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Academic Regulations
Students must familiarize themselves with all the rules, regulations, and procedures relevant to their pursuit of a Graduate School degree, including those published in the Graduate School Bulletin, the Graduate Student Handbook and the MAAS student handbook. Other University regulations, such as the registration schedule and withdrawal deadlines published each semester by the University Registrar, must also be observed. Unawareness of these rules will not be accepted as an excuse for failure to act in accordance with them.
Please carefully review the following handbooks and guidelines paying particular attention to regulations regarding academic honesty, academic freedom and integrity.
Graduate School of Arts
and Sciences Bulletin
MAAS Student Handbook
Academic
Freedom
Academic Integrity
The Graduate School's Academic Integrity: Policies and Procedures section on infringement of academic integrity details the offenses of dishonesty that are considered serious breaches of academic standards and will be subject to disciplinary action. All MAAS students are expected to become familiar with the complete text. Please read carefully the abbreviated definitions below taken from the Graduate Bulletin; sometimes what an individual does not consider to be a violation is in fact a violation by the University's standards.
Plagiarism: the act of passing off as one's own, the ideas, writings, or statements of another. Any quote from another source, whether written, spoken, or electronic, must be bound by quotation marks and cited. Any paraphrase (a recapitulation of another source's statement or idea in one's own words) or summary (a more concise restatement of another's ideas) must be cited.
Cheating: the use or attempted use of unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in in-class examinations, take-home examinations, or other academic exercises.
Fabrication: the falsification or invention of data, research results, citations, or any other information used in examinations, papers, experiments, or other academic exercises.
Mis-use of Academic Work: for example, submitting the same paper to satisfy requirements for two different courses, without explicit permission of both professors.
Charges of academic dishonesty against a graduate student must be presented in writing to the Dean of Graduate Schools; all relevant materials must be included. For details, please refer to the Graduate Bulletin.
MAAS Academic Standards
With the approval of the Graduate School, the Program of Arab Studies has adopted an academic standard somewhat more restrictive than that of other programs. After their first semester of residence, students must achieve a B average in the core, concentration and supporting blocks of courses, and maintain that average continuously within each component in every semester thereafter. This requirement allows for the possibility of adjustment difficulties in the first semester (providing such difficulties do not result in more than one F), but it also demands that all such difficulties be resolved permanently by the second and subsequent semesters. It also means that the program expects a balance of excellence between the course work of the major area of the student's interest and that of the other blocks.
Probation
Occasionally, students are admitted to the MAAS program on a probationary basis or are placed on probation some time after admission. In such cases, specific standards that the student must meet are outlined in a letter from the Dean of the Graduate School or from the MAAS program director. In many, if not all, cases, the terms of probation require the student to demonstrate, in unequivocal terms, his or her ability to meet the program's requirements before the termination of the probationary period. This usually means that the student must meet a higher standard than those outlined above for the duration of the probationary period.
Incompletes
Because MAAS is an extremely intensive program of studies, students may not defer completion of course requirements for one semester until a subsequent semester without the Director's permission. It is expected that students in the MAAS program will complete all course work within the semester in which a course is taken. Even in cases where an instructor allows more time to complete an assignment, MAAS students must submit their work within the semester in which it was assigned. In cases of illness or other emergency where course work cannot be completed on schedule, the instructor, with the concurrence of the MAAS program director, may grant permission to delay submission of required work until a date not later than the first day of classes of the next regular semester.
In such cases, written permission to take an "I" grade must be secured from the instructor concerned and approved by the Director. Except in cases of sudden onset of illness, accident, or death in the family, such permission must be secured no later than two weeks before the end of classes in the semester in which the work is undertaken. Download the "MAAS Student Request for Incomplete" form.
Note: Students applying for fellowships or financial aid should realize that the time elapsed between submission of late work and transcription of the final grade may mean that the faculty committee that makes financial aid decisions will have to consider their applications without the benefit of a full record of their work. Such a situation usually operates to the student's disadvantage.
Approval of an application for an incomplete in the final semester of course work automatically excludes the student from the comprehensive examinations conducted in that semester and therefore from graduation with his or her class.
Course Approval
During pre-registration, the MAAS program will circulate a list of approved courses which count toward your MAAS degree. Courses not on the approved list will not count toward the student's degree program. If a student would like to take a course not on the approved list, they must submit a request to the MAAS director and concentration advisor which includes the course syllabus. MAAS reserves the right to reject any course for degree credit which does not meet the standards and requirements set by the program. See the forms section for the required MAAS Course Approval Form.
Transfer Credit
The MAAS program allows students to transfer up to 9 graduate credits. The courses must be from an accredited university and at a graduate level. All students requesting transfer of credits students must provide the course syllabus, examples of course work, official transcript from the awarding institution as well as the completed Graduate School "change to degree program" form. Matriculated students must obtain prior approval from the director before pursuing courses outside of Georgetown for transfer credit. Transfer credit is not guaranteed and final approval rests with the Graduate School. Please see the Graduate School's website to complete the necessary form.