Contents
Cal Poly Pomona

Academic Policies

  2. Grade Replacement
  3. Course Auditing
  6. Disqualification Policy
  7. Dropping a Class or Withdrawing from All Classes
  11. Academic Deviations and Petitions
Grade Replacement

A currently enrolled undergraduate student may attempt to improve his or her grade point average by repeating a course in which a final grade of C, C-, D+, D, D-, F or WU was earned, up to a maximum of 16 units at Cal Poly Pomona.  For purposes of grade replacement, the repeated course must be taken at Cal Poly Pomona; repeating a course at another institution does not affect the Cal Poly Pomona GPA and may not be used to replace a grade earned at Cal Poly Pomona.

When a course is repeated for credit, the grade earned most recently is the official grade. Although previous grades will remain on the student's permanent record, they will each be identified as having been repeated.

It is the responsibility of the student to complete and file in the Registrar's Office a Repeated Course Notification Form after the repeated course has been completed. [Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Course Auditing

In general, the College of Engineering expects each engineering student attending any of its courses to be enrolled in the course for graded credit; i.e., to receive a letter grade.

A student majoring in the College of Engineering may not audit any course offered by the college that satisfies a degree or a minor requirement for the student.  If the student chooses to audit such a course in violation of this policy, or if an instructor permits such an audit, the course may not be repeated for graded credit, including using it as an elective.  [Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Change of Major

Applications for a change of major (including  to double major) into a program within the College of Engineering are available in the University Advising Center and processed only in the Dean's Office (9-225).  Completed applications for a change of major are accepted in the Dean's Office by the end of the seventh week of each quarter for the action to be taken in the immediately following quarter.  Each of the applications will be reviewed in a timely manner, and the applicants will be notified of the final decision by an e-mail from the Dean's Office. 

Lower division students may be accepted into any engineering program provided that they are in good standing (2.0 grade point average for all college-level work attempted, all Cal Poly Pomona work attempted, and all work attempted in the major core) and eligible for enrolling in the first math course required for their intended major. 

For upper division students applying for a change of major, they must satisfy the following criteria before their applications will be considered:

  1. The applicant must have completed at least 16 units of college-level work at Cal Poly Pomona with both the Cal Poly Pomona and overall GPA's each satisfying that specified for the program of interest.  
  2. The applicant must have completed MAT 114 with C or better for engineering majors, or MAT 105 with C or better for engineering technology majors.
  3. The applicant must demonstrate his/her interest in the intended engineering program with a record of reasonable success in math, science and engineering courses that he/she has attempted (such as maintaining good standing in these courses).

Some programs may also require the completion of specific course work and/or an interview with the appropriate department faculty. Students having either a Cal Poly Pomona GPA or an Overall GPA below 2.00 are not accepted into any program of the College of Engineering. 

Double major.  For students interesting in being a double major, the aforementioned procedures apply as well.  In addition, it is expecting that these students are more competent and academically achieving so that they are ready for extra course load and challenges.  Therefore, a minimum GPA of 2.50 is required for students who are applying for a double major to include a program within the College of Engineering in their study.  Additional requirements may also be imposed by individual programs. 

Due to capacity limitations individual engineering programs may close or limit changes of major for a specific term.  Please contact the College of Engineering Dean's Office for updates.  For academic year 2004-2005, no new double major is allowed in the following programs:

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Computer Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering

[Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Credits by Examination

The option of satisfying course requirements by successfully completing a challenge examination is available to students for courses offered by the College of Engineering.  If a student has already mastered course content through nontraditional educational experience away from Cal Poly Pomona, a challenge examination is preferred to course enrollment.

Challenge examinations in the College of Engineering are expected to be comprehensive in nature, testing all material from the challenged course.  Grading the challenge examination shall be on the same basis as grading the challenged course.  Evaluation of the student's performance on a challenge examination is the responsibility of the administering instructor only.

Regulations and procedures are discussed thoroughly in the University Catalog. [Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Dropping a Class or Withdrawing from All Classes

The primary responsibility for enrolling in courses in an appropriate sequence is the student's, and maturity in planning and successfully completing the curriculum is expected of each student.  Accordingly, to foster this maturity in actions among its students, the College of Engineering, with the approval of the Academic Senate, has adopted a drop policy that is a rather strict interpretation of the University's drop policy:

Engineering and Engineering Technology students who wish to drop any course after the end of the University's three-week drop period may do so only for sufficiently "serious and compelling" reasons; such reasons normally require withdrawal from the University for the remainder of the quarter.

Thus, for a student in the College of Engineering, the consequence of not dropping a course during the University's three-week drop period is most often to remain in the course, or to withdraw from the University. As a guide, the following common reasons are not considered "serious and compelling":

  • Failing or doing poorly in a course
  • Change in work hours
  • Course does not satisfy a degree requirement
  • Failure to drop during University's three-week drop period
  • Course prerequisites have not been satisfied
  • Added a course and did not go to the first class meeting
  • Course difficulty
  • Ignorance of drop policy

Students encountering difficulty managing their course loads are encouraged to consult with their faculty advisors, instructors and/or the many student services available to them (e.g., the Career Center, Psychological Services, the Learning Resource Center).

