9.0 Policies and procedures

Transfer credit

Students wishing to transfer credit for courses taken at another institution must send their official transcript(s) to The Ohio State University’s Undergraduate Admissions Office (281 West Lane Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210). Transcripts should not be sent to the College of Public Health.

The Undergraduate Admissions Office initially reviews all transfer credit. Each admitted applicant then receives an admissions notice which includes a preliminary evaluation of credit given for courses completed elsewhere. This evaluation is based on the transfer credit policy.

Not all evaluated coursework in the admissions notice will apply to the degree requirements in the College of Public Health. Students should work with their advisor to understand how transfer credit can apply to their degree requirements.

Transfer credit will take a few weeks to be posted to the student’s records. All transfer students should have course work evaluated the term they plan to start at Ohio State. Instructions for having this evaluation performed can be obtained from the Office of Academic Programs and Student Services, Cunz Hall Room 100. All transfer credit should be completed at least one term prior to graduation.

Petitions

Common uses for petitions include substitutions of coursework, pursuing a dual degree, dropping courses after the drop deadline, requesting to enroll in over 18 credit hours, requesting evaluation of transfer credit (for courses that did not transfer as direct equivalents to Ohio State courses), and to request exceptions to college policies or procedures related to the major or minor and/or completion of the degree.

Types of Petitions

  • Curriculum petition
  • Dual-degree petition
  • Undergraduate petition for exceptional request
  • Registration petition
  • Petition to receive undergraduate credit for graduate-level course
  • BSPH overload request form

Curriculum petition

Students must meet with an academic advisor to complete a curriculum petition if they want to request substituting another course they have taken or plan to take for a required GE course, major course or a minor course. The student should provide the course syllabus to the academic advisor.

Dual-degree petition

This petition must be completed when a student wants to complete the BSPH degree and another Ohio State undergraduate degree. Students must earn a minimum of 30 hours beyond the total required for one degree. GE courses may count for both programs. Students interested in completing a dual degree are required to meet with an advisor to develop a degree plan, which demonstrates both programs can be completed in a timely manner.

Undergraduate petition for exceptional request

This petition is used when a student wants to appeal a curriculum petition decision, appeal a registration petition decision, appeal the decision regarding admission to the major or any other area related to the BSPH major or minors offered by the college that is not addressed in other petitions.

Registration petition

This petition is used when a student wants to add, drop or withdraw from courses after the deadlines or retroactively.

Petition to receive undergraduate credit for graduate-level course

This petition is used if an undergraduate student plans to take a graduate level course at The Ohio State University and have it apply to their undergraduate degree.

BSPH overload request form

This petition is used when a student wants to enroll in more than 18 credit hours during an autumn semester, spring semester or summer term. The petition is not likely to be approved unless there is compelling reason such as a delay in time of graduation. If the petition is approved, the student will be required to pay additional tuition costs.

Appealing a denied petition

If a petition is denied through the above procedures, the student can appeal this decision through the following process:

  1. The student would complete a petition for exceptional request outlining the special circumstances that warrant further consideration of the original petition. The student should also include the original petition with the completed petition for exceptional request.
  2. The ASGC chair will review the petition and make a final decision to either approve or not approve the request. The decision by the ASGC regarding the appeal petition is final and cannot be further appealed internally.
  3. The Office of Academic Programs and Student Services will notify the student of the decision. A copy of the decision will be placed in the student file.

Grievance procedures

The College of Public Health has a process in place for reviewing student complaints after efforts between the parties involved to address the concerns have proved unsuccessful. These procedures provide students with avenues for informally resolving complaints and for seeking formal redress if efforts of mediation fail. Additional complaint, grievance and appeal procedures can also be found on the Office of Undergraduate Education.

Before formal procedures are involved, it is strongly recommended that every effort be made by all parties to resolve differences informally. Students are encouraged to schedule an appointment with the director of the Office of Academic Programs and Student Services to discuss their concerns and options for resolution.

