The Daily Bulletin Archive

At its April 12, 2019, meeting, the College Senate voted to recommend to the president a revision to DOPS Policy Number: I:04:00. The revision is included in number 2(d) of the “Graduation Requirements” section below.

DOPS Revision on Collegewide Degree Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees
Introduced at the April 2019 Senate meeting by the Standards for Students Committee
Voted on and approved by the Senate on May 10, 2019

WHEREAS, the maximum number of transfer credit hours increased from 88 to 90; and

WHEREAS, that means the required remaining courses to be completed at Buffalo State College must decrease from 32 to 30; and

WHEREAS, the current policy requires students to complete the last 16 of those 32 credits at the college; and

WHEREAS, the required residency policy does not consider study abroad, cross registration, transfer credit, and other alternative methods to earning credit that may come in late, which all become exceptions to the 16-credit residency requirement; and

WHEREAS, the 16-credit on-campus residency policy becomes more of an impediment to graduation when it is already implied that at least 32 credits (or, rather, now 30) must be completed through Buffalo State,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Buffalo State amend its DOPS policy on Collegewide Degree Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees as revised in this document to enhance student success and completion; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT this policy change go into effect beginning with the 2019–2020 academic year and that the college catalog and college website be updated to ensure that DOPS language is consistently reflected in the catalog and on the website for this policy.

Policy Number: I:04:00
Date: December 2017

Subject: Collegewide Degree Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees

Graduation Requirements
All students expecting to qualify for a degree must fulfill the following requirements:

1. Meet all financial obligations to the college and return all college property.

2. Meet all curricular requirements. Students must have completed the prescribed curriculum for their major. If requirements have changed since they were admitted to a program, they may choose to graduate under the old or new requirements.

a. Maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 for all coursework taken at the college. The minimum cumulative GPA for the courses taken in the major field must also be 2.0.

b. Complete the 33–39 credit hours of Intellectual Foundations requirements.

c. Complete a minimum of 33 credit hours of upper-division coursework, courses generally considered advanced and numbered 300–499.

d. Complete a minimum of 30 credit hours through the college.  

e. Complete a minimum of 120 academic credit hours.

3. Education majors leading to certification for teaching in the early childhood and upper-elementary grades must fulfill a drug-education requirement and should file a certification application with the Teacher Certification Office.

4. No students will be cleared for graduation until all grades of I, N, or X have been replaced with an appropriate letter grade.

Undergraduate students can apply for graduation online through Banner Self-Service. Graduate students should visit the Graduate School website for degree applications and information about applying for graduation. Students who apply for graduation after the application deadline will not be charged a fee.

After the application deadline has passed, the Registrar’s Office will review the records of students who have not applied for graduation but are likely to graduate and will administratively register these students for graduation. These students will be alerted via e-mail that they have been registered for graduation and that they may opt out of review for graduation by contacting the Registrar’s Office.

I hereby accept the recommendation of the College Senate regarding the DOPS Revision on Collegewide Degree Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees at Buffalo State. I charge the provost with responsibility for overseeing the implementation of this policy change and for communicating the change to the campus community.