Academic Policies

Loyola University Chicago has several policies and regulations all students must adhere to. We encourage students to familiarize themselves with the policies. Contact our advising staff with any questions.

Academic Standing

Loyola University Chicago understands academic progress is an important element in an individual's life at the university. The university has instituted formal procedures for warning – and ultimately dismissing – those who are not progressing as required. Academic probationary status and academic dismissal should be understood as necessary, although unfortunate, consequences for students who aren’t progressing. During the period of academic probation, no student will be allowed to represent the university publicly. Any exception to this restriction must come explicitly from the student's academic dean. The student's academic dean determines when a student is placed on academic probation or dismissed for academic reasons.

In general, academic standing is determined using a basic grade point average (GPA) criteria. Students must maintain a grade point average of at least 2.00 to be in good academic standing. Graduation from the university requires at least a 2.00 average for all coursework and a minimum of a least a 2.00 average in a student's major.

Note - some programs (University Honors, etc.) have additional GPA requirements. Students should check with their academic advisor for more information.

Probation

There are two types of academic probation:

• Academic Standing
• Progress Toward a Degree

Any undergraduate student whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.00 and who has a Quality Point Deficit of between 1 and 14 points will be placed on probation. Quality Point Deficit refers to the number of Quality Points below a 2.00 GPA on a student's record. For example, a student who has completed 34 semester hours with a 2.00 GPA has 68 Quality Points. A Quality Point Deficit refers to the number of quality points below 68. This formula is the same for any number of semester hours completed - 2.00 times the number of semester hours equals the minimum Quality Point Standard.

Students may also be placed on probation for not making progress toward degree completion. Any student whose cumulative GPA is 2.00 or better but who fails to show timely progression toward completion of his/her degree requirements may, at the discretion of The School of Communication, be placed on probation. In such cases, an academic improvement plan will be required, defining the terms under which the student can return to Good Academic Standing.

Continued on Probation

Any undergraduate student who is already Placed on Probation must raise their GPA during their term of probation. If the student raises their GPA but it does not reach a cumulative 2.0, they are Continued on Probation for one semester.

Dismissal for Poor Scholarship

Any undergraduate student who has a quality point deficit of 15 or more points, even if he/she/they has not had a previous semester of probationary status, may be dismissed for poor scholarship. Any student placed on or continued on probation whose cumulative GPA does not reach a 2.0 cumulative GPA will be dismissed for poor scholarship.

Graduate Student Academic Probation

Any graduate student whose cumulative GPA falls below 3.00 will be placed on probation. Students may also be placed on probation for not making progress toward degree completion. Any student whose cumulative GPA is 3.00 or better but who fails to show timely progression toward completion of his/her degree requirements may, at the discretion of his/her dean, be placed on probation. In such cases, an Academic Improvement Plan will be required, defining the terms under which the student can return to Good Academic Standing.

Any graduate student who achieves a cumulative GPA of less than 3.0 during the probationary semester, will be continued on probation.

Any student placed on or continued on probation whose cumulative GPA does not reach a 3.0 cumulative GPA will be dismissed for poor scholarship.

Statement on Academic Integrity 

A basic mission of a university is to search for and to communicate truth as it is honestly perceived. A genuine learning community cannot exist unless this demanding standard is a fundamental tenet of the intellectual life of the community. Students of Loyola University Chicago are expected to know, to respect, and to practice this standard of personal honesty.  

Academic dishonesty can take several forms, including, but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, copying another student’s work, and submitting false documents. These examples of academic dishonesty apply to both individual and group assignments.  

Academic cheating is a serious act that violates academic integrity. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, such acts as: 

• Obtaining, distributing, or communicating examination materials prior to the scheduled examination without the consent of the teacher; 

• Providing information to another student during an examination; 

• Obtaining information from another student or any other person during an examination; 

• Using any material or equipment during an examination without consent of the instructor, or in a manner which is not authorized by the instructor; 

• Attempting to change answers after the examination has been submitted; 

• Taking an examination by proxy. Taking or attempting to take an exam for someone else is a violation by both the student enrolled in the course and the proxy.  

• Unauthorized collaboration, or the use in whole or part of another student’s work, on homework, lab reports, programming assignments, and any other course work which is completed outside of the classroom; 

• Falsifying medical or other documents to petition for excused absences or extensions of deadlines; or 

• Any other action that, by omission or commission, compromises the integrity of the academic evaluation process. 