Withdrawal refers to the simultaneous dropping of all courses in which a student is enrolled. The College of Engineering subscribes to the university's regulations as described in the university catalog regarding withdrawals. The consent of the college is usually contingent upon the information presented by the student as part of the petition, including such documentation as is specified there.  [Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Course Load at Cal Poly Pomona

While the university does not require prior approval for dual enrollment or for enrolling in more than 20 units in a quarter, the reporting requirements of the accrediting agencies of the College of Engineering require that such activities be documented in the student's record.  A request for dual enrollment is necessary if a student in the College of Engineering, once matriculated at Cal Poly Pomona, plans to enroll at any other institution (including during summer quarter).  A request for Excess Units is necessary if a student wishes to enroll in more than 20 units in one quarter.  Approvals for Dual Enrollment and/or Excess Units are requested on College Petitions, available in each department office.  Such requests are to be approved before the start of the appropriate term; retroactive requests are rarely approved.

A request for dual enrollment usually involves a course at another school that the student later wishes to substitute for a Cal Poly Pomona course in satisfying a degree requirement.  Such dual enrollment will normally be approved if the student is eligible to enroll in the equivalent Cal Poly Pomona course.  An approved request for dual enrollment usually does not result in such course substitution automatically being granted; a separate General Academic Petition for that purpose is required.

Requests for enrolling in more than 20 units are also considered on a case-by-case basis and are approved considering the demonstrated ability of the student to successfully complete such a heavy study load.  Students having any GPA below 2.00 are not eligible to enroll in more than 20 units in any quarter.  [Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites

The intent of published prerequisites for each course in the College of Engineering is to identify the academic preparation needed to begin a course.  However, individual instructors may waive these prerequisites for particular students for good cause on a case-by-case basis.

For each specific course, it is the student's responsibility to satisfy the listed prerequisites before enrolling in the course.  The enforcing or waiving of those prerequisites is the responsibility and the right of each instructor.  Each instructor may require written verification of satisfaction of prerequisites from each student.  Students who do not provide such verification may be immediately dropped from the class. [Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Transfer Credits

Title V of the California Educational Code permits a student to graduate under the curriculum in effect when the student began the most recent continuous enrollment period. However, due to the dynamic nature of engineering curricula as they reflect society's changing needs for technical expertise, the consequences of this policy are often not in the best interests of engineering majors.  In fact, the typical six-year-and-more academic careers of students entering the college as freshmen already raise issues regarding currency upon graduation.

Students who enter the college having already accumulated some college credits often have even longer academic careers.  Accordingly, all students transferring into the College of Engineering, either from another campus or from another degree program on campus, are initially evaluated on the curriculum in effect for the current academic year. The Evaluations Office is responsible for awarding all articulated and general education transfer credit.  The student may receive academic credit for other coursework only via a General Academic Petition.

In keeping with Title V, these students are each given the opportunity to request evaluation as specified therein.  [Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Academic Deviations and Petitions

General Academic Petitions are forms used to request an alteration of some specific academic or accreditation requirement. As such, each General Academic Petition filed with the College of Engineering is expected to be serious, specific, and well justified.

A request for a curriculum deviation is by far the most common use of a General Academic Petition. Curriculum deviations include:

  1. a change in, or an addition to, any of the preprinted information on the student's specific curriculum sheet (such as course substitution);
  2. a change of option within the major; and
  3. a release from an Academic Regulation as described in the University Catalog.

When filling out a General Academic Petition, the reason for the request is very important if you wish the petition to be seriously considered.  Please be clear, accurate and complete in providing the justification for the request.

Please understand that the General Academic Petition is not approved until all signatures have been obtained. [Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Extending an "I" or an "SP" grade

A request for an extension of an "I" or an "RP" is necessary if the student will not satisfy the time limits set by the University for replacing these temporary grades with regular grades.

A General Academic Petition for an extension of an "I" or a "RP" must be filed before the end of the specified time limit.  In particular, if an extension of an "RP" in any 461 or 462 course within the College is not granted and the time limit expires, the student must re-enroll in the course. [Return to Academic Policies Index] 

Leave of Absence Policy

Any student may "stop out" for up to two successive quarters (including summer) and still maintain continuous enrollment.  A student who does not enroll, or who disenrolls, for three consecutive quarters (including summers) breaks continuous enrollment.  A leave of absence is available to any student of the College of Engineering in good academic standing who can demonstrate the need to break continuous enrollment as part of a planned educational program.  Approval by the college is based upon the significance of the leave in furthering the student's educational objective, which the student must demonstrate as part of the request.  The leave of absence entitles the student to return and remain on the same curriculum.

A leave of absence request must be filed by the end of the second successive quarter of absence (i.e., it is a planned break) and is available only to students of the college in good standing.