Checksheet Requirements
Required Elements of a Checksheet
The Checksheet Header (including effective date)
The checksheet header identifies the home of the checksheet, the specific degree program to which it applies, as well as the effective date. This header should minimally include the college name, the degree program and effective date of the requirements listed.
In cases where a degree program has several major concentrations (options), separate checksheets must be submitted for each major concentration. All checksheets must be submitted as complete packages and be considered on their own merit.
The effective date on graduation checksheets indicates the calendar year to which the checksheet applies. This effective date is always presented as a single year, as opposed to a date range, and may not be appended by phrases such as "and thereafter" or "and beyond." Checksheets, once approved, will remain in effect until they are superceded by an approved (governance or administrative) revision.
Examples of headers incorporating the above elements
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Bachelor of Science
- Major: Animal and Poultry Sciences
- Major Concentration: Biotechnology
- For students graduating in calendar year 2007
- College of Architecture and Urban Studies
- Bachelor of Architecture
- For students graduating in calendar year 2007
- Pamplin College of Business
- Bachelor of Science in Business
- Major: Business Information Technology
- Major Concentration: Operations Management
- For students graduating in calendar year 2007
- College of Engineering
- The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering
- For students graduating in calendar year 2007
- College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
- Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management
- Bachelor of Science
- Major: Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management
- Major Concentration: Residential Property Management
- For students graduating in calendar year 2007
- College of Natural Resources
- Bachelor of Science
- Major: Forestry
- Major Concentration: Forest Resource Management
- For students graduating in calendar year 2007
- College of Science
- Bachelor of Science
- Major: Biology
- Major concentration: Microbiology
- For students graduating in calendar year 2007
University Graduation Requirements
Checksheets must indicate all requirements necessary for students to fulfill their degree program. The various requirements that are included on checksheets are shown in the following sections.
Foreign Language Requirement
In order to graduate, students must meet a language study requirement. The university requires two units of a single foreign or classical language (or American Sign Language) during high school. Students who do not satisfy the foreign language requirement in high school may do so by taking six credits of college-level foreign language (classical language or American Sign Language). These six credits do not count toward the total minimum hours required of the declared degree program.
However, graduation checksheets must reference this requirement and indicate that the six credits of college-level foreign language used to meet this requirement may not be used to satisfy the minimum number of credits required by the degree program. Those departments having an additional language study requirement must clearly define their additional requirement(s) on the checksheet.
Curriculum for Liberal Education Requirements
Students are responsible for completing the Curriculum for Liberal Education requirements that are in effect when they enter the university. The university requires students to complete course work from all seven areas of the Curriculum for Liberal Education. Although some departments allow students to freely select courses from the Curriculum for Liberal Education Guide, others use specific courses from the various areas of the Curriculum for Liberal Education to complement their major requirements.
Graduation checksheets indicate the acceptable courses that students must complete in order to satisfy Curriculum for Liberal Education Requirements. Only those courses that have been approved for inclusion in the Curriculum for Liberal Education may be included on departmental checksheets. Degree candidates may only be held responsible for completing those courses that were in effect when they entered the university. Students may not satisfy Curriculum for Liberal Education Requirements by completing a course prior to it being approved for inclusion into the Curriculum for Liberal Education.
Writing Intensive Requirement
Students who entered Virginia Tech prior to Fall 2005, are responsible for completing a two course Writing Intensive requirement. Policy Memorandum 223 indicates the variety of ways in which the writing intensive requirement may be satisfied.
Approved departmental checksheets define which combinations of Writing Intensive, Writing Across the Major, or other writing experiences can be used to complete degree requirements.
Just as with other courses in the Curriculum for Liberal Education, the Writing Intensive requirements that a student must complete are based on the Writing Intensive courses that are in effect when the student entered the university.
Students may not satisfy Writing Intensive requirements by completing a course prior to it being approved for inclusion into the Curriculum for Liberal Education.
Spoken, Visual, and Written Communication Requirement
Students who entered Virginia Tech Fall 2005 and after, are responsible for completing the Spoken, Visual, and Written Communication Requirement. Departments must submit proposals no later than December 8, 2004 to the Curriculum for Liberal Education Committee. Approved plans must be noted on the checksheet.
