Academic Information

Academic Achievement Dean’s List and President’s Academic Honors List

Each semester, the College publishes a Dean’s List and a President’s Academic Honors List. To be eligible for the Dean’s List, a student must achieve a grade point average for that semester of 3.25 to 3.749. To be eligible for the President’s Academic Honors List, a student must achieve a grade point average for that semester of 3.75 or higher. Only students who have earned at least 12 credit hours that semester will be eligible for either list.

Academic Achievement Recognition for Part-Time Students

Each semester, the Vice President for Academic Affairs will send a letter of Academic Achievement and a letter of Academic Distinction to part-time students who qualify. To be eligible for a letter of Academic Achievement, a part-time student must achieve a grade point average for that semester of 3.25 to 3.749. To be eligible for a letter of Academic Distinction, a part-time student must achieve a grade point average for that semester of 3.75 or higher. Only part-time students who have earned at least 6 credit hours that semester will be eligible for either list.

Academic Calendar

Clinton Community College operates on a 15-week semester system during the fall and spring semesters. Clinton also offers summer sessions, and, when there is sufficient demand winter sessions.

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is expected of all Clinton Community College students. It is academically dishonest, for example, to misrepresent another person’s work as one’s own, to take credit for someone else’s work or ideas, to knowingly give or accept help on a test, to obtain advanced information on confidential test materials, or to intentionally harm another student’s chances for academic success.

When an instructor believes that a student has failed to maintain academic honesty, the instructor may decide on the penalty he or she believes is warranted.

When a student is penalized by receiving a failing grade on a major assignment or for the course, the instructor must notify his or her Department Chairperson and submit evidence that the student has acted dishonestly to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The VPAA’s Office will send an academic incident form to the student within five working days. If the student disputes the charge or the penalty, he or she may follow the Academic Grievance Procedure as outlined in the College Catalog.

If the student chooses not to appeal, or the appeal is unsuccessful, the Vice President for Academic Affairs will retain a record of the offense. A student who commits a second offense may be dismissed from the college, and an appeal to return will not be permitted for one full calendar year.

Academic Standard for Athletic Eligibility

For a student to participate on a Clinton Community College team in a NJCAA registered sport, the student must meet the following college academic requirements:

Must remain registered for a minimum of twelve (12) semester hours while competing. Students who drop below twelve (12) semester hours immediately become ineligible for athletic participation.
Must be making satisfactory academic progress. A minimum of a 2.00 GPA for a minimum of twelve (12) semester hours is required each semester to continue participation in the subsequent full-time semester.
Must complete and pass a minimum of twenty-four (24) semester hours with a minimum CGPA of 2.00 to be eligible to compete in the second year.
Must not have a college record in an impounded status.
The student must meet all of the NJCAA eligibility requirements. The requirements are available in the Director of Athletics’ Office.

Attendance Requirement

Regular attendance is considered essential for successful study and is expected at all lecture and laboratory periods for which the student is registered. If, for some unavoidable reason, a student should miss a class, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor as soon as possible to determine what measures can be taken to make up the missed work to maintain the continuity of the course. However, the instructor is not obligated to give make-up work, quizzes, examinations or extended due dates for work because of student absence.

When a student misses more than 15 percent of the class meetings for a particular course, his or her absence will be considered excessive. Excessive absence may result in a student being involuntarily withdrawn from the course by the Registrar upon recommendation of the instructor and may in turn affect financial aid. In such cases, the student will receive a grade of “W”.

Change of Course – Add/Drop

Students are expected to complete the courses for which they register. If a change is necessary, either from or into a different course or section, the student must complete an “Add/Drop Form” obtained from the Registrar’s Office. Approval must be secured from the student’s advisor and the Financial Aid Office. The form is then turned in to the Registrar’s Office no later than the last day to add a course stated in the college calendar, and the change is affected. After the college’s designated add/ drop period, students must also get instructor approval before changing their courses. The college may limit the time and dates during which students can drop and add courses.

Change of Curriculum

When it becomes obvious that a student’s aptitudes and interests may be better applied to a curriculum other than that in which he/she initially entered, the student should see his/ her faculty advisor to apply for a change of curriculum. Should a change of advisor seem appropriate, the student may also complete the necessary form for an advisor change. The requirements the student must meet in a particular curriculum are those in effect when the student enters that particular curriculum, rather than when the student first enrolled at Clinton. All courses taken by the student while at Clinton shall be used in computing the cumulative grade point average (GPA).

