Guidelines & Procedures for Undergraduate Programs & Courses
All undergraduate students majoring in School of Business and Management academic programs are bound by the guidelines and procedures below.
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Changes in Degree Requirements
Students must meet the degree requirements in effect at the time they matriculate (at the time they are formally accepted by SUNY Brockport for admission or readmission into a degree program). The School continuously revises its programs in response to changes in the business environment and the changing expectations of employers. Therefore, the degree requirements listed in the Undergraduate Studies Catalog may not be current. Students and prospective students should check the School’s web site for the most current program requirements, descriptions, and course offerings.
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Advisement
Students majoring in the School’s programs will be assigned a business faculty advisor when they declare their intent to major in business. The advisor’s name will then appear at the top of the student’s Degree Audit Report (DARS). After an advisor has been assigned, students are required to meet with their advisor each semester and are expected to:
- Bring a copy of their degree audit report to the meeting.
- Prior to the meeting, consult their degree audit report for the purpose of determining remaining degree requirements
- Prior to the meeting, prepare a proposed schedule of classes for the following semester. Advisors assist students by reviewing the courses the students select each semester and by answering questions about degree requirements, course sequencing, transfer course work, electives, careers and graduate school. Advisors will not create a schedules for their advisees.
- Prior to the meeting, consult with the online course schedule to confirm that the classes in the student’s proposed schedule are still open, making adjustments as necessary.
It is the advisor’s prerogative to decline to meet with students who fail to meet these expectations, i.e., students who are unprepared. Unprepared students will be required to reschedule their meeting at a later date, which may result in courses filling before the student has the opportunity to register. This, in turn, may delay the student’s graduation.
Faculty advisors assist students in academic planning, but students are ultimately responsible for knowing and meeting their degree requirements as specified in the Undergraduate Studies Catalog and on their degree audit.
Please note that the School generally restricts its courses to students enrolled in its major or minor programs. Certain courses offered by other schools — such as CIS217, ENG 302, MTH 244, and MTH 211, BUS 475 are also reserved for business students.
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Registration
Each semester, the University will publish a schedule of the classes available the following semester. A student’s registration date and time will vary by class rank with seniors getting first priority, followed by juniors, etc. A registration schedule is sent to each student and it is their responsibility to know what day they are eligible to register. A student’s registration date and time will vary by class rank and last name. Students must consult with their advisor and obtain an advisement Personal Identification Number (PIN) prior to registration for the following semester. Students should contact their advisor at least two weeks in advance of their registration date for the purpose of understanding how to schedule advisement.
Advisors’ office hours will be posted on their office door. Additional time slots are often available during the advising season. Please contact your advisors for this information. Some advisors work by appointment while others work on a drop-in basis. Voice and email messages left for advisors should include the student’s name, phone number, e-mail address, and times when the advisor may contact the student. Please speak slowly and clearly when leaving voice mail messages.Students who are unable to arrange advisement with their designated advisor, because of work or class schedule conflicts, should contact the Center for Student Success in Hartwell 100 or by calling, 585-395-5539. Students are expected to work with their primary advisor if possible.
Students who do not contact their faculty advisor on a timely basis or who register for courses after their designated registration date will often find themselves closed out of required courses, causing the students’ graduation date to be delayed.
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Closed Courses
The School sets enrollment caps on each course offered. Registration into closed business courses is controlled by the School and not by the instructor (i.e., an instructor cannot give permission to add into a closed course) and a waitlist is utilized. All courses taught by business school faculty (those with a prefix of ACC, BUS, or ECN) utilize a waitlist. Should a student prefer a course that is already closed at time of registration, they can add themselves to the waitlist. This is an automated process and the system generates an email to a student when a seat opens up. The waitlist in no way guarantees a seat in the class.
Students who fail to register during their designated registration period will not automatically be added to closed sections. As such, it is important that each student register at his or her designated time.
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Required Course Grades
An overall average of 2.0 is required to complete any major or minor* offered by the School of Business and Management. In general, students majoring in the School’s programs need to earn a grade of at least “C-” in a course to count the course toward a degree requirement. However, accounting majors must earn at least a “C” in their accounting courses (ACC prefix on course number).
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Course Retake Limitation/Three Strikes Policy**
To satisfy the minimum grade requirement described in 5 above, students may not repeat a business course more than three times at Brockport unless approved by the department chair. Students who are unable to earn the required grade after three attempts will be advised to reconsider whether a business major is an appropriate choice..
Please note: This rule applies only to School of Business and Management courses (ACC, BUS and ECN prefixes), ENG 302 and CIS 217.
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Transfer Course and Grade Policy
In general, a grade of “C-” or higher is required for transferred courses to be used to satisfy major, program entrance requirements, corequisite, core and specialty area course requirements. However, accounting majors need to earn a grade of “C” or higher in any required accounting course (ACC prefix) that is to be transferred.
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Requests for Transfer Credit
The University maintains a large database of transfer course equivalencies. Courses from other schools are often automatically transferred as equivalent to a specific course at SUNY Brockport. If a course has been transferred as equivalent to a Brockport course, the equivalency will be shown on the student’s degree audit.
Other times, however, courses are transferred for general credit, but no specific course equivalency is indicated. If you believe that a course taken elsewhere is equivalent to a specific SUNY Brockport course, you will need to complete a course equivalency transfer request form (available at the Center for Student Success, 100 Hartwell Hall) and provide documentation of equivalency (e.g., a detailed syllabus). Submit the form and the documentation to the Center for Student Success. Your request will then be evaluated in accordance with the school specific process for evaluation of transfer requests. The student cannot receive transfer credit unless both the school and the University approve the transferred courses, and the number of courses transferred is subject to the residency requirements of the University and school.