Plagiarism is a serious violation of the standards of academic honesty. Plagiarism is the appropriation of ideas, language, work, or intellectual property of another, either by intent or by negligence, without sufficient public acknowledgement and appropriate citation that the material is not one's own. It is true that every thought probably has been influenced to some degree by the thoughts and actions of others. Such influences can be thought of as affecting the ways we see things and express all thoughts. Plagiarism, however, involves the taking and use of specific words and ideas of others without proper acknowledgement of the sources, and includes, but is not limited to, the following: 

• Submitting as one's own material copied from a published source, such as Internet, print, CD-ROM, audio, video, etc.; 

• Submitting as one's own another person's unpublished work or examination material; 

• Allowing another or paying another to write or research a paper for one's own benefit; or 

• Purchasing, acquiring, and using for course credit a pre-written paper. 

• Submitting the same work for credit in two or more classes, even if the classes are taken in different semesters. If a student plans to submit work with similar or overlapping content for credit in two or more classes, the student should consult with all instructors prior to submission of the work to make certain that such submission will not violate this standard. 

• Submitting any work that has been used – or is anticipated to be used – in any professional, non-profit, or student publication, broadcast, internet posting, student club or organization, or any related activity, such as the Loyola Phoenix student newspaper, WLUW-FM student radio station, Rambler Sports Locker student television show, Inigo student communication agency, or any other activity or club. 

Using AI on assignments 

To maintain our culture of excellence and integrity, students are not to use AI assisted technology in the classroom unless they are specifically authorized to do so by their faculty for an assignment, a test, a quiz, or any deliverable that will be graded. 

The above list is in no way intended to be exhaustive. Students should be guided by the principle that it is of utmost importance to give proper recognition to all sources. To do so is both an act of personal, professional courtesy and of intellectual honesty. Any failure to do so, whether by intent or by neglect, whether by omission or commission, is an act of plagiarism. A more detailed description of this issue can be found at https://catalog.luc.edu/academic-standards-regulations/undergraduate/

Plagiarism or any other act of academic dishonesty will result minimally in the instructor’s assigning the grade of "F" for the assignment or examination. The instructor may impose a more severe sanction, including a grade of “F” in the course. All instances of academic dishonesty must be reported by the instructor to the Associate and Assistant Deans of the School of Communication. Instructors must provide the appropriate information and documentation when they suspect an instance of academic misconduct has occurred. The instructor must also notify the student of their findings and sanction.  

The Associate and Assistant Deans of the School of Communication may constitute a hearing board to consider the imposition of sanctions in addition to those imposed by the instructor, including a recommendation of expulsion, depending on the seriousness of the misconduct.  In the case of multiple instances of academic dishonesty, the Dean's office may convene a separate hearing board to review these instances.  The student has the right to appeal the decision of the hearing board to the Dean of SOC. If the student is not a member of the SOC, the dean of the college in which the student is enrolled shall be part of the process.  Students have the right to appeal the decision of any hearing board and the deans of the two schools will review the appeal together.  Their decision is final in all cases except expulsion.  The sanction of expulsion for academic dishonesty may be imposed only by the Provost upon recommendation of the dean or deans. 

Students have a right to appeal any finding of academic dishonesty against them. The procedure for such an appeal can be found at:  

http://www.luc.edu/academics/catalog/undergrad/reg_academicgrievance.shtml.  

The School of Communication maintains a permanent record of all instances of academic dishonesty. The information in that record is confidential. However, students may be asked to sign a waiver which releases that student’s record of dishonesty as a part of the student’s application to a graduate or professional school, to a potential employer, to a bar association, or to similar organizations. 

Dean's List

The School of Communication dean's list is a semester-by-semester acknowledgement of those full-time undergraduate students (taking 12 semester hours or more) who obtain at least a 3.5 grade point average in any given academic semester. Students on the dean's list receive a personal acknowledgement from the dean.

Laudatory Honors at Graduation

Undergraduate students earning 60 or more graded Loyola credits are eligible to graduate with laudatory standing according to the criteria below. This outstanding accomplishment will be noted on the students' diplomas, transcript, and at the graduation ceremony.

Note: GPA is not rounded for laudatory honors.