The UNC Policy Manual
400.1.5.2[R]
Adopted
Amended
This
regulation sets annual goals and establishes guidelines for campuses to be in
compliance with the board's 1993 Plan to
Improve Graduation Rates and to meet the board's expectation that
undergraduates enroll in at least 15 semester hours per term in order to
graduate in four years. These annual
goals and guidelines will also put each campus in compliance with Section
89(a), Senate Bill 27, of the 1993 Session Laws which states:
In order to monitor
institutional progress in meeting the expectation of Item 1 of the "Plan
to Improve Graduation Rates in the University of North Carolina" that
full-time undergraduates will take an average of 15 semester hours per term,
the Board of Governors shall require constituent institutions to set a goal of
increasing to 15 the average number of credit hours per term taken by full-time
undergraduates. This goal shall be met
system-wide and by each constituent institution no later than December of
1997. The Board shall instruct all
institutions to report on their progress in meeting their goals in their annual
assessment reports. The Board shall
require those institutions failing to make timely progress to submit special
reports identifying additional steps to be taken. The Board shall report annually by April 1 to
the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the progress of each
constituent institution in meeting these goals.
It should
be noted that neither the board's expectation nor this requirement changes the
definition of a full-time undergraduate courseload from 12 to 15 credit hours, nor
do they require that every full-time undergraduate carry 15 or more credit
hours. Instead, they require that the courseloads of full-time undergraduates average at
least 15 credit hours. Monitoring of the
legislative requirement will be based on all regular session degree-creditable
and remedial course hours taken by degree-seeking undergraduates as reported on
the institution's fall and spring Student Data Files.
Report Schedule
In
accordance with Section 89(a), Senate Bill 27, of the 1993 Session Laws, the
board issued its final progress report in March 1998. As noted in that report, the board
recommended that it continue to monitor the average courseload of full-time
undergraduates as part of its annual report on Time-To-Degree. To accomplish this task, the following
guidelines shall continue to guide the campuses in submitting their annual
reports.
In
order to include the most current date in the annual report, while at the same
time allowing sufficient time for responses from campuses not meeting goals to
be prepared and summarized, the following schedule will be followed.
An
average annual credit hour count for full-time undergraduates will be
calculated in November of each year. It
will include the credit hours reported on the spring and fall Student Data
Files of that calendar year (not academic year). After the November calculation is made, any
institution whose count is below its annual goal will be asked to report by the
end of the following January on corrective steps to be taken in the new
calendar year. Following receipt of the
campus reports, a report will be prepared for board approval and for submission
to the legislature before April 1.
Annual Goals
Attached
to this Regulation is a table entitled UNC
Board of Governors Report on Average Credit Hours Taken by Full-Time
Degree-Seeking Undergraduates (As required by Section 89(a), Senate Bill 27,
1993 Session Laws). It presents data
on average annual credit hour counts and goals for UNC institutions for the
years 1993 through 1998. Institutions
above the 15-hour average in 1993 are required to maintain an average of 15
hours or more in each of these years.
[This is a rewrite of
Administrative Memorandum #345.]