After matriculating at SUNY Brockport, students must take all 400-level school courses at SUNY Brockport. No two-year college course work will be transferred as equivalent to any 400-level course offered by the school. Students must complete BUS 475 Strategic Management at SUNY Brockport.
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Residency Requirement
At least one half of the course work required to complete any School of Business major or minor must be taken at SUNY Brockport. Additionally, certain courses cannot be transferred. These courses must be taken at SUNY Brockport.
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Participation in Assessment Activities
The School of Business and Management administers various assessment instruments throughout the curricula of its programs. Assessment activities may take the form of exams, exercises or surveys. Assessment data are used for quality control and program improvement. Many of the school’s program improvement efforts are based on assessment results.
However, assessment results are valid only when students give their serious participation and best effort. As such, students are required, as a condition of enrollment in any of the School’s courses, to participate in assessment activities and to give their best and honest effort in all assessment exercises administered by the school. Assessment activities administered in a course are considered a course requirement. This course requirement is as important as attendance, homework, or other exams. Students who are absent when assessment exercises are conducted may be required to repeat the exercise as a condition of passing the course.
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Internships
The School of Business encourages student participation in internship experiences that are relevant to the student’s degree and area of specialization. Increasingly, employers seek to hire individuals with relevant work experience. An internship is not required for graduation, but students without significant work experience (relevant to their major) are strongly encouraged to complete at least one internship experience. The School of Business and Management limits the number of credits and internship experiences a student may complete to a maximum of 12 credits and two internship experiences. However, internship credit may not substitute for other School or University requirements. Information on internship programs and procedures may be obtained from the Center for Student Success in 100 Hartwell or online.
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Academic Dishonesty (Cheating)
The definitions of academic dishonesty can be found by clicking here. All students in the School’s programs are bound by the definitions and policies described in this document. The School reserves the right to expel, from its programs and courses, any student found to be engaged in premeditated acts of academic dishonesty. This policy is strictly enforced. Your first offense may be your only offense; there are no warnings. All work and assignments completed in the school’s courses should be assumed to be individual assignments unless you have received explicit permission from the instructor to work with one or more partners.
The Student Policies section of the website contains important information every student should know about campus safety, codes of student conduct, and more.
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Student Conduct
Students are expected to treat each other, their instructor, persons in charge, and the school’s staff with common courtesy, decency and respect. Students will recognize the instructor’s authority to lead and direct classroom activities. Students will refrain from all behaviors that interfere with the teaching and learning process as well as behaviors that are disrespectful or belligerent to faculty and staff. All behaviors that, in the judgment of the instructor or other school representative, interfere with the teaching/learning process will be considered disruptive.
Campus policies on disruptive behavior and students are detailed in the Student Policies section of the website. Disruptive students may be asked by the instructor to leave the classroom; students refusing to do so will be escorted from the premises by University Police. Students who are consistently or seriously disruptive will be dismissed from the department’s programs and may be expelled from the University.
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School of Business Communications
The School uses email and Blackboard to communicate important announcements, changes in class times and course offerings, new policies, information about school events, etc.
- Students are responsible for reading communications from the school and responding accordingly.
- School communiqués will be directed to the student e-mail address provided by the University. If you have any questions pertaining to how to access your e-mail account, call the Information Technology Help Desk at (585) 395-5151 for assistance in this regard.
- The School’s e-mail list-serve is for official school communiqués only, and all communiqués will originate from the School of Business and Management office. Under no circumstance is any student allowed to broadcast messages using this list-serve. Unauthorized use of the list-serve will be taken very seriously and the offender referred to the campus Judicial System for appropriate action.
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Course Prerequisites
19) Course Prerequisites: Many of the school’s courses have prerequisite courses. The Undergraduate Studies Catalog details the prerequisites for all established courses; for new courses not listed in the catalog, students should speak with the instructor. The prerequisites for a course must be completed prior to registration for the course. Students who are found to be deficient in the prerequisites for a course may be dropped from the course.
In particular, the courses BUS 325 Principles of Finance and BUS 475 Strategic Management have a sizeable number of prerequisites. Students who fail to complete prerequisites for these courses in a planned and timely basis are likely to find that they will not be able to graduate as planned.
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Timely Completion of Program Entrance Requirement
Students admitted to the University are not automatically admitted to the school’s programs. Students must first meet program entrance requirements, which include prescribed course work. Program entrance requirements vary by degree program.
- Full-time students entering as freshmen are expected to complete program entrance requirement course work by the first semester of their junior year.
- Full-time students transferring with an associate degree in business are expected to complete program entrance requirement course work in their first semester at Brockport.
- Part-time students are expected to complete program entrance requirement courses before beginning 400-level business courses.
Timely completion of program entrance requirements are the student’s responsibility. Failure to complete program entrance requirements on a timely basis may delay the student’s graduation.
Students pursuing a degree in the School of Business and Management need to pay particular attention to sequencing their courses and the declaration of Major. In order to potentially finish their degrees in four years (eight semesters) students will need to finish a set of program entrance requirements, declare their major, and complete requirements for specific courses in a timely manner. All 400-level courses are to be taken by majors and minors only.