Attendance Fee Program

Certificate Program

Continuing Education Program

Cooperative Education Program

Honors Programs

Attendance Fee Program

1. Program Objective: Through this program which will make access to credit classes less costly, nonmatriculated adults in the Greater Lancaster area will more easily be able to maximize self-development through attending University credit classes.
2. Program Description: The Attendance Fee Program gives adults in the community the opportunity to avail themselves of University curricular offerings by encouraging them to attend university-level credit courses at nominal cost. Individuals may select varied academic experiences according to their educational aspirations. Attendance may be arranged at a rate equal to the current tuition charge for one semester hour credit.
3. Rationale: The University has provided both credit and non-credit programs for the citizenry for many years. For those not interested in obtaining University credit heretofore, only auditing at regular semester-hour fees was available. Senior citize ns have been exempt from payment for several years. Many groups of adults may benefit from the nominal cost of the Attendance Fee Program., these include young adults who may contemplate University but who have not matriculated, adults who are not intere sted in University credit but who want to update or otherwise improve certain skills for professional advancement, and other citizens who seek life-long educational and cultural enrichment. The latter groups may include retired persons and those who hav e no immediate vocational plans. To serve these groups and others, this program would allow individuals to attend University classes for self-improvement purposes rather than through the usual credit or audit procedures.
4. Procedures: To administer and coordinate this program, the following guidelines are recommended:
   1. Available Space: All credit students must have first priority to enroll in a course, and only if there is an availability capacity of ten percent or more in a class may an "attendance-fee student" enroll. This margin on class size will allow for cre dit students making schedule changes to enter a class after it has started.
   2. Instructor Permission: An instructor must grant prior permission to have his/her class(es) opened to "attendance-fee students."
   3. Course Exemptions: Specified courses which require certain minimum skills or physical considerations for instructional purposes may not be open to "attendance-fee students." (e.g., ART, HPED, IAED, MUSI, etc.)
   4. Students: Attendance-fee students are not required to complete any course requirements nor is the instructor obligated to make any academic evaluations or to hold any office conferences. The attendance fee is not refundable. Currently matriculated students are not eligible for this program.
   5. Registration: The attendance-fee student shall complete a registration card and pay the fee at the time of registration. No application forms are required, nor will any transcript be generated. A class admit card indicating the attendance-fee status shall serve as the student's admission permission to the class. No grade cards will be produced nor will the attendance-fee student's name appear on the official class list.
   6. Review and Assessment: An evaluation process will measure the effectiveness of this program based on the degree of achievement of the program objective as stated above. The process will include a student's evaluation form and an instructor's evaluati on form, both of which will be tallied at the conclusion of the respective semester.
5. Fiscal Support: Based on present cost analysis, the office of finance and administration has determined a fee equal to the current tuition charge for one semester hour credit. This is based on room utilization, registration costs, normal maintenance costs, and advertising. THIS FEE IS NOT REFUNDABLE.

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Certificate Program

The certificate program is designed for students who wish to acquire specific knowledge, update academic skills, or gain expertise in an undergraduate degree program offered at Millersville. The certificate program is specifically for persons who do n ot wish to work toward a degree or who do not wish to pursue courses outside the discipline of interest to them.

To pursue the certificate program, a student must be admitted to the University. Ordinarily such students will be admitted as part-time, non-degree students.

To obtain a certificate in a specialized area within a department, a student must complete the requirements as determined by the department.

Continuing Education Programs

Through the Office of Graduate Studies and Extended Programs, Millersville University provides citizens with a wide variety of continuing education experiences. Many programs are directed to adults above age 25 and are designed to provide professional advancement or personal enrichment. Among the programs administered under the auspices of Continuing Education are:

1. Undergraduate credit courses

   High school graduates or holders of the GED certificate may begin their higher education experience at Millersville as a non-degree part-time student. No entrance exams are required. Upon completing 15 credits with a "C" average or better, students m ay apply for degree status and continue studies on either a full or part-time basis.

   The primary vehicle for entrance to the University by non-degree students is Millersville University Downtown, a multi-site, Lancaster City extension of Millersville where most offerings are undergraduate courses designed for the adult student beginnin g college. The Downtown program was created to fill Millersville's commitment as a regional institution, dedicated to being a center of intellectual and cultural vitality for all area residents. The Downtown program contributes to the University mission of regional service by offering convenient high quality instruction to citizens, businesses, and agencies in the extended Lancaster community.

   All credit courses offered through the Downtown program are scheduled for the convenience of part-time adult students and registration in these courses is restricted to part-time students until one week prior to the beginning of each semester. Downtow n courses are held at several off-campus sites in Lancaster and are scheduled on weekends, evenings, and at other times which are convenient for adults with work and family responsibilities.

