Please review the following resources and forms to ensure that your education at the USC School of Architecture will be a success.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE The university has implemented a program designed to assist students who find it necessary to take a leave of absence from their studies at USC. This new procedure has been designed to ease the transition for students, both at the time they take a leave of absence and upon their eventual return to the university.
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INCOMPLETE IN (Incomplete) is assigned when work is not completed because of documented illness or other "emergency" occurring after the twelfth week of the semester. An emergency is "A situation or event which could not be foreseen and which is beyond the student's control and which prevents the student from taking the final examination or completing other work during the final examination period." A student may not request an IN before the end of the twelfth week; the rationale is that the student still has the option to drop the course until the end of the twelfth week. The grade IN exists so there is a remedy for illness or emergency which occurs after the drop deadline. Arrangements for the grade of IN and its completion must be initiated by the student and agreed to by the instructor prior to the final examination. If an Incomplete is assigned as the student's grade, the instructor is required to fill out an Incomplete (IN) Completion form which specifies to the student and to the department the work remaining to be done, the procedures for its completion, the grade in the course to date, and the weight to be assigned to work remaining to be done when the final grade is computed. Both the instructor and student must sign the form with a copy of the form filed in the department. | |
DIRECTED RESEARCH Directed Research is student-proposed, faculty supervised research that can be used to earn from two to eight units of elective credit. Students must conduct research under a professor, and must present their work (such as a paper, formal publication, demonstration/performance). | |
| DROP and ADD All adds and drops must be processed by Web registration or through the Registration Department. Failure to drop a class officially will result in the mark of UW, which is computed in the GPA as zero (0) grade points. A student may withdraw from a course without academic penalty during the first 12 weeks of the semester, or 12th week equivalency for sessions scheduled for less than 15 weeks. If the course is dropped during the first three weeks, or third week equivalency for sessions scheduled less than 15 weeks, it does not appear on the academic transcript; if the course is dropped during weeks 4 through 12, it will be recorded with a mark of W. No course may be dropped after the end of the 12th week. After registering, it is the student’s responsibility to withdraw officially from a course if he/she decides not to continue in a course. Courses may be added only during the first three weeks of the semester, or during the third week equivalency period if the session is scheduled for less than 15 weeks. | |
REACTIVATION Undergraduate students who have not been enrolled /attempted coursework for the past two years will have their POSTs (program of study) expired with a Reason Code of Abandoned POST (AP). This procedure was designed to prevent students from reenrolling without appropriate departmental review and authorization. (Students who filed a formal Leave of Absence request do not need to go through this procedure, as long as they did not take any non-approved transfer courses while away. Reactivation Procedures | |
TRANSFER COURSE APPROVAL Undergraduate transfer students may petition the School of Architecture to accept transfer coursework toward the Bachelor of Architecture degree. | |
| PASS / NO PASS Students may elect to take classes using the Pass/No Pass option by completing a Pass/No Pass form by the end of the third week of classes. The Pass/No Pass form can be obtained in the Architecture Student Services Office or at the Registration Building (REG). Courses taken on a Pass/No Pass basis are not calculated into a student's GPA. Please note: All architecture majors MUST take Writing 130/140, Writing 340, Math 108, Physics 125, and Architecture requirements for a letter grade. Only 4 units of general education course work may be taken on a Pass/No Pass basis. Architecture majors are permitted to take a maximum of 24 units of NON-ARCHITECTURE electives on a Pass/No Pass basis. AUDITING COURSES Students may choose to audit a course of interest if it is not required for their degree. Courses taken for audit will not receive credit and will not appear on the USC transcript. Students who audit a course generally participate in class activities but may not complete homework assignments, projects or exams. An agreement should be reached with the instructor ahead of time as to what level of participation is expected. Audited courses are assessed at the regular tuition rate and will be indicated with a mark of "V" on the registration confirmation. Students can elect the Audit option during the first three weeks of the semester, but changing to Audit is not available through Web Registration. The form is available at the Registration Building (REG). |