Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2017-2018
ACADEMIC POLICY AND INFORMATION
31
interests. A school official is a person employed by Birmingham-Southern College in an
administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law
enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person serving on the Board of Trustees;
or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance
committee. A school official also may include a volunteer or contractor outside of the
College who performs an institutional service of function for which the school would
otherwise use its own employees and who is under the direct control of the school with
respect to the use and maintenance of personally identifiable information from education
records, such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent or a student volunteering to
assist another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a
legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order
to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for Birmingham-Southern College.
The Office of Academic Records provides an online FERPA tutorial that fully explains
the policy.
ACADEMIC HONORS
Dean’s List of Distinguished Students
The Dean’s List of Distinguished Students is compiled at the end of both the fall and
spring terms. It consists of the names of those students who have maintained a grade
point average of 3.500 or higher on work attempted during the term. To qualify for the
Dean’s List, a student must take at least three full-unit courses and receive a letter grade
of “C” or higher for each of the courses in which he or she has enrolled. No student is
eligible for the Dean’s List in any term during which he or she has received an
incomplete grade (“I” or “O”) or a grade of “S.”
Honors at Graduation
The final cumulative grade point average is calculated to three decimal places without
additional rounding. Students who during their academic careers establish a grade point
average of 3.500 are graduated
cum laude
; those who establish a grade point average of
3.750 are graduated
magna cum laude
; and those with a grade point average of 3.900 are
graduated
summa cum laude.
Academic Awards
At Honors Day Convocation and in department award ceremonies, the College bestows
academic awards and other recognitions upon students of distinction. At the Honoring
Scholarship Conference held in conjunction with Honors Day, students present their
scholarly research and musical and artistic works.