Change of Grade Policy

Instructors can make grade corrections, when errors were made, by accessing the Faculty Portal and submitting a request for a change of grade. The Registrar’s Office will process change of grades that fall within the appropriate reasons for grade corrections listed below. All other requests for change of grade will be forwarded to the Vice President of Academic Affairs for approval or disapproval. Inappropriate reasons for grade changes are also listed below. Faculty members who request a change of grade will be notified of the approval or disapproval.

Appropriate reasons for grade corrections or changes may include, but are not limited to:

demonstrable arithmetic, editing, or factual errors in calculating the grade;
omission of assignments or parts of assignments in calculating the grade;
a grade demonstrably based on factors unrelated to student performance.

Inappropriate reasons for grade corrections or changes may include, but are not limited to:

saving a student from an academic penalty such as dismissal, probation, or warning;
enabling a student to graduate;
enabling a student to maintain eligibility for financial aid;
enabling a student to graduate with academic honors;
personal issues unrelated to academics;
enabling a student to maintain eligibility for athletics or other co-curricular activities;
managing enrollment levels to preserve programs or revenue or increasing retention rates.

College Level

Students who have completed between 0-29 credits are considered as having freshman-level status. Students who have completed 30 or more credits are considered sophomore level.

College Policy on Writing

In all courses, students’ written work is evaluated for effectiveness, as well as content. The writing must express ideas clearly, logically, and maturely, using standard English sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. Students must acknowledge all sources of information by following a standard citation format.

Credit Hour

The credit hour system for Clinton Community College is the semester hour. Each semester hour represents one contact hour of classroom time, or 15 hours total over the course of a semester. Assignment of credit hours is based on the type of course instruction (e.g., lecture, seminar, laboratory, studio). Clinton Community College follows the SUNY policy on Credit/Contact Hour (Document 1305) - https://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=168

In order for students to be considered full-time, they must enroll in a minimum of 12 credits each semester. Half-time study (the typical minimum needed for financial aid) is 6 credits.

SUNY Cross Registration Guidelines

In accordance with the SUNY Cross-Registration policy, students may seek to cross-register for courses at other SUNY Campuses. The primary goal of the cross-registration policy is to promote timely degree completion, by providing students access to courses at other SUNY campuses, while they are enrolled at their home campus. To facilitate this objective, a formal Financial Aid Consortium Agreement has been created to allow student to register for academic credit with any other SUNY Campus(es) and have the combined credits considered for financial aid. There are two main reasons a student could benefit from cross-registration: First, to resolve scheduling conflicts for required courses that would delay timely program completion. Second, to allow student(s) to complete requirements in situations where a course or courses are unavailable at their home campus.

SUNY Cross-Registration Criteria:

Student(s) must be matriculated to a certificate or undergraduate degree program to participate.
Cross-registered courses must be applied to the student’s academic program or degree.
A student must be in good academic standing at the Home Campus.
A student must be enrolled in at least 6 credits with the Home Campus to ensure residency requirements are met.
Cross-registration is required to meet timely certificate or degree completion. Eligible approval circumstances include,
1. lack of course availability.
2. course not offered
3. course is offered but there are no available seats
4. the course is available but conflicts with another required course, such that delaying completion of either course would result in increased time to degree.
Cross-registration is available for the fall and spring terms only. Registration dates and deadlines vary by college.
The combined total of the home and host institution may not exceed 18 credits. Student may pursue a term credit overload with permission from their Academic Advisor and V.P. for Academic Affairs.
The student is responsible for meeting the prerequisites for cross-registered courses.
The student is responsible for completing the Cross-Registration request in the SUNY portal. For more information about the SUNY Cross-Registration portal and procedures please contact the Registrar.

Deregistration Policy

Matriculated students may be deregistered from course(s)for which they lack the pre-requisite(s)/co-requisite(s).
1. Deregistration may occur in advance, prior to the start of the next term. Deregistration may also occur at any time within the term the course is being taught for lack of prerequisite(s)/co-requisite(s).
2. The Registrar may assign a final grade of W for the course(s) when deregistration occurs after the date of record for the term.
Matriculated and Non-Matriculated students may be deregistered from course(s) for non-payment.
1. Deregistration will occur if the tuition bill is not complete by the published due date. Completion of the tuition bill includes:
  1. Completed Certificate of Residence Form, i
  2. Completed SFA Authorization Form and Payment of the Balance Due.

