Newhouse Rules and Regulations
A. Admission to Majors (current Newhouse students only)
To be eligible for admission to a major, a student must:
- Meet such criteria as determined by the departments and/or faculty of the School of Public Communications.
- Complete a Declaration of Major form.
B. Advanced Standing
Students who enter the University with professional experience in any field of communications may apply to the chairperson of their department for examinations to qualify for admission with advanced standing. Before giving approval, the chairperson may require students to do additional work.
Students must declare in writing before taking an examination for advanced standing that they do not wish credit hours (a decision which shall not be changed later), and that they are taking the examination in order to proceed to more advanced work.
C. Academic Standards
The Newhouse School follows the Syracuse University Academic Integrity Policy. Teachers who wish to supplement that policy with class-specific rules and guidelines must do so in writing, in the course syllabus or with similar notice to students.
It is not permissible for any student to submit the same material, with substantially the same style, structure, or wording, to instructors in two or more courses.
A student may not repeat a School of Public Communications course in which a passing grade of D or higher has been received.
Any Public Communications course in which a student has received a grade of F may be repeated. However, a grade of F will only be flagged once for a repeated course.
The pass/fail grade option may be used only for elective courses not required for a major, minor, concentration, specialization, or Core requirements. Pass/fail courses may be used only as free electives.
No more than 24 credits can be taken with a pass/fail grade.
D. Cross-Listed Courses
A course cross-listed between Newhouse and another school, college, or program will be counted as a Newhouse course. Students must register for such courses under the Newhouse course number.
E. Graduation Requirements
Dually Enrolled Students – A student dually enrolled in the School of Public Communications and another school or college of the University must fulfill the course requirements of both schools.
Majors and Minors in Communications – Students may not pursue two major programs or one major and a minor program simultaneously in the School of Public Communications.
GPA – To be eligible for graduation, a student must earn a 2.00 overall grade point average and a 2.00 grade point average in courses taken in the School of Public Communications.
F. Graduation Honors
Graduation honors shall be awarded to students whose cumulative grade point average places them in the highest quartile of the graduating class, subject to the following conditions:
Have earned at least 60 credit hours at Syracuse University.
- Cum laude – minimum of a 3.4 GPA.
- Magna cum laude – minimum of a 3.6 GPA.
- Summa cum laude – minimum of a 3.8 GPA.
G. Internship (Experience) Credit
- Internship credit will be allowed only for work that has been approved by the Newhouse Academic Advising Office. Students seeking academic credit for prospective work experiences should contact the Newhouse Academic Advising Office, unless the desired internship is offered through a 3 credit course other than BAN 403, COM 400, COM 470, MND 535, PRL 525, or TRF 475.
- The following students will be eligible to complete experience credit coursework in the communications area:
- Students with sophomore standing who have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and have obtained the permission of the chair of their major department.
- Juniors and seniors.
- Newhouse students will not be allowed to take more than six credit hours of experience credit in the communications area. No more than three of these credits may consist of COM 470 and no more than three internship credits may be earned in a single semester. Experience credit earned in the communications area will be counted as part of the students’ Newhouse credit hours.
- Each academic department at Newhouse will decide whether it will allow its students to earn a maximum of three or six experience credits. If a department chooses to allow six credits, it must offer a structured three-credit internship class. Students in that department who wish to take more than three experience credits must take three of their total number of experience credits through the structured class (e.g. BAN 403, COM 400, COM 470, MND 535, PRL 525, or TRF 475.).
- Singly enrolled Newhouse students may enroll for experience credit in an area outside of communications, but those credits will not count within the minimum 122 credits needed to graduate. Dually enrolled Newhouse students may enroll for non-communications experience credit coursework if such coursework is approved by their dual colleges.
- Students should take communications experience credit for letter grades (A-F) if they intend to count those credits within their major degree requirements.
- Undergraduate Students will register for communication internships under COM 470 unless involved in a special internship class set up to deal with experience credit in a specified communications field (such as BAN 403, COM 400, MND 535, PRL 525, or TRF 475.).
- Internship credit will not be given for work with organizations that are largely or entirely student-run, including, but not limited to, The Daily Orange, the Onondagan, University Union, NYPIRG, Citrus TV, or WJPZ.
- At least 45 hours of work experience are required for each credit hour earned.
