program director. An Independent Study is subject to the same registration deadlines and policies as regular classes.

International Students Enrollment Minimums

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) requires international students on F-1 visas to carry a full-time course of study to remain in status. Any exceptions for less than a full-time load must be approved by the International Student Advisor. See the Enrollment Status Classifications section above.

Internship Registration

Only students in the Clinical Psychology program may register for internship. To register, submit a Registration Form to the Registrar's Office or register online through MyCIIS. The Registrar's Office will not confirm this registration, however, until you submit a signed Internship Agreement to the Field Placement Office two weeks before you start at your site.

This Agreement must be submitted before the semester's Add/Drop Deadline. Hours acquired before this two week window or without a contract will not be counted toward the required predoctoral internship hours.

Late Registrations

If you register for the first time for a semester after the Late Registration Deadline, you must pay the Late Registration Fee. This fee is charged once per semester, regardless of the number of classes or the number of times you register after the initial registration. First semester degree-seeking students, Special Students (i.e., non-degree-seeking), and non-degree-seeking auditors are exempt from this fee.

If you registered before the Registration Deadline, you may add and drop classes after the Registration Deadline without paying the Late Registration Fee. No registration transactions will be accepted after the Add/Drop Deadline.

Leave of Absence

To be granted a leave of absence (LOA) submit a Leave of Absence Form, signed by your academic advisor, to the Registrar's Office. The form must include an explanation of your reasons for seeking the LOA and the semester you will resume registering. If you are a financial aid recipient, consult with the Financial Aid Office before submitting the form to see how the LOA will impact your loan status. By federal law, loans come due six months from the last date of enrollment, regardless of whether the student in on an approve LOA.

The following policies apply to LOA's:

1. See the "Maintaining Active Student Status" section below. If you do not plan to meet that enrollment criterion, you will need to be on an approve LOA or you will be administatively withdrawn.
2. You must be in good academic standing to be granted an LOA.
3. A LOA must be approved by your academic advisor and is only granted if you are experiencing extenuating circumstances such as medical, job, or family issues.
4. An LOA will not be granted for more than one year at a time. You may request an extension at the end of an LOA, but the total cumulative amount of time on an LOA from one program may not exceed two years.
5. The period on an LOA is included in the calculation of elapsed time under the time limits for of degree requirements. An LOA does not extend these limits.
6. A LOA does not extend the deadline for the completion of an "I" (Incomplete) grade.
7. If you are currently registered and submit the LOA form to the Registrar's Office after the semester's Add/Drop Deadline, you must also submit a Registration Form to withdraw yourself from your classes. This form must be signed by your instructor(s).
8. An LOA will automatically cancel CIIS-sponsored health insurance coverage on the date the LOA (and Registration Form) is submitted.
9. While you are on an LOA, you are not permitted to use CIIS resources, including faculty or staff time, computer facilities, library services, or student services.
10. You must register for the semester immediately following the LOA. If you do not, you will be administratively withdrawn and will need to reapply for admission.

Maintaining Active Student Status

Students must meet the following enrollment requirements in order to maintain their active student status:

1. Students in the BA in Interdisciplinary Studies, MA in Integrative Health Studies, or PsyD in Clinical Psychology must be enrolled every semester, including summer. (PsyD students do not need to register in summer once they start registering for PSY 7900 "Dissertation Research".)
2. Students in all other programs must be enrolled in either fall or spring. PhD students who've advanced to candidacy must be enrolled in at least both fall and spring until they submit the publication-ready copy of their dissertation to the CIIS Library.

If you do not meet this enrollment criterion, you will be administratively withdrawn and made inactive. To resume your program, you will be required to reapply for admission and, if re-admitted, will need to meet the degree requirements in effect at the time of readmission.

Please note, meeting the enrollment requirements above alone will not ensure that you will also meet the degree completion and advancement to candidacy time limits. Please see the "Academic Policies" section of the Catalog for these limits.

Practicum Registration Procedure
Before you may register for practicum you must submit a Supervised Fieldwork Agreement to CIIS' Field Placement Office which has been signed by your site supervisor, clinic director, and academic advisor.

To register for Group Practicum, register online via MyCIIS or by submitting a hard copy Registration Form to the Registrars' Office.

To register for Individual Practicum, submit a hard copy Individual Practicum Registration Form to the Registrar's Office. You may not register online.

Priority Registration

"Priority Registration" is registration that is permitted for certain students before registration opens for all students. The dates that the Registrar's Office accepts Priority Registration Forms are found in the current semester's academic calendar.

You will be allowed to use Priority Registration if:

• The course(s) is not an elective; AND
• You are registering for your final semester; OR
• You need the course(s) in order to register for practicum in the semester immediately following. (PSY.D OR MCP STUDENTS ONLY.)