* Deregistration of credits could affect students meeting satisfactory academic progress requirements and financial aid eligibility.

The initial deadline for deregistration each term will be published on the Registrar’s website at www.clinton.edu/ registrar.

Double Degree

It is possible for a student to earn more than one degree, applying credits earned in certain courses toward the total needed for each degree under the following conditions:

The full requirements for each degree must be met.
Courses may be counted twice, once for each degree, either to meet general education or program requirements.
Successful completion of requirements for both degrees will require a minimum of an additional semester of registration and at least 15 additional credits.

Gainful Employment Information

On October 29, 2010, the United States Department of Education published new regulations mandating that colleges and universities report data and disclose information on certain Title IV eligible programs designed to lead to gainful employment in a specific career. At Clinton Community College, all of our certificate programs fall under the auspices of the gainful employment regulations.

Clinton Community College is committed to ensuring that prospective students receive all of the information they need to make an informed choice. Yearly gainful employment data is available on our registrar’s office website at www.clinton.edu/registrar. Amongst some of the data assembled includes information on the number of graduates in our programs, the cost of attendance, the careers that the certificates will prepare students for and more. Questions about gainful employment should be directed to the Registrar’s Office at (518) 562-4124.

Graduation Requirements

In order to receive a certificate or degree from Clinton Community College, students must have completed the required number of credit hours and courses according to their curriculum catalog. Students must have a cumulative quality point average of 2.00 or better and must have completed a minimum of fifteen (15) credits in residency (excluding grade-bearing portfolio or proficiency credits) for A.A., A.S., and A.A.S. degrees and a minimum of six (6) credits in residency for A.O.S. degrees. Each academic year the College will confer degrees or certificates to students in May for spring graduates, August for summer graduates or December for fall graduates.

The College will host an annual commencement ceremony in May. Expected student graduates for fall, spring and summer terms will be invited to participate.

In order to graduate, students must first apply to participate in graduation by completing a graduation application. A separate graduation application is required for each degree and/or certificate students are eligible to receive. Students must each obtain the signature of their academic advisor and submit the application to the Registrar’s Office by the published deadline. Graduation applications are found on the college website: http://www.clinton.edu/Registrar/ GraduationWorksheetArchive.cxml

Participating in the Commencement Ceremony Short of Credits:

Participation in the commencement ceremony is a privilege reserved for students who are expected to complete all the program requirements. However, students lacking six (6) or fewer credit hours may participate in the commencement ceremony. Students who participate in the graduation ceremony short 6 or fewer credit hours are not eligible to be designated as graduating with honors or be considered for valedictorian/salutatorian status. In order to participate in the graduation ceremony lacking 6 or fewer credit hours, students must indicate, “Will attend ceremony short credits (≤6 cr.)” on their graduation applications. Additionally, if they are completing remaining credits-to-degree at another institution, they must indicate the name of the college or university from which they will be transferring credit back to complete Clinton’s degree or certificate. The College will confer the degrees or certificates to the students in the following term, pending the successful completion of the remaining credits-to-degree.

Graduating by Reverse Transfer:

Students may transfer to another college or university prior to completing their associate’s degree or certificate program from Clinton Community College. Upon fulfilling any missing requirements at another institution students can transfer those credits required for completion back to Clinton Community College to receive their associate’s degree or certificate. When students transfer prior to program completion, these students must complete the required number of credit hours and courses according to the most recent college catalog to graduate. The current requirements may differ from the original curriculum catalog as changes to program degree requirements may be implemented each fall.

Students may select one of two options to be candidates for reverse transfer.

If students are completing the course(s) at another SUNY institution, they may apply as SUNY Reverse Transfer applicants. The SUNY Reverse Transfer application is available at the website: https://www.suny.edu/ reversetransfer/. A portal is available to complete this application. The portal aids communication between SUNY campuses and students. Each student’s institution will be able to upload final transcripts for evaluation by the Registrar.
If students are completing the course(s) at an out-of-state or non-SUNY institution, it is their responsibility to request official transcripts for evaluation by the Registrar.

The Registrar will determine the next eligible term to confer the degree or certificate, (December, May or August) based upon when the transcript has been received and evaluated to current degree requirements.

