Attendance and Maintaining Eligibility in the Program

Attendance

For students enrolled in the B.P.S. program, regular class attendance is expected. Although policies with respect to class attendance and class participation will be determined by the professor of each class, these requirements do not supersede the university attendance requirement. As both the university and the B.P.S. program are accredited, and as the expectation of these independent accreditations is that students attend classes in accordance with the university definition of a credit hour, four or more absences (equivalent to 29 percent or more of the required face-to-face time scheduled) that have not been approved by the instructor or for which there is no documentation of an accommodation that has been reviewed by Disability Services, will result in credit not being awarded for the course. In accordance with policy on maintaining eligibility in the BPS program, this shall result in a student not being eligible to continue in the program and may, in turn, result in the student being placed on Academic Warning or dismissal from the program. The student may appeal a decision to the BPS Progress Committee, and if not successful at that level, the student may appeal to the provost. The decision of the provost is final and not subject to further appeal.

Maintaining Eligibility in the Program

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Professional Studies (B.P.S.) program must meet all the following criteria to advance in the program:

Maintain an overall Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) of not less than 2.5 in each semester of study. Successfully complete all coursework required in each semester of study;
Maintain acceptable dispositions defined as a minimum score of 3 on all items of the dispositions instrument. Successfully complete a minimum of 75 hours of field experiences in Semester 1.
Successfully complete a minimum of 75 hours of field experiences in Semester 2.
Achieve a minimum average grade of B- or better across all required methods classes;
Successfully complete a minimum of 50 days of Practicum in Semester 3.
Successfully complete a minimum of 50 days of Practicum in Semester 4.

Process

At the end of each semester of study, students’ progress in the program will be evaluated by a university-appointed officer. Students who do not meet one or more of the requirements identified in the policy will receive through mail and university email, from the Office of the dean in the Faculty of Education, official notice. This notice will identify the concern and the appropriate next steps to be taken.

OSAP

Students who are receiving OSAP and who are not meeting program requirements, resulting in their being placed on academic warning or in more severe cases being dismissed from the program, will be immediately reported to OSAP in accordance with OSAP reporting requirements.

Procedure

Students who do not maintain good standing are subject to actions that result in a warning and/or dismissal.

Overall Program Requirements

Failure to achieve a minimum G.P.A. of 2.5 in each semester of study
At the end of each semester of study, student grades are reviewed by the university- appointed officer and the results shared with the academic dean, associate dean and chair. Students who do not meet the minimum G.P.A. of 2.5 at the end of a semester of study will be placed on academic warning, if this is a first occurrence. During the next semester of study, a student who is placed on academic warning must raise his or her overall G.P.A. to a minimum 2.5. This may require students to retake certain courses. Students may, in accordance with the undergraduate policy of course repeats, repeat up to a maximum of six courses. This policy does not supersede the requirement to maintain a minimum 2.5 overall G.P.A. Students who do not meet the minimum G.P.A. requirement will not be eligible to continue in the program and will be dismissed from the university. Students who fail to achieve a minimum G.P.A. of 2.5 in two semesters over the course of the program will be not be eligible to continue in the program and will be dismissed from the university. Students must have a minimum G.P.A. of 2.5 to be eligible to graduate from the program. Students who do not meet this requirement will not be eligible to graduate. In accordance with the dismissal policy, a student dismissed from the program may appeal to the BPS Progress Committee and if not successful at that level, may appeal to the provost. The decision of the provost is final and is not subject to further appeal.
Failure to complete successfully all coursework
At the end of each semester of study, the university-appointed officer reviews student grades and the results shared with the academic dean, associate dean and chair. A student who was not successful in one or more courses at the end of the first or second semester of study will be placed on academic warning if this is a first occurrence. A student who is placed on academic warning must successfully complete during the summer intercession (i.e., prior to the commencement of the third semester of study) the course or courses for which credit(s) were not awarded. Students who fail a course during the third semester of study may apply in writing to retake the course during the fourth semester. Granting of this request will come from the chair, subject to approval from the academic dean or where designated by the dean, the associate dean. Otherwise, the student will not be permitted to graduate and will be required to retake and to complete the course or courses successfully during the summer intercession following the fourth semester of study.