- Each student enrolled in experience credit coursework in the communications area must have a faculty sponsor who is a member of the School of Public Communications faculty and who has expertise in the field of communications involved in the internship. The student must communicate regularly with their faculty sponsor.
- The organization or company at which the student is interning must provide professional supervision of the student’s work and must send regular written professional evaluations of the student’s performance on the job to the student’s academic supervisor.
- A student who wishes to enroll in COM 470 must complete an internship proposal form for experience credit on which there is a description of the work activities and academic assignments that will be completed as part of the course. This form must be submitted and approved by the faculty sponsor and the School before the work experience may be undertaken. As part of the requirements for COM 470, each student must write a paper of acceptable academic quality or complete a special project approved by the faculty sponsor. The faculty sponsor may also make other academic assignments and require interim reports.
H. Newhouse Dean’s List
At the end of each semester a student’s academic achievement is evaluated to be considered for the Dean’s List.
- A minimum semester GPA of 3.5.
- Must have a minimum of 12 letter graded credits in the given semester with no missing grades or incompletes.
I. Probation Policy
Good academic standing: A student shall be considered to be in good academic standing by the Academic Standards Committee if he or she has:
- A cumulative GPA of 2.00.
- Made acceptable progress by earning the appropriate number of credit hours to correspond with the number of full-time semesters attended at Syracuse University.
- Earned a cumulative GPA of 2.00 for all Public Communications courses.
Limited progress: A student shall be considered to be making limited progress if he or she has not earned a minimum of:
- 21 credit hours after two full-time semesters.
- 51 credit hours after four full-time semesters.
- 81 credit hours after six full-time semesters.
Public Communications Academic Warning: A student shall be issued a Public Communications Academic Warning regardless of cumulative GPA when he or she has a cumulative GPA below 2.00 for all Public Communications courses. Public Communications courses below 2.00 in two consecutive semesters may result in the student being declared ineligible to register in the School of Public Communications.
Probations: A student whose cumulative GPA is below 2.00 is automatically placed on Academic Probation.
- First Probation: The student will be given one academic year to achieve a cumulative GPA of 2.00. The student must complete 12 credit hours for letter grades (A-F) each semester. The student will be asked to meet with a member of the Academic Advising Office during their probation period. A student who fails to meet the conditions of First Probation by the end of the second semester shall be suspended from Syracuse University for one academic year.
- Second Probation: A student who has been cleared of a First Probation status for at least one semester and whose cumulative GPA again falls below 2.00 will be given one semester to achieve a cumulative GPA of 2.00. The student must complete 12 credit hours for letter grades (A-F) in that semester. The student will be asked to meet with a member of the Academic Advising Office during their probation period. A student who fails to meet the conditions of Second Probation shall be suspended from Syracuse University for one academic year.
- Extended Probation: A student who has successfully appealed suspension is placed on Extended Probation. He or she will be given one semester to achieve a cumulative GPA of 2.00. The student must complete 12 credit hours for letter grades (A-F) in that semester. The student will be asked to meet with a member of the Academic Advising Office during their probation period. A student who fails to meet the conditions of Extended Probation shall be suspended from Syracuse University for one academic year.
- Ineligible to Register for Public Communications: A student will be declared ineligible to register in the School of Public Communications if he or she has:
- Accumulated 12 hours or more of incompletes and missing grades. The student will remain ineligible to register until those hours are resolved.
- A GPA for all Public Communications coursework under 2.00 for two consecutive semesters, regardless of the overall cumulative GPA. The student will be notified by mail and will have ten days from the date of notification to transfer to another college within Syracuse University.
- Suspension: A suspended student may not attend any college within Syracuse University. Students have the right to appeal the suspension to the Dean, based on extraordinary circumstances, but must do so in writing before the deadline set by the Academic Standards Committee. Students who wish to return after the academic year of suspension may apply for readmission by writing an appeal letter to the Academic Standards Committee as well as meeting with the Assistant Dean for Student Success. The Academic Standards Committee will consider the appeal letter and meeting notes from the Dean along with a review of the student’s academic records, and any coursework done at another college or university during the year of suspension in determining their readmission decision. If accepted, the student’s status will be Extended Probation.