Grievances

A student who encounters a problem related to his/her educational program has a variety of avenues available to seek resolution. Specific rules are outlined in Faculty Rule 3335-8-23. The college-specific implementation grievance process is described below.

Grades are a matter of academic judgment and subject to challenge only on the basis of non-academic criteria, such as considerations of race, politics, religion, sex or other criteria not directly reflective of performance related to course requirements or improper academic procedures that unfairly affect a student’s grade.

It is the policy of the university that grievances concerning grades may only be considered if the basis for the grievance is procedural (i.e., that a procedural error was made in the evaluation or recording of the grade). Grades are never modified using any criteria not applied to all students in the class. The alteration of grades is governed by the Board of Trustees (Rule 3335-8-23).

Undergraduate students with grade grievances should follow the steps described below, starting with informal grievance procedures before moving to formal grievance procedures.

Informal grievance procedures

  1. Discuss the concerns first with the instructor of record. Many faculty will prefer to discuss grade grievances in-person rather than over email. In these cases, students should request a meeting with the instructor to have the discussion instead of relying on email.
  2. If the grievance is not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, the student should bring the complaint to the chair of the division offering the course. Contact information for division chairs can be found in the CPH directory.
  3. If the grievance is still not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, the student should submit a written statement to the associate dean of undergraduate studies. This written statement should describe the nature of the complaint, the facts which support the complaint, and the efforts made to resolve the complaint with the parties involved. The statement must be submitted within 60 days after the alleged cause for the grievance occurred.
  4. The associate dean of undergraduate studies will review the allegations in the complaint and ask the other party to either provide a written response or have a meeting to discuss the matter. When appropriate, the associate dean of undergraduate studies will ask for input from the associate dean of academic and student affairs or the dean of the College of Public Health. The associate dean will make a decision and relay this decision to the student, the faculty member and the division chair.

It is the college’s hope that all grievances will be resolved through this process. However, if the student is dissatisfied with the outcome of the informal grievance process, they may initiate a formal grievance procedure.

Formal grievance procedures

To request a formal grievance hearing, the student must submit a written request to the ASGC chair. Upon receipt of the complaint, the ASGC chair will appoint a hearing panel of two ASGC faculty representatives and two ASGC student representatives.

The hearing panel will meet with the involved parties and review any documentary evidence provided. Both the complainant (student) and the respondent (instructor) will be given copies of any documentary evidence provided by the other party. The committee may also obtain relevant information from other persons. At the conclusion of the hearing, the committee will submit to the dean its findings, a recommendation concerning the merits of the complaint and, if the complaint is judged to have merit, a proposed resolution.

After reviewing the recommendation of the ASGC, the dean may do one of the following:

  1. Dismiss the complaint;
  2. Uphold the committee’s recommendation and proposed resolution;
  3. Uphold the committee’s resolution with what would reasonably be interpreted as an equivalent, but alternative, resolution.

All aspects of an investigation of a student grievance will remain confidential. Upon the conclusion of all deliberations, the decision will be reported in writing to the involved parties. A written record of the circumstances and resolution of the grievance will be kept for four years in the Office of Academic Programs and Student Services.

Civil Rights Compliance Office incident reporting

An individual who has experienced protected class harassment, discrimination, or sexual misconduct has the right to choose whether to report the incident to Ohio State’s Civil Rights Compliance Office. Ohio State has designated the Title IX coordinator to oversee complaints of sexual misconduct at the university. The Title IX coordinator and civil rights intake coordinators are specially trained to work with individuals who report harassment, discrimination and sexual misconduct and have knowledge about on- and off-campus resources, services and options — including the availability of supportive measures.

You have the right to receive written information on all of your rights and options, including your rights to receive support resources, proceed with a university investigation, or file a report with the police. The university respects the needs and choices of the victim/survivor. More information is available from the Civil Rights Compliance Office.