Students who fail a course during the fourth semester of study will not be permitted to graduate and will be required to retake and successfully complete the course or courses following their fourth semester of study. Students may, in accordance with the undergraduate policy of course repeats, repeat up to a maximum of six courses. This policy does not supersede the requirement to maintain a minimum 2.5 overall G.P.A. Students who do not meet the minimum G.P.A. requirement will not be eligible to continue in the program and will be dismissed from the program and from the university. Students who fail two or more semesters over the course of the program will be not be eligible to continue in the program and will be dismissed from the university. Students must have a minimum G.P.A. of 2.5 to be eligible to graduate from the program. Students who do not meet this requirement will not be eligible to graduate. In accordance with the dismissal policy, if dismissed from the program, the student may appeal to the BPS Progress Committee, and if not successful at that level, the student may appeal to the academic dean. The final step in the process, if necessary, is to appeal to the provost. The decision of the provost is final and not subject to further appeal.
Failure to achieve a minimum grade of B- or better in each of their methods classes
Students must achieve an average grade minimum grade of B- across all required methods classes in order to be eligible to continue in the program. Students who do not meet this requirement will be placed on academic warning and will not be permitted to continue on to the next semester of study until a plan of action to correct the condition has been submitted by the student and has been approved. This requirement does not supersede the G.P.A. requirement.
Failure to maintain acceptable dispositions in each semester of study
1. During orientation, students will be presented with Niagara University’s dispositions of good teaching (see orientation handbook). It will be explained that these dispositions are what the Faculty of Education expects them to exemplify in their behavior throughout the program.
2. In addition to the copy provided in the orientation handbook, students will receive from a university-appointed officer a copy of the “Statement of Commitment to Dispositions” which each student is required to read, sign and return to the university-appointed officer at the end of the orientation session. The university-appointed officer will give the results to the chair for review and placement in the student’s file for the duration of the student’s program. The dispositions must be adhered to regardless of signature on the statement.
3. All instructors will be provided with copies of the Disposition Instructor Form at the beginning of the year. New instructors and returning faculty and instructors are to be provided with an in-service conducted by the chair or designate regarding the expectations for scoring.
4. At the end of the semester, all faculty/instructors shall complete and submit electronically to the department the evaluations for each student by class.
5. The college data person will aggregate the data, remove faculty identifiers and sort them according to student number. Students who receive two or more scores below the acceptable ranged are identified. The list of identified students and their scores are sent to the chair for follow through action.
6. If this is a first offence, the student will receive a letter from the chair identifying the areas of concern. Students are then required to write a reflective paper that includes a plan of action to correct the behavior. The action plan must be accepted by the chair. If accepted a copy of this letter and action plan will be placed in the student’s file.
7. If this is a second offence, the student is required to meet with the BPS Progress Committee to discuss the inappropriate behavior(s). This committee will meet with the student to discuss options (i.e., whether he or she will be dismissed from the program or provided another opportunity to succeed). If dismissed from the program, in accordance with the dismissal policy, the student may appeal to the dean, and if not successful at that level, the student may apply to the provost. The decision of the provost is final and not subject to further appeal.

