Arabic & Islamic Studies

General Academic Regulations and Procedures


For a full listing of Graduate School academic rules and procedures, please see the Graduate Bulletin, available electronically on the Graduate School website.

Academic Course Credits
During fall and spring semesters, students registered for 9 or more credit hours will be certified as enrolled full-time. Students registered for 7-8 credits will be certified as enrolled three-quarters-time; those registered for 5-6 credits will be certified as enrolled half-time; those registered for fewer than 5 credits will be certified as enrolled less than half-time. During the summer term, students registered for 4 or more credits will be certified as enrolled full-time; those enrolled for 3 credits will be certified as enrolled half-time; those enrolled for fewer than three credits will be certified as enrolled less than half-time. Enrollments in both summer sessions may be added to determine the total summer enrollment for certification purposes.

Audit and Pass/Fail Options
Courses that have been designated by departments and programs to be taken only on a pass/fail basis may be applied toward a graduate degree program. Other courses for which a student chooses to register on a pass/fail basis cannot be applied toward a degree program. Students may register for language courses on a pass/fail basis, but may not audit them without the approval of their department or program and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Students who have received permission from an instructor to audit a course or to take a course on a pass/fail basis should first register for the course on a letter-grade basis, then change to audit or pass/fail basis during the Add/Drop period. Changes of grade status (letter-grade, audit, or pass/fail) are not allowed beyond the Add/Drop period. Students who register for courses on an audit or pass/fail basis will be assessed tuition on the same per-credit basis as for letter-grade registrations. For further information consult the graduate school Bulletin at: http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/reg_2.cfm

Consortium Courses
Georgetown partners with twelve institutions (American University, The Catholic University of America, Gallaudet University, George Mason University, The George Washington University, Howard University, Marymount University, National Defense University, Southeastern University, Trinity College, University of the District of Columbia, and University of Maryland, College Park) of the Consortium of Universities. Students enrolled in a Graduate School degree program may enroll for courses through the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, provided the courses are not available at Georgetown University. Generally, a student obtains a Consortium course card from the Georgetown University Registrar, secures approval signatures from the student's home department or program and the Dean of the Graduate School, secures approval from the appropriate person at the visited institution, and submits the completed course card to the Georgetown Registrar. Consortium courses may not be audited, nor may Graduate School students take undergraduate language courses through the Consortium for the purpose of meeting the language proficiency requirement for a degree. For detailed procedures for Consortium registration please go to the Georgetown Consortium Notes at: http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/reg_1.cfm#consortium

Leaves of Absence and extensions
Students must register or be on an approved leave of absence every semester from matriculation until all degree requirements have been completed. Information on how to obtain leaves of absence is in the Graduate Bulletin. The request for a leave must be approved by the Department. A total of no more than four semesters of leave of absence are allowed in a student's graduate career at Georgetown University. International students should consult with the International Student Adviser, Office of International Programs, before requesting a leave, in order to insure that their visa requirements will be satisfied. A student in a degree program who fails to register by the end of the Late Registration period, who is not on an approved Leave of Absence, or who failed to formally request an extension of leave at the expiration of an authorized Leave of Absence, will be terminated by the Graduate School. For additional information, please consult the Graduate Bulletin at: http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/reg_3.cfm

Academic Integrity
Students in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences are expected to maintain the highest standards of integrity in pursuit of their education. Academic dishonesty in any form is a serious offense subject to academic penalties. These penalties may include, but are not limited to, suspension or dismissal from the University and revocation of degrees already conferred. Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to, obtaining or giving unauthorized assistance on a paper or exam (cheating); the falsification or invention of data, research results, and citations (fabrication); and using a written, spoken or electronic source without proper citation (plagiarism). It is also a violation of academic integrity to misrepresent or misuse otherwise valid academic work. For example, a paper submitted to satisfy the requirements for one course may not be submitted to satisfy a requirement for a second course without THE permission of both professors. Plagiarism is defined as the act of passing off as one's own the ideas, writings, or statements of another. The improper use of sources, whether intentional or unintentional, may constitute plagiarism and is a serious breach of academic integrity standards. Anyone who is found to have committed plagiarism will be subject to disciplinary action. Students who have any doubt as to what constitutes proper citation or as to whether any specific situation might constitute a violation of academic integrity are strongly urged to consult their instructor or adviser. All incoming students are required to log on to Student Access+ to complete the tutorial on academic integrity by the end of the second week of classes. For further guidelines concerning Academic Integrity, and for procedures for reporting and adjudicating alleged violations of academic integrity, please refer to the Graduate School Bulletin at: http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/reg_7.cfm
Students who believe that they have been subjected to unfair treatment in some academic matter have the right to institute a formal complaint, and should consult the Graduate School Catalogue for information on how to do so.

Institutional Review Board
All research conducted by Georgetown faculty and students which elicits data from human subjects must be approved by the University's Institutional Review Board to ensure compliance with Federal Regulations regarding the Protection of Human Subjects. Faculty and students should not collect any data from subjects until they apply for and receive IRB approval of their study and of the specific elicitation devices they propose to use. Faculty or students who collect data in unapproved studies or via unapproved elicitation devices may be required to destroy that data; they may even face legal action. Lack of compliance with these requirements may constitute a violation of federal law, could place the University in jeopardy of federal sanctions, and may require the destruction of the collected data. Complete information regarding the Institutional review Board can be found on the Office of Regulatory Affairs website at: http://ora.georgetown.edu/irb/

International Students
By provision of Federal Law, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has instituted strict new reporting requirements for schools that enroll foreign nationals. Before the start of each semester, all newly enrolled international students at Georgetown University on non-immigrant visas are required to attend the Immigration Reporting Session given by the Office of International Programs (OIP). OIP will provide all new international students with detailed information concerning the time, date, and location of the session before the start of the semester. Those who fail to attend the session will not be allowed to complete registration or to attend classes. For further questions and information, please contact the Office of International Programs by calling 202-687-5867.

In addition, all non-U.S. citizens (including permanent residents) are required to report accurate citizenship and visa type to the Office of International Programs. Any student who does not provide this information to the Office of International Programs will be ineligible to register the following semester. Federal law may also require international students to adhere to more restrictive registration requirements than those that apply to U.S. citizens. International students who have any questions regarding their registration requirements or any of the other policies and regulations contained in this Graduate Bulletin should confer with their international student adviser in the Office of International Programs prior to the start of each semester. For additional information please consult the OIP website at: http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/reg_1.cfm#international

Communication
The Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies assigns student mailboxes each semester. Georgetown students automatically receive a free account on the university computers which provides access to email, the Internet, university-supported software, the online library catalogue, and other useful services. For computer questions or problems contact the Student Help Desk at (202) 687-4949 or at help@georgetown.edu.

Events