Code of student conduct

Students who enroll at The Ohio State University agree to abide by the code of student conduct. Copies may be obtained from the Committee on Academic Misconduct office at 281 W. Lane Ave. Each student is responsible for becoming familiar with the rules and regulations of The Ohio State University.

The code exists to protect the persons, their rights and the property of the university community. The code applies to the conduct of all students and registered student organizations while on university premises; while on professional practice assignment; on assignment which is associated with academic course requirements; or while involved with a university-related activity or a registered student organization activity. There are certain types of conduct, which may lead to disciplinary action against a student or student organization in addition to criminal charges in some cases.

Guideline for student academic and research use of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered programs

Use of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered programs, including, but not limited to ChatGPT, for courses (e.g., assignments) and capstones (e.g., ILE, thesis; dissertation) must be first discussed and permitted by the faculty course director or capstone research advisor. The scope of use may range from not permitted to a broader spectrum of allowed applications. When AI-powered programs are permitted, faculty must be very explicit regarding the applicable and acceptable scope and use. When AI-powered programs are used by students, the scope of use and content must be specified and references by students accordingly. Students are expected to be aware of the shortcomings of use of AI-powered programs, including risk of academic misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, etc.). In relation, students and faculty should also continue to refer to the existing and evolving university resources that are focused on this topic.

Academic misconduct

Incidents that involve academic misconduct are referred to the university’s Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM). This committee is charged with maintaining the academic integrity of The Ohio State University by establishing procedures for and investigating all reported cases of alleged academic misconduct. To insure a broad representation on the committee, COAM draws its members from throughout the university’s academic community: faculty (appointed by University Senate), graduate students (appointed by the Council of Graduate Students) and undergraduate students (appointed by Undergraduate Student Government).

If an instructor suspects a student has committed academic misconduct, they are obligated by university faculty rules to report all the instance of alleged misconduct to COAM. Importantly, the instructor does not make a decision about guilt, referring the instance to COAM ensures that the case is resolved by an impartial panel.

More information about COAM and its processes is found on the COAM website.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 is designed to protect the privacy of student educational records. The law governs access to records maintained by educational institutions and release of information from those records. Privacy and Release of Student Education Records, Office of the University Registrar, issued 01/01/1974

Directory information

The Ohio State University, in accordance with FERPA, has designated the following categories of information about students as directory (public) information:

  • Name
  • Address (local and home)
  • Telephone (local and home)
  • Major (to include college of enrollment and campus)
  • Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
  • Weight and height of members of athletic teams
  • Dates of attendance
  • Degrees and awards received (to include honor)
  • Most recent previous educational agency or institution attended

Students have the right to have this directory information withheld from the public if they so desire.

Inquiries from “outside” the university

The university receives many inquiries for directory information from a variety of sources, including friends, parents, relatives, prospective employers, other institutions of higher education, honor societies, licensing agencies, government agencies and the news media. Each student is advised to carefully consider the consequences of a decision to withhold directory information. The university, in all good faith, will not release directory information requested to be withheld, and any requests from non-university persons or organizations will be refused unless the student provides written consent for the release.

Complaints

Any student who has reason to believe that the university is not complying with FERPA should inform the University Registrar in writing. The University Registrar shall promptly review all such allegations.

Type, location and custodian of education records

The Ohio State University does not maintain education records in any one central office. Education records are maintained in the respective colleges and schools, the Graduate School and graduate departments, each regional campus office (for regional campus students) and the Office of the University Registrar.

Other education records are maintained in the Undergraduate Admissions Office (for enrolled and former students – applicants are excluded), Office of Student Life (disciplinary records, student personnel assistant programs records), Student Financial Aid Office (financial and related information, student employment, Military and Veterans Services), Department of Athletics (intercollegiate sports), University Health Service (health records), Office of International Affairs and the Office of Academic Affairs (academic misconduct). Questions regarding the location of individual student records should be directed to the Office of the University Registrar.

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