Field Placement and Practicum

Failure to complete successfully a minimum of 75 hours of field experiences in Semester One
Students must provide evidence of successful completion of 75 hours of field experience during their first semester of study. Students who do not complete a minimum of 75 hours of field experience during this first semester of study will not be permitted to continue in the program until such time as they can provide evidence that the 75-hour requirement has been successfully met and documentation of the evidence has been provided to the coordinator of field experiences. Students who were not successful in their placement will be placed on academic warning. If placed on academic warning, students must make satisfactory progress during their teaching assistantship experience. Students who have been placed on academic warning and who are not successful in their teaching assistantship experience will be dismissed from the program. Students who were removed from the school at the request of the host teacher and/or a representative of the school board will be dismissed from the program immediately. In accordance with the dismissal policy, if dismissed from the program, the student may appeal to the BPS Progress Committee, and if not successful at that level, the student may appeal to the provost. The decision of the provost is final and not subject to further appeal.
Failure to complete successfully a minimum of 75 hours of field experiences in Semester Two (Teaching Assistantship)
Students must provide evidence of successful completion of 75 hours of field experience during their second semester of study. Students who do not complete a minimum of 75 hours of field experience during this second semester will not be permitted to continue in the program until such time as they can provide evidence that the 75-hour requirement has been successfully met and documentation of such evidence has been provided to the coordinator of field experiences. Students who were not successful in their teaching assistantship placement will be placed on academic warning. If placed on academic warning, a student must make satisfactory progress during the first practicum experience as evidenced by the midpoint evaluation. Students who have been placed on academic warning and who are not successful at the midpoint of their first practicum experience will be dismissed from the program. Students who were removed from the school at the request of the host teacher and/or a representative of the school board will be subject to dismissal from the program. Those students will be required to meet with the BPS Progress Committee to determine whether they should be dismissed from the program or whether there are extenuating circumstances that should be considered by the committee. In accordance with the dismissal policy, if dismissed from the program, the student may appeal to the BPS Progress Committee, and if not successful at that level, the student may appeal to the provost. The decision of the provost is final and not subject to further appeal.
Failure to complete successfully the seminar aligned with Practicum in Semesters Three and Four
Students must successfully complete the seminar aligned with practicum during their third and fourth semesters of study. Students who do not receive passing grades in the seminar in their third semester will not be permitted to continue in the program until a plan of action to correct the condition has been submitted by the student and approved by the BPS Progress Committee. Students who do not receive passing grades in the seminar in their fourth semester will not be permitted to graduate until such time as they can provide evidence that the seminar requirement has been successfully met. This may result in a student being dismissed from the program. In accordance with the dismissal policy, if dismissed from the program, the student may appeal to the BPS Progress Committee, and if not successful at that level, the student may appeal to the provost. The decision of the provost is final and not subject to further appeal.
Failure to complete successfully a minimum of 50 days of Practicum in Semester Three
Students must provide evidence of successful completion of 50 days of practicum during their third semester of study. Students who do not complete a minimum of 50 days of practicum during this third semester will not be permitted to participate in the fourth semester program practicum until such time as they can provide evidence that the third semester 50-day requirement has been successfully met and documentation of such evidence has been provided to the coordinator of field experiences. It is the coordinator of field experiences, and not the associate teacher, who is the official professor of record in charge of determining the final grade for the course. Students who completed the 50-day requirement but who did not receive passing grades in their first practicum placements will not be eligible to continue and may be dismissed from the program. Students who were removed from the school at the request of the host teacher and/or a representative of the school board will be subject to dismissal from the program. The student will be required to meet with the BPS Progress Committee to determine whether he or she should be dismissed from the program or whether there are extenuating circumstances that should be considered by the committee. In accordance with the dismissal policy, if dismissed from the program, the student may appeal to the BPS Progress Committee, and if not successful at that level, the student may appeal to the provost. The decision of the provost is final and not subject to further appeal.
Failure to complete successfully a minimum of 50 days of Practicum in Semester Four
Students must provide evidence of successful completion of 50 days of practicum during their fourth semester of study. Students who do not complete a minimum of 50 days of practicum during this fourth semester will not be permitted to graduate until such time as they can provide evidence that the 50-day requirement has been successfully met and documentation of such evidence has been provided to the coordinator of field experiences. It is the coordinator of field experiences, and not the associate teacher, who is the official professor of record in charge of determining the final grade for the course. Students who completed the 50-day requirement but who did not receive passing grades in their second practicum placements may not be permitted to graduate and will be dismissed from the program. Students who were removed from the school at the request of the host teacher and/or a representative of the school board will be subject to dismissal from the program. The student will be required to meet with the BPS Progress Committee to determine whether he or she should be dismissed from the program or whether there are extenuating circumstances that should be considered by the committee. In accordance with the dismissal policy, if dismissed from the program, the student may appeal to the BPS Progress Committee, and if not successful at that level, the student may appeal to the provost. The decision of the provost is final and not subject to further appeal.
Practicum Requirements
All absences from practicum must be made up to the satisfaction of the associate teacher and the university as determined by the professor of record. The teacher candidate must notify the assigned school or classroom teacher and the university supervisor in advance of an anticipated absence or as soon as possible on the day of an emergency absence. The teacher candidate is responsible for providing all assigned lesson plans to the associate teacher in advance of any absence. Teacher candidates are required to attend all scheduled professional seminars and meetings with field supervisors.

It is recognized that teacher candidates are guests in the school, and as such, conditions may arise which have the potential to cause the placement to be terminated. Termination of a placement is subject to dismissal from the program. The student in such a circumstance will be required to meet with the BPS Progress Committee to determine whether s/he should be dismissed from the program or whether there are extenuating circumstances that should be considered by the committee. Any of the following conditions (see below) will be considered as potential causes for termination of a placement. This termination may be brought forward by an associate teacher or by other representatives of the school board in which the teacher candidate is placed, or by the coordinator of field experiences as the official professor of record.
1. Associate teacher and/or principal have notified the Practicum Office that the school is no longer willing to allow the student teacher to be in the classroom.
2. Pupils’ progress in the school is impeded by the performance of the teacher candidate due to any of the following:
3. Inadequate planning;
4. Inadequate classroom management/ discipline;
5. Lack of content knowledge; and/or
6. Deficiency in oral or written communication skills
7. Documented evidence indicates that the Niagara University teacher candidate has engaged in inappropriate personal or professional behavior;
8. Documented evidence indicates that the Niagara University teacher candidate has engaged in ethical impropriety, in violation(s) of community standards or policies, or in improper professional judgments.

2023-2024 Academic Catalog

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