Graduation With Honors

Students with a cumulative quality point average of 3.25 but lower than 3.5 at time of graduation will graduate “Cum laude.” Students with a cumulative quality point average of 3.5 but lower than 3.75 at the time of graduation will graduate “Magna cum laude.” Students with a cumulative quality point average of 3.75 or above at the time of graduation will graduate “Summa cum laude.” To be eligible for any of these designations, a student must complete at least one-half the minimum number of credit hours of college study required for the degree or certificate program at Clinton Community College.

Reading and Writing

Most credit bearing courses at Clinton Community College require college-level reading and writing skills. Therefore, to enroll in those credit courses, a student must place into ENG 101 or successfully complete ENG 101S. In addition, a student must successfully complete RDG 095 or have placement scores that indicate college-level reading skills except to enroll in ENG 101.

Renaissance Program

The Renaissance program provides an opportunity for students who previously attended Clinton and showed poor academic performance, to have a “fresh start” without their previous grades that were a C- or below counting against them. Students considering the program are advised to consult with Financial Aid regarding financial aid eligibility. In order to be considered for the program, students may not have taken a course at Clinton for at least three (3) years. Students may apply for the program only after they have completed a minimum of 12 hours after readmission with a GPA of 2.0 or better. Applications for the Renaissance program are available in the Registrar’s Office or on Clinton’s website at Clinton.edu/ registrar under forms.

When a student has been approved for the Renaissance program, his or her previous academic record will be reviewed, and:

“FS” (fresh start) grades will be assigned in place of the previously earned grades of C- or below.
Credit earned for previous courses in which the student earned a “C” or better will be retained.
For determining the student’s GPA, course work with a C grade or better prior to readmission and credits completed after readmission to the College will be included.
For determining the student’s earned hours, course work with a C grade or better prior to readmission and credits completed after readmission to the College will be included.
All course and grade information will remain on the student’s transcript regardless of when those courses were taken.

Semester Credit Overload

During the Fall and Spring semester, no student may enroll for more than 18 credits without approval from their advisor, Department Chairperson and Vice President for Academic Affairs. During the Summer session, no student may register for more than 6 credits in any one summer term or more than 12 credits for all summer terms without permission from his or her advisor, Department Chairperson and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Technology Statement

A Clinton student should expect that any class may require some course activity that uses a computer and the internet. Activities could include, but are not limited to, accessing the course syllabus, schedule, or other handouts on the website, completing homework online, taking quizzes or submitting written work, participating in a discussion or sending/receiving e-mail.

Transfer Before Degree Completion

When the student transfers to another institution before completing the Clinton degree requirements, he or she will be responsible for contacting the Registrar’s Office to inform them that they have completed their degree requirements. The student will need to request an official transcript from the transfer institution to be sent to the Registrar’s Office at Clinton. The student who attends a fellow SUNY College may submit a SUNY Reverse Transfer Application. The Application is free to the student and available at www.suny.edu/ reversetransfer. Following the student submission of a Reverse Transfer Request, the current SUNY Campus will upload the transcript for the Clinton Registrar’s review. If the necessary course requirements are successfully completed and verified by transcripts, the student will receive a diploma granting the Clinton degree and may participate in graduation ceremonies.

Valedictorian and Salutatorian

Graduating students who have completed at least 48 credit hours in residence at Clinton Community College are eligible for consideration as valedictorian or salutatorian. Transfer hours will not be included in this requirement.

Among the eligible students, the student with the highest cumulative GPA will be designated the valedictorian. In the case of identical averages, the student who has completed the greater percentage of his or her degree requirements at

Clinton will be the valedictorian, and the student with the same GPA but a lower percentage of Clinton credits will be named salutatorian.

Otherwise, the student with the second highest cumulative GPA will be named salutatorian. In the case of identical averages, the student who has completed the greater percentage of his or her degree requirements at Clinton will be the salutatorian.

If the GPAs and percentages of credits taken at Clinton are the same for more than one student, all will be awarded the respective honors.

Such honors may be awarded in absentia and will be noted on the official transcript and diploma. To qualify, a student must meet all degree requirements at the time of graduation.

Withdrawal from the College

Students who wish to withdraw from the College during a semester should contact the Academic Advising and Student Support Office to complete the necessary paperwork, discuss their reasons for withdrawal and possible options. Consultation with Financial Aid and the Bursar are a required part of this process. A complete withdrawal may have financial implications for a student that impacts their future Financial Aid eligibility. Students will be required to provide documentation of circumstances if seeking Tuition Appeal and/or Financial Aid Appeal.