The Biology Major is a structured curriculum that allows students to enroll in a variety of courses emphasizing specific areas of life sciences. Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in all biology courses and a satisfactory grade in all other courses required for the major.
All biology lectures and labs have separate credit hours and grades. The lecture is 3 credit hours and the lab is 1 credit hour. Students must initially enroll in the lecture and lab concurrently. After the initial enrollment, students may take the lecture and lab separately, but only if one (lecture or lab) is passed and the other failed.
Retention in the Biology Program
Students may declare Biology as their major, but must meet the following requirements in order to remain in the program:
- Have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher at the conclusion of the first year of matriculation within Biology
- Maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher during their matriculation at the University.
- Earn at least a “C” in both introductory biology courses (BIO 114 Principles of Biology I (3) and BIO 124 Principles of Biology II (3) ).
It is recognized that students in the Biology Program may drop below the minimum academic standards outlined above. In that case, students will be placed on probation for a semester and required to attend mandatory tutorials. If after this period students fail to meet the GPA requirements, they will be advised to change their major. Special consideration will be given to students who have had extenuating circumstances (medical issues, family illnesses, etc.) that impeded them from meeting the minimum academic standards. It is incumbent upon the student to provide evidence of these circumstances, in addition to submitting a letter requesting special consideration.
The faculty of the program will review the records of each student who fails to meet and maintain the required GPA and make a final decision as to the student’s continuation in the program.