Full-Time Accelerated Pace
The Trimester programs at the School of Accelerated Degree Programs’ academic year consists of 14-week terms with four cohort meetings per term for each cohort. Students enroll in one cluster per term, earning six credit hours. New students may be admitted at the beginning of each term in cohorts and will be expected to attend three terms in each academic year.
In this manner, students make rapid progress toward degree completion while still fulfilling professional and personal responsibilities.
Cluster Limit Policy
Students are not permitted to take more than one cluster in a trimester. The trimester clusters are designed to ensure that the courses within each cluster are inter-related and the clusters themselves are also inter-related in a way that provides students a better understanding of how the various elements in an organization work together. This format enables students to focus entirely on the content of their clusters during the term and that maximizes the likelihood of a quality effort resulting in a quality learning experience. Limiting a student’s course load is intended to protect the academic integrity of the program and its degree offerings. Limiting a student’s course load is also intended to enable the student to fulfill the co-curricular requirement of the program.
Cluster Attendance Policy
The trimester program is a hybrid program in which a highly qualified instructor will teach your classes for eight hours one Saturday each month, and you will also complete weekly online assignments. Because of its hybrid nature, there are two components to the attendance policy of the trimester program. There are four Saturday cluster meetings in each term and students are expected to attend all of them. Students who miss any of these meetings without official documentation such as a doctor’s note, flight cancellation or delay document from the airline, inclement weather that closes roads and highways to the St. Louis metropolitan area and campus, and things of that nature that are beyond the control of the student may have a grade drop in one or both courses in the cluster. A student who has missed or will miss two cluster meetings without the proper documentation will receive failing grades in the cluster. A student who misses a cluster meeting with an acceptable excuse will be given an equivalent amount of work by the instructor to complete as a make-up for the work he/she missed. All new students are required to attend New Student Orientation. Attendance at orientation is considered part of the scheduled coursework and attendance will be counted accordingly.
In addition, the attendance policy is structured so that it incorporates tardiness and early departure from class as part of overall attendance reporting. Students are expected to arrive for the beginning of class periods and remain until the instructor terminates the class meeting.
Instructors will monitor and record the names of students who arrive late for class meetings or who leave class early. Tardy or early departure absences are cumulative and counted according to the school's absence reporting policy. Students who accumulate eight hours of tardy or early departure penalties will be assessed one Saturday absence and will face a drop in grade in one or both classes in the cluster, depending on the instructor’s judgement. This policy shall be strictly enforced except in the event of the occurrence of any of the mitigating conditions stated above with supporting official documents. In such cases, an equivalent make-up work will be assigned by the instructor.
The other component of the attendance policy is the online attendance policy. Students are required to complete weekly online assignments, actively participate in weekly online discussions, and take assigned quizzes online. Attendance will be recorded for each week through participation in the weekly discussions. Students who do not participate will score an “F” grade for that week’s discussion. Students who do not participate in the discussions for two weeks will have a grade drop in one or both courses in the cluster. Students who miss or will miss discussions for seven weeks and who do not withdraw before the withdrawal date will earn an “F” in that cluster. A week in the trimester program is defined as Monday through Sunday.
Students are expected to take quizzes and submit assignments by the due date set by the instructor. Quizzes and assignments submissions will be blocked after the due date and students will score “F” for quiz or the assignment if they are not completed.
Cluster Textbook Policy
All students must have their textbooks by the day that the online course begins. Students also have the responsibility of making sure they purchase the correct textbooks for each cluster or class. This is especially true when students choose to purchase textbooks from sources other than Barnes & Noble, Lindenwood’s official bookstore. It is the responsibility of the student to purchase or rent the correct textbooks for the cluster in which he or she is enrolled. Lindenwood University will not accept responsibility for any textbooks that were not purchased from the university bookstore.
Textbook Ordering
Textbooks for all clusters and courses are available through Barnes and Noble, Lindenwood’s affiliated bookstore. To order texts, students should go to the Lindenwood University website and access Barnes and Noble through a direct link to the company’s Lindenwood University account. Students will need to know the number of each course within the cluster and be prepared to use a credit card to order books. Students are strongly encouraged to order books at least two weeks before the beginning of the trimester and have them shipped directly to their home addresses if they do not live in close proximity to the St. Charles campus.
The Capstone Course
The capstone course is taken in the final cluster in all the programs offered. The course will emphasize the theories and concepts of the concentration from an academic viewpoint as well as their practical applications in the professional setting. The course requires a mastery of the concepts within the concentration and integrates academic studies with issues faced by practicing professionals in their area of employment. Consequently, students should expect case analyses, written assignments, and at least one major research paper during the last cluster. Students are required to earn a grade of "B" or above to pass this course.