Special note: during the transition of the Writing Intensive Requirement to the Spoken, Visual, and Written Communication Requirement, departments may display both requirements on the checksheets to accommodate the various entering classes.
The major courses on some checksheets may concurrently fulfill specific areas of the university Curriculum for Liberal Education. Departments who allow these courses to count both ways should indicate on their checksheets those areas of the Curriculum for Liberal Education that are fulfilled by major requirements.
College Requirements
In addition to university and major requirements, some colleges may require all majors to complete specific courses, often referred to as the "college core." Any special requirements specific to a college must be included on the graduation checksheet. Students are held responsible for those college requirements that are in effect when the student graduates.
Major Requirements
In addition to university and college requirements, degree candidates must also complete those departmental requirements that define their major program of study.
Major requirements typically include in-major GPA and course requirements. Additionally some departments require specific grades in certain of their courses. In cases where courses require specific grades, it is crucial to separate major requirements from satisfactory progress requirements (see satisfactory progress).
All courses on the proposed checksheet must be approved by the Commission on Undergraduate Curricula before being submitted for approval. When listing major courses include the department abbreviation, course number, course title and credit hours. Course ranges should be indicated by providing the department abbreviation and the beginning and ending numbers of the range. The checksheet must include the subtitle of any "umbrella courses" such as special study courses, independent study courses, topics courses, etc. Unless otherwise indicated, all major courses must be taken on an A-F basis. Departments must indicate any major courses that are offered on a pass/fail only basis.
The major courses that degree candidates are accountable for are those in effect at the time of graduation. However as previously discussed, proposed checksheets must be approved two years in advance of their intended use. The courses which are used in the in-major GPA calculation must be clearly indicated on the checksheet. The minimum GPA needed to graduate must also be stated. This GPA may not be less-than 2.0, however some departments may require an in-major GPA in excess of 2.0. Any changes to in-major GPA requirements must be approved by the Commission on Undergraduate Curricula and the Commission on Undergraduate Studies and Policies.
Technical, Restricted, or Professional Electives: Some departments require their students to select a portion of their electives from specific lists. Listings of courses, such as technical electives, professional electives, restricted electives are an integral part of the checksheet and must be submitted as part of the "total package." Any changes to these lists are considered when determining if the proposed checksheet can be approved under the 20% Rule.
Free Electives
Degree requirements may include a range of hours not controlled by specified university, college, and/or major requirements, referred to as "free electives." The number of free elective hours needed to satisfy the minimum credit hours requirement must be stated on the checksheet. This may be stated as a range of hours.
Total Hours Required
Indicate the total number of hours required for the degree program. This number should reconcile with the number of credit hours required by university, college, and major requirements.
Overall GPA: Indicate the minimum overall GPA required for this degree. This must be at least 2.0.
Satisfactory Progress
Majors that wish to enforce Policy 91 need to include the satisfactory progress rules on their checksheets. Any college or department may adopt satisfactory progress rules that are in addition to those published in Policy 91 with the approval of the Commission on Undergraduate Studies.
The checksheet must clearly distinguish satisfactory progress rules from degree requirements. For example, if a department requires a grade of B- in a major course, this must be indicated on the checksheet as a graduation requirement. This should not be listed as part of the satisfactory progress statement. This does not preclude this same course from being part of the satisfactory rules for that department.
The point here is that checksheets must distinguish graduation requirements from satisfactory progress statements and clearly indicate how the rules apply in either or both cases. It is the responsibility of colleges and/or departments to monitor their own satisfactory progress rules. Graduation requirements are encoded into the Degree Audit System. Satisfactory Progress rules are not.
Courses Not Allowed
Some departments and/or colleges do now allow credit for specific courses to be used to fulfill degree requirements. Departments must identify any such courses on their graduation checksheets.
Prerequisites
Checksheets must be devised to alert students of any prerequisites to their major courses. This is especially true for those majors that have few free electives. The point here is that checksheets be devised in such a way as to not cause students to exceed the minimum number of hours required for the degree. It is recommended that departments indicate the prerequisites for major courses on their checksheets.