   The majority of courses offered Downtown are general education courses that are readily applicable to degree programs at Millersville or transferable to other institutions. All courses are regularly approved courses and will appear on the regular Univ ersity transcript. All faculty are regularly approved faculty at Millersville, with priority given to full-time faculty when available. Faculty teaching downtown offer academic advisement to students in their classes. Because of facility constraints, s tudents may need to make occasional visits to the Millersville campus. Students in Downtown courses have full access to on-campus library facilities.

   The Office of Continuing Education also cooperates with corporations or organizations to offer on-site credit courses to employees. These courses may fill a specific training need of the organization or may provide credit toward a degree for students.

2. Graduate credit courses

   Workshops and graduate courses for educators are scheduled both on campus and at schools and intermediate units across the Commonwealth. Most of these programs occur in the summer. However, the Office of Graduate Studies and Extended Programs provide s evening or late afternoon courses in school districts where large groups of educators are interested in graduate education.

   At both the undergraduate and graduate level, only courses and workshops developed by academic departments and approved by the appropriate reviewing committees may be offered by continuing education for academic credit.

   The University Center of the State System of Higher Education in Harrisburg may be utilized by Millersville as a site for either credit or non-credit continuing education programs.

3. Non-credit Mini-courses

   Short-term courses which have recreational, enrichment, or skill development goals are offered during the school year and during the summer as part of the "Re:Visions" program. Some courses may be applicable to professional accreditation requirements f or which Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are recorded as recognition of participation; none award academic credit. These low-cost mini-courses are designed for persons of all ages, including children and University students. Faculty members who have sp ecial interests or skills that they may be interested in sharing through a Re:Visions course are encouraged to notify the Director of Continuing Education.

4. Special Programs

   Continuing education seminars, usually of one-day or less in length, conferences, and courses leading to certification are administered under the Special Programs category. These non-credit offerings normally are designed to provide professional devel opment opportunities for employees in a wide range of fields. Many programs are eligible for CEUs. Special training sessions for employees of specific companies can be arranged upon request of the company.

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Cooperative Education Programs

A Cooperative Education option is provided to students enrolled in participating departments. Cooperative Education is a learning approach that interweaves University studies with alternating cycles of work experience in industry, business, government or public service. A single term assignment/internship may also be selected. Under such programs, students leave campus for the responsibilities and rigors of full-time or part-time employment situations. Accordingly, students gain the opportunity to make informed decisions on career objectives, gain practical knowledge, receive academic credit, and earn income in the process. This learning is brought back to the classroom and helps to give the student's academic program a sense of reality and relate dness.

The Millersville student may begin to show his/her interest in the Cooperative Education program as early as the first semester, freshmen year. Sophomores and juniors (in some instances, seniors, too) are also highly encouraged to take the first steps to find out more about Cooperative Education.

At the discretion of the department, a maximum of 12 s.h. credit may be counted in the major or electives toward normal graduation requirements. Additional credits will be counted over and above the normal graduation requirements. All credits earned will be on a satisfactory/ unsatisfactory basis. A Cooperative Education student may participate in a maximum of four cooperative experiences.

The Cooperative Education program is optional for almost all Millersville majors. Students must, however, meet the following criteria for participation:

1. Be enrolled full-time at the University.
2. Have successfully completed at least 24 college credits.
3. Have a Quality Point Average (QPA) of at least 2.0 (individual departments may stipulate higher Q.P.A. requirements).
4. Have approval from the appropriate academic department to participate in the Cooperative Education program.
5. Transfer students become eligible to enroll in the program upon successful completion of one full-time term at Millersville if all other eligibility requirements are met.

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Honors Programs

Department Honors

This program provides the opportunity for superior and highly motivated students to pursue a specialized area of interest intensively and independently. Upon successful completion of the program, students are recognized for their achievement at graduation with the designation of departmental honors on their diploma and university record. To be eligible for the program, students must have a cumulative QPA of at least 3.0 and the endorsement of a faculty member.

The program generally consists of two to four semesters of supervised tutorial work, reading, self-instruction, creative inquiry, and research which culminates in the production of a thesis or project. One to four credits may be earned for each of the departmental honors courses (HNRS 489 and HNRS 499). Grades in these courses are determined by the faculty supervisor and departmental committee.

Final theses or projects are examined by and orally defended before the departmental committee. Grades of B^- or higher must be earned on them. A department, however, can request approval to require a minimum grade higher than a B^- for its final theses or projects. They are then presented to the honors and awards committee for review. Titles of completed works are published i n the commencement program.

Contact the department office for an application and more information.

Honors Courses

Honors courses, designated by the prefix HNRS, offer special academic challenges and opportunities for intellectual inquiry. These courses require a measure of independent reading, thinking, and questioning. Students are expected to assume a greater portion of the responsibility for learning. Course requirements include activities to develop writing, research, and analytical skills.

Honors courses are open to students in the university honors college, students with a cumulative quality point average of at least 3.35, and other students with permission from the instructor. Departmental honors courses require permission from the department chairperson. A grade of B^- or better must be received in an honors course for the course to earn honors credit.

