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 interrelated and the clusters themselves are also interrelated 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, maximizing the likelihood of a quality effort and 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
Because of the trimester program's 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, or events beyond the control of the student may have a significant 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. Students who miss 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 they missed. All new students are required to attend New Student Orientation face-to-face. Attendance at orientation is considered part of the scheduled coursework and attendance will be taken accordingly. Additionally, because the term begins on Mondays and the face-to-face orientation is on the following Friday, students are expected to attend an online orientation on the evening of the first day of the term for guidelines and directions on how to complete the first week’s assignments. Any student who fails to attend the online orientation is still required to complete all first week assignments. No excuses will be accepted.
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. Participation in any academic related activity such as responding to a post, submitting an assignment, etc. is considered attendance. However, to score the maximum points for the week, students are required to complete all the weekly online assignments, actively participate in weekly online discussions, and take assigned online quizzes, if any. Attendance will be recorded for each week through participation in the weekly discussions. Students who do not participate in the online activities 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 are responsible for making sure they purchase the correct textbooks and course materials 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. Lindenwood University will not accept responsibility for any textbooks that were not purchased from the university bookstore.
Textbook Ordering
Textbooks and other required materials for all clusters and courses are available through Barnes and Noble, Lindenwood’s affiliated bookstore. To order course materials, 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 who do not live in close proximity to the St. Charles campus 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.
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. 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 better to pass this course.
Student Code of Conduct
The School of Accelerated Degree Programs is designed for the working adult. As such, it is assumed that classroom and campus behavior will reflect the professional demeanor that adults demonstrate in a work environment. The following guidelines are designed to remind students of appropriate behaviors expected in the classroom.
- Students are expected to give proper respect to faculty, staff members, and fellow students. Exchange of ideas is an integral component of learning, and participants must feel free to share ideas within the classroom setting.
- Appropriate language is expected. Language chosen to belittle another person or group or that could be considered hate speech will not be tolerated.
- In order to respect students’ privacy, individual grades will only be discussed before class, during breaks, or after class, at the discretion of the professor.
- All students are to be in the class on time and to stay for the entire class period.
- Cell phones and pagers should be set to silent mode during class except for emergency services personnel on call. Text messaging distracts from learning and therefore is not permitted during class.
- Tobacco use is prohibited on campus and in all campus buildings. Tobacco includes, but is not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, pipes, water pipes (hookah), electronic cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco and any non-FDA approved nicotine delivery device.
- With the exception of computer lab courses, food in the classroom is allowed only with permission of the instructor. Students are expected to dispose of any trash that they generate during class.
- A hostile environment is not conducive to learning, and students who violate this code of conduct will be referred to the dean of the school of accelerated degree programs, dean of students, and/or the provost and may be removed from the cluster and possibly from the university.