Approval from your academic advisor is required. The student -- not the academic advisor -- is responsible for submitting this form to the Registrar's Office. Priority Registration cannot be coducted online. You must submit the hard copy Priority Registration Form.

Professional Seminar (Psy.D) Registration Procedure
Before you may register for a professional seminar you must submit a Practicum Contract to CIIS' Field Placement Office which has been signed by your site supervisor, clinic director, and academic advisor. If this Contract is not on file in this office by the Add/Drop Deadline the registration will not be processed. A new Contract must be submitted for every semester you are registering for a professional seminar.

Program Priority Registration

Registration into some courses is restricted to students in certain programs until the Program Priority Registration Deadline, after which registration becomes open to all students. For instance, only students in the East-West Psychology program (EWP) may register into EWP 6051 before the Program Priority Deadline; after the deadline, registration become available to both EWP and non-EWP students. Such courses are marked "Priority to..." in the columns of the Class Schedule or the course's description on MyCIIS.

Program Requirements
A degree or certificate program may change its requirements over time, but you are expected to fulfill only the requirements that were in effect at the time of your admission. These requirements are outlined when you first enter a CIIS program in your Program Agreement.

This Agreement is reviewed and signed by you and your academic advisor and is kept on file. Any change to this Agreement needs to be documented and include the dated signatures of both you and your academic advisor.

Registration Fee Policy

A registration fee is charged at the time of initial registration. It is charged once per semester, and is not refunded if you drop or withdraw from all or any of the semester's courses.

Registration Maintenance

Registration Maintenance is a "placeholder course" (REG 700) which bestows no units or grades. It serves two functions:

1. If you register for Registration Maintenance before the Late Registration Deadline you may then register for courses after that deadline and avoid the Late Registration Fee. Once you register for a course, the Registration Maintenance course is dropped from your record, the charge is reversed, and any payment you've made is applied toward your tuition balance. This option is used by students who know they want to register for the semester but don't know what courses they want before the Late Registration Deadline.
2. If you have completed all requirements for your thesis or dissertation, including oral defense (doctoral students only) and technical edits, and are still working on changes required by your thesis/dissertation committee, you may register for Registration Maintenance instead of Thesis/Dissertation Seminar. This will keep you in active student status. Only one semester may pass in this particular status. Please note that Registration Maintenance does not qualify as half-time enrollment so you will not be eligible for financial aid or to defer financial aid loan payments.

With the exception of function number two above, Registration Maintenance is not an option for maintaining active student status if you have not finished your degree requirements. See the Maintaining Active Student Status policies above.

Registration Methods

Students may add and drop online via MyCIIS, in person, by mail, or by fax. The fax number is (415) 575-1267. Students may not add or drop a class by telephone.

Repeated Courses

A student who does not earn a passing grade in a required course must either repeat the course or otherwise satisfy the requirement as prescribed by the student's Academic Advisor or Program Director. Both grades will appear on the student's transcript. Full tuition is charged for the repeated course.

Sitting In on Courses

With the permission of the instructor, students may sit in on a class as a visitor during the first week of the class.

Special Student Registration

Individuals who wish to take courses for credit and not be enrolled in a degree or certificate program may apply for Special Student status. This applies to someone who may want to apply for a CIIS degree at a later time, or to someone enrolled in a degree program at another school. To register, submit the Special Student Application to the Registrar's Office. The following policies applies to Special Students:

1. Special Student registration does not constitute admission to CIIS.

2. Students registered in Special Student status are not eligible to earn an academic certificate. If you seek an academic certificate, you must submit an Application for Admission.

4. Special Student status remains active for one semester. Special Students must resubmit the Special Student Application every semester that they intend to register.

5. Special Students are allowed to choose between credit and audit for each course they register for.

6. Special Students must have their registration approved by the chair of the program in which the course is housed. Special Students are encouraged to bring copies of transcripts to help establish their eligibility for enrollment in courses.

7. Special Students must have earned a high school diploma or GED to be eligible to take undergraduate courses, and their diploma/GED must be declared on the Special Student Application. Special Students may take elective undergraduate courses only, not courses reserved for undergraduate cohort students.

8. Special Students must have earned a bacheldor's degree to be eligible to take graduate coureses, and this degree must be declared on the Special Student Application. Special Students may take graduate coures in audit status without having earned a bachelor's degree if permission is given by the program chair in which the course is housed.