University Honors College

The University Honors College has been created to provide challenging and enriching educational experiences for our most talented and motivated students. Designed to fulfill the University-wide general education requirements, the program is open to all undergraduate students in all majors. It provides honors students with a core of stimulating and demanding courses. These courses are intended to introduce honors students to the intellectual underpinnings of modern culture while developing their ability to think critically, to do independent research, and to write in a style which is both lucid and analytical. The core requirements explore the evolution of the Western intellectual and literary traditions, mathematical theory and applications, and scientific methods in theory and practice.

These requirements include an honors composition course and an advanced writing experience in the form of a senior thesis. The core courses are intended to encourage a commitment to academic pursuits among our best students while providing them with a common intellectual bond. The core is augmented with a variety of honors general education electives from which the student may choose to complete the requirements of the program. The majority of these courses put emphasis upon research and writing.

Honors courses have limited enrollments. This creates an intimate and stimulating learning environment where students from varied backgrounds and disciplines can develop a sense of intellectual camaraderie. While honors courses involve both depth and breadth of study and stress independent research and writing, the workloads required are manageable. In addition to providing an enriched and integrated general education, the program is meant to prepare and to encourage our finest students to continue their education in graduate and professional schools. Through formal study and informal advisement they are encouraged to realize their intellectual and professional potential.

Academic Requirements

Completion of the program requires that a minimum of 30 hours of honors credits be taken. All honors courses must be passed with grades of B^- or better to receive honors credit.

Academic Standards and Graduation Requirements

A progressive minimum grade point average requirement shall govern student retention in the program. Students must achieve a 2.75 cumulative grade point average after taking 15 credit hours to remain in the program. A student whose cumulative grade point average falls between 2.75 and 3.0 after the completion of 15 credit hours will be placed on probation and must raise his or her cumulative grade point average to 3.0 by the time 45 credit hours have been completed to remain in good standing in the program. All University honors students must attain a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 by the time they have completed 60 credit hours of work. To graduate with the University Honors Baccalaureate degree a student must complete all work required in the program with grades of B^- or better and must qualify to graduate with honors (3.35 cumulative grade point average).

Students who plan to graduate with the University Honors Baccalaureate must notify the director of the program of their intentions no later than the end of their junior year. Accompanying this notification must be a proposed senior thesis topic approved by the faculty member who has agreed to supervise it. The senior thesis, successfully defended, must be submitted to the program director no later than two weeks before graduation in order for the student to graduate with the honors baccalaureate.

Admission Requirements

Entering freshmen who have combined SAT scores of 1100 or better and are in the top 10% of their high school graduating class are eligible to join the University Honors College. As motivation, enthusiasm, and commitment to learning are often better predictors of success in the program than test scores, incoming students who do not meet these formal criteria but who are seriously interested In participating in the program may apply to the director for admission. In order that no superior student be denied the opportunity to participate in the program, all students who have earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.35 at the University are eligible to enroll in honors courses and to join the program. Other interested students may be admitted to honors classes with the permission of the director.

Students may have up to fifteen hours of transferred honors credits earned at other accredited academic institutions apply toward filling the graduation requirements of the University Honors College. Decisions about which transferred courses may count for honors credit will rest with the director of the University Honors College.

Competency Requirements

1. Honors composition (Honors English 110).
2. QARC: To be fulfilled by completing either honors mathematics 161 (Calculus 1) or honors mathematics 165-166 (Applied Mathematics).
3. Students who have already demonstrated competency in English 110 or Mathematics 161 may be exempted from that honors competency requirement with the written approval of the director.

Core Requirements

1. The Western Literary Tradition I or II (Honors English 238 or 239).
2. The Western Intellectual Tradition I or II (Honors Social Sciences 201 or 202).
3. An honors laboratory science course with an additional credit hour where students and faculty will meet individually or in a seminar. This hour will provide an opportunity to consider the intellectual and historical context in which core ideas develop and to explore and discuss in greater depth those ideas raised in the lecture and laboratory components. Honors seminars taken with the following laboratory science courses will fulfill the honors laboratory science requirement: BIOL 100/108, CHEM 112, ESCI 202, ESCI 221, ESCI 261, PHYS 230/231.
4. An honors perspectives course.
5. An honors senior thesis:

   The honor thesis topic, the advisor for the project, and the committee before which the thesis is defended must be approved by the Honors College Committee. The defense committee must include at least one faculty member knowledgeable in the area of the thesis who is from outside the department of the thesis advisor. The thesis will fulfill the general education upper division writing course requirement.

Honors Electives

1. A minimum of nine hours of honors general education electives.
2. A minimum of one honors course must be taken in each of the following general education academic areas: mathematics/science, humanities, and social science. (Approval by FS 2/6/01; AA 8/27/01)
3. If the above requirements are met by course selections totaling fewer than 30 honors credits, additional honors electives must be taken so that a minimum of 30 credits of honors courses is completed.

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