- The Academic Standards Committee shall suspend any Newhouse student from Syracuse University for one academic year who:
- Has not met the conditions of a probationary status (First Probation, Second Probation or Extended Probation).
- Has been cleared of Second Probation and whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.00 again.
- Receives a semester GPA under 2.00 for three consecutive semesters.
- In the judgment of the Committee shows extreme academic deficiency.
- Termination of Leave of Absence: A student who was on probation at the time he or she took a leave of absence will resume that probationary status upon terminating the leave of absence. A student whose leave of absence is in effect at the time he or she is placed on probation will be subject to the conditions of the probation status upon termination of Leave of Absence.
- Cleared of Probationary Status: Students who meet the conditions of a probationary status and achieve good academic standing will be removed from probation and receive a letter of congratulations and encouragement.
External Credit
Test Credit
The following rules apply to singly enrolled Newhouse students and dual Newhouse/iSchool students. Dual Arts & Sciences/Newhouse and dual Whitman/Newhouse students should refer to their home colleges for more information.
Advanced Placement (AP) Credit
Syracuse University accepts Advanced Placement (AP) credit for many courses. To receive AP credit, students must have taken the AP examination, earned the appropriate minimum score, and sent official AP scores to Syracuse University. Students can send their official AP score report electronically to Syracuse University via the College Board website. The Syracuse University school code is 2823.
International Baccalaureate (IB) Credit
Syracuse University accepts International Baccalaureate (IB) credit for Higher Level examinations with a score of 5 or higher. No credit will be awarded for IB Standard Level exams. To receive IB credit, students must have taken the IB examination, earned the appropriate minimum score, and sent an official IB transcript to Newhouse. Students can send their official IB transcript to Newhouse via the International Baccalaureate website. Students should choose “Syracuse University – S.I. Newhouse School” from the drop-down menu.
Notes
A maximum of 30 test credits may be applied toward the undergraduate degree.
Students cannot take the equivalent course at Syracuse University for any test credit received. If students take the equivalent course at Syracuse University, the test credit will no longer count toward their degree.
If awarded test credit in a foreign language, students may not receive credit for a lower level course or equivalent course in the same language.
A maximum of 8 credits may be awarded for qualifying AP Calculus scores.
Project Advance
Project Advance credit, taken at selected high schools in the United States, is Syracuse University credit. These courses appear on the Syracuse University transcript and affect the Syracuse University GPA. If students pass a Project Advance course, they will receive credit for it and should not register for the same course again. The Project Advance course will fulfill the same requirements as the campus version of the course.
Transfer Credit
The following rules apply to Singly Enrolled Newhouse students and Dual Newhouse/iSchool students. Dual Arts & Sciences/Newhouse and Dual Whitman/Newhouse students should refer to their home colleges for more information.
Newhouse accepts up to 66 transfer credits from a two-year institution (including 30 test credits); up to 90 transfer credits from a four-year institution (including 30 test credits); or up to 90 transfer credits combined from two- and four-year institutions (including 30 test credits).
Non-Matriculated Students
College-level coursework completed prior to matriculation at Syracuse University is eligible for transfer credit. The Newhouse Academic Advising Office evaluates potential transfer credit for all incoming first year and external transfer students.
Matriculated Students
Potential transfer credit courses must be reviewed prior to taking the course. Students must submit a Transfer Credit Petition and a course syllabus to the corresponding Syracuse University department for approval. Once approved by the department, the Newhouse Academic Advising Office evaluates and gives final approval for transfer credit courses.
Internal Transfer Students
The Newhouse Academic Advising Office re-evaluates all existing transfer credit for students who internally transfer to Newhouse. Newhouse reserves the right to reject any transfer credit that does not meet our criteria.
Notes
Courses must be taken at accredited institutions.
Students must earn a grade of C or better for the credit to transfer. Pass/fail grades are not accepted.
Internship/experience credits are not accepted.
Courses taken at two-year colleges cannot be used to meet upper-division requirements.
Students may transfer 12 credits maximum of communications coursework.
Students must have an official transcript sent directly to Newhouse from the college or university:
Electronic transcripts may be sent to:
NHAdvise@syr.edu
Hard copy transcripts may be sent to:
Syracuse University
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Academic Advising Office
215 University Place
316 Newhouse 3
Syracuse, NY 13244-2100