Academic Policies
Retention Standards
All students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 to remain in good standing in the program. If your GPA falls below 3.0 at the conclusion of any semester, you may be placed on academic probation. Students on academic probation are given 9 consecutive semester hours to raise their GPA to at least 3.0 Courses with a grade of "I" (incomplete) or dropped after census day (tenth day of the semester) are included in the calculation of the 9 semester hours. If you are unable to raise your GPA to 3.0 or greater, your program will terminate. Once it becomes mathematically impossible for you to raise your GPA to 3.0 in 9 consecutive semester hours on academic probation, your program will terminate. In addition, if at any time the College of Business Graduate Programs Office determines you are not making satisfactory progress toward the completion of your degree, your program will terminate. All probation and termination decisions are at the discretion of the College of Business Graduate Programs Office.
It takes one grade of A to raise one grade of C to a 3.0 GPA. In addition, it takes three grades of A to raise one grade of F to a 3.0 GPA. A student who receives an F in any class must retake the course in which the F was received. Note that both the old and new grade are reflected on a student's transcript and both grades are used to calculate the student's overall GPA. All graduate classes are evaluated in this GPA determination regardless of the program.
Note that the College of Business retention standards are more rigorous than the minimum retention standards set forth by the university - you can be placed on academic probation regardless of the number of hours completed in your program. The College of Business reviews student records after both 1st and 2nd summer session rather than treating the two as one session. In addition, you are not eligible for financial aid past your first probationary semester.
Time for Program Completion
The time limit for completing the MBA program is six years from the semester the student completes their first Breadth course (level 6300 or higher). You may take a semester or more away from the program if needed. If you go a semester or more without registering for classes, you must complete a readmission application online from the Graduate School website www.ecu.edu/gradschool. At the "Application Type" screen, select Readmit Masters. A readmission application is required to reactivate your recrod in the university system and must be completed by the same deadlines that apply to a new applicant. If you are out of the program for a year or more, you must meet the current admission criteria in order to be readmitted. Additionally, your transcripts will be reviewed to determine your eligibility for waivers.
Communication Policies
Once you have registered for classes, the University, faculty, and administration will communicate through your ECU email account only. You may reach the email login site at piratemail.ecu.edu. Please check your email frequently and keep the account cleaned out to avoid missing important announcements. It is assumed that you have received and read your email messages within 24-hours of the time the message was sent. If you are not getting frequent emails from the Graduate Office, pleast let your advisor know.
Due to the increasing emphasis placed on the importance of communication skills for our graduate students, emails sent to the Graduate Office must meet some minimum level of quality before receiving a response. Emails are a form of business communication and should be given the same consideration as other forms of more "traditional" business communication. The College of Business Graduate Office will not respond to emails that do not use proper punctuation and capitalization.
We also communicate with students via a COB MBA/MSA Information Bb page. You can find faculty email addresses, phone numbers, course descriptions, university calendars and "how to" information including instructions to drop a class, obtain a proctor, etc. We expect students to check the COB MBA/MSA Bb site on a daily basis. You should be able to find the answer to most questions on the Bb site. New students are added to this course near the start of their first semester.
Grading Policies
At the first scheduled class meeting, the instructor must state the basic requirements and assignments of the course and indicate his or her method of evaluation. This information will be found on the course syllabus.
In Graduate School, grades consist of A, B, C, I, F, and N and are defined as follows:
A - Excellent
B - Good
C - Low Pass
I - Incomplete: The grade of I is given for a deficiency in the quantity of work done in a course. Granting a grade of Incomplete is at the discretion of the instructor. Students must resolve any Incomplete grade within one calendar year or before graduation (whichever comes first), or the I grade automatically converts to a grade of F.
F - Failure
N - Audit
Change of Grade
A change of grade, for any reason, must be made within one year from the date the original grade was received.
Posting of Grades
Grades are posted electronically as soon as they are determined at the end of each semester or summer term. Faculty report grades to the registrar no later than 48-hours after final exams. Students may view their grades from their Banner Self-Service account. Grades are not sent by mail unless the student sends a written request to the Registrar. Students are responsible for advising faculty of any discrepancies prior to the end of the term. Questions about final grades should be directed to the instructor for the course.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is expected of every East Carolina University student. Violation of the ECU academic integrity policy may result in a failing grade in the course. Procedures governing academic integrity violations are described in the Clue Book and may be found at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-studentlife/policyhub/handbook.cfm. 