9. Special Students are required to be in satisfactory academic standing to enroll and to remain enrolled. Evidence of satisfactory academic standing is determined in the following manner:

a. Undergraduate students: A minimum of 2.00 grade point average per semester and no more than two of any combination of the following grades: C-, D+, D, D-, F, NP, I, or N.

b. Graduate students: A minimum 3.00 grade point average per semester and no more than two of any of any combination of the following grades: B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F, NP, I, or IN.

Students who fall below this standard will not be permitted to register.

10. The maximum number of credit hours taken as a Special Student that may apply to a program upon admission to CIIS is limited to one-sixth of the credits required for the program.

Waitlist Procedure

If you are on a waitlist, you will remain on it until either:

1. You drop yourself from it, which you can do online or by submitting a hard copy Registration Form; or
2. The waitlist is purged after the semester's Add/Drop Deadline; or
3. A seat opens up and you are added

Check your schedule via MyCIIS reguarly to see if you have been moved from the waitlist into the class. The Registrar's Office will notify you if this happens, but this notification could be thwarted. Once you've been added you become responsible for the course's tuition and academic requirements. Ignorance of being added will not be accepted as a reason for waiving these requirements.

If you have not been added to the course by the course's start date, you may attend its first class meeting if you have the instructor's permission. Bring a Registration Form. If you receive permission to be added, have the instructor sign the form and bring it to the Registar's Office prior to the Add/Drop Deadline. Do not assume the instructor will notify the Registrar's Office of his or her consent. It is your job, not the instructor's, to conduct your registration transactions. Also do not assume you won't be added to the course if you do not attend the first class meeting. Continue to check your schedule via MyCIIS up through the Add/Drop Deadline.

Grading Policies

Grade and Coursework Evaluation Deadlines
Within two weeks after the last day of classes, all grades are due to the Registrar's Office. Final academic project assignments are returned to students within four weeks of receipt by the instructor. Mid-semester assignments are returned to students within three weeks of receipt. All written assignments receive written comments by the instructor and/or teaching assistant.

Thesis and dissertation proposals and chapters are returned to the student with written comments within three weeks of receipt of the document. During the Summer semester, the research student, chairperson, and committee members will agree upon the feedback turn-around time. Faculty will be available to their students by e-mail, phone, or in person, if possible.

Grade Change Procedure
Grading requires the instructor to evaluate a student's academic performance both objectively and subjectively. CIIS will assume that this evaluation has integrity and require a student appealing a grade to supply evidence that the instructor made an error or was biased. Students may appeal a grade no later than the last day of the semester following the one in which the course was completed (excluding summer). The appeals process will be completed by the end of the semester following the one in which the appeal was filed (excluding summer).

Below are the steps to appeal a grade:

1. Students should address a concern about a grade to the instructor. Normally, grade appeals are resolved this way. If the instuctor agrees to change the grade, the student should submit teh Grade Change Form to the instructor, who will submit it to his or her Department/Program Chair, who must approve the new grade. The Department/Program Chair will forward the form to the Registrar's Office, which will update the grade and notify the student.
2. If the student does not resolve the concern with the instructor, he or she should write a statement explaining why he or she believes the grade was based on instructor error or bias, attach supporting factual evidence, and submit it, along with the Grade Change Form, to either of the following:
   • The Department/Program Chair in which the course was housed; or if this Chair was the instructor:
   • The Dean of Academic Administration and Planning, who will bring it to all of the Department/Program Chairs in the relevant school who will designate one within their group to respond.
3. The Department/Program Chair may contact both parties to determine whether informal resolution is possible. If resolution is not achieved this way, the Department/Program Chair will forward the appeal to the Program Committee (or to an ad hoc Appeal Committee). The instructor whose grade is under dispute will not be part of the committee.
4. The Committee will contact the student and instructor, deliberate, and decide whether or not to change the grade. If the decision is made to change the grade, the Committee will determine the new grade and forward the Grade Change Form to the Registrar, who will update the student's record. The Department/Program Chair will notify the student and the faculty member of the decision either way. The decision of the Committee is final; no appeals will be considered by the Academic Vice President or the President.

Grade Option Request Procedure

Some courses are offered only for letter grades, some only for Pass/No Pass, and some allow the student to select either option. If the course allows for either, your record will reflect the choice you submit to the Registrar's Office. If instructors ask for your grading option choice, this is merely for their own informaiotn - it does not update your registration record. You may change your choice at any point before the Add/Drop Deadline by notifying the Registrar's Office in writing or by e-mail to registrar@ciis.edu. If a course begins after the Add/Drop Deadline, you may make your choice up through the day before the course begins. It is not possible change your choice after these deadlines, even with the instructor's permission.

Grade Scale
The Institute uses a four-point scale to calculate a grade point average (GPA). Grade point values are assigned as follows: