Understanding Academic Procedures
Admission and Registration Department
The Admission and Registration Department is responsible for the admission of students to all colleges of the University. Students accepted by GUST are eligible to register for courses during the dates indicated on the University Academic Calendar.
Registration is subject to confirmation that the student has conformed to all University regulations.
General Academic Regulations
Degree Requirements
Academic regulations specifying the course requirements for each degree program are presented in this Bulletin by college and degree program.
It is essential that students, in conjunction with an advisor, become familiar with these requirements and monitor their academic progress as courses are completed to ensure all academic requirements are met. The student is fully responsible for compliance with all academic requirements.
Maximum Time for Completion of a Degree
From the first semester of enrollment after matriculation (exit from the Foundation Program) a student has a maximum of seven years to complete all requirements for a Bachelor’s degree at GUST.
Course Credit Value
GUST operates with a university credit unit consisting of one semester hour which represents a subject pursued for one, two or three periods weekly for one semester.
Minimum Graduation Requirements
All degrees at GUST have a minimum graduation requirement of 120 credits and in order to graduate both the student’s cumulative and major grade point averages must be 2.00 or greater.
Course Numbering
Each discipline or field of study offered by the University is summarized by a three or four letter prefix, followed by a three-digit number indicating the level of the course content.
The following are several GUST course examples:
- ENGL 224 (3-0-3) – English Literature I
- MCM 103 (3-0-3) – Introduction to Mass Communications
- PHIL 325 (3-0-3) – Business Ethics
- CSC 125 (3-0-3) – Introduction to Computing
The designation (3-0-3) indicates (in sequence) the number of hours of lectures per week, the number of laboratory hours (if any) and the number of credits for the course.
Explanation of Course Numbering Scheme
- 000-099 courses are non-credit courses
- 100-199 courses are primarily taken by first-year freshman students
- 200-299 courses are primarily taken by second-year sophomore students
- 300-399 courses are primarily taken by third-year junior students
- 400-499 are primarily taken by fourth-year senior students
General Education Course Numbering
Another type of course indicator relates to General Education courses. Each of the categories of General Education courses are identified as follows:
- Communications Skills category – COM
- Managing Information Skills – MI
- Valuing Skills – VAL
- Social and Behavioral Sciences Knowledge Goal – SBS
- Humanities and Fine Arts Knowledge Goal – HFA
- Mathematics and Life/Natural Sciences Knowledge Goal – MLNS
- Arab Heritage Requirement – AH
Student Designation and Registration
The regular and recommended load of a full-time student at GUST is defined as 15 credits. All full-time students are required to register for a minimum of 12 credits and a maximum of 21 credits. Academic loads above 18 credits require the student to have a CGPA above 3.00 Such a load is considered to be very heavy is not recommended even for the best students.
University Honors and Awards
President’s List
Undergraduate students completing at least 15 credits of graded courses during a semester with a semester grade point average (SGPA) of 4.0.
To be placed on the President’s Honor List at the end of given fall or spring semester, a student must:
- Be registered for at least nine credit hours
- Not be repeating the semester or be on probation
- Passed all semester courses and attained an overall semester GPA of 4.0
- Not have had any disciplinary action within the University
Dean’s List
Undergraduate students completing at least 15 credits of graded courses during a semester with a semester grade point average (SGPA) between 3.5 and 3.99 for the semester.
To be placed on the Dean’s Honor List at the end of given fall or spring semester, a student must:
- Be registered for at least nine credit hours
- Not be repeating the semester, nor be on probation
- Passed all semester courses and attained an overall semester GPA of 3.67
- Not have had any disciplinary action within the University
Rules of Graduation
Students must satisfy the degree requirements of the their major and must obtain a cumulative GPA and MPA of 2.00 or higher.
Graduates With Honor
To graduate with honor, a student must:
- Must fulfill all the degree requirements as per their major
- Attain a cumulative GPA of 3.67
- Complete the program within 8 regular semesters (excluding foundation Program and Summer Semester)
- Not have had disciplinary action within the university
Degrees Awarded With Highest Honors
To graduate with highest honor, a student must:
- Must fulfill all the degree requirements as per their major
- Attain a cumulative GPA of 4.0
- Complete the program within 8 regular semesters (excluding foundation Program (a semester without GPA) and Summer Semester)
- Not have had disciplinary action within the university
Note: Students who have leave of absences in any semester will be countered.
MBA Program
Rules of Graduation
In order to graduate, students must:
- Pass the required number of credit hours (45)
- Obtain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 (B) or higher
- Submit an official GMAT score. (if the GMAT submitted during the admission process is expired)
Note: the maximum allowed period for graduation is 5 years. If a student fails to fulfill the graduation requirements within 5 years, he/she may be dismissed.
Degrees Awarded With Highest Honors
Highest honor students attain a cumulative GPA of 4.0 upon graduation.
Degrees Awarded With Honors
Honor students attain a cumulative GPA of 3.85 or above upon graduation.
Attendance Policies
Class Attendance Policy
The University requires regular and timely attendance at all classes. Attendance is registered in the student information system (PeopleSoft) by the students as they enter the classroom, by swiping their identification card over a card-reader. Repeated tardiness or absences will result in warnings and, if absence continues, the system will automatically fail the student due to absence.
Students should inform their instructor of any foreseen absence. Makeup of examinations or work missed is allowed at the instructor’s discretion only.
Students excused from class for valid reasons by their Deans shall be permitted, if possible, to make up work missed, but the Dean must have notified the instructor in writing.
Minimal Attendance Policy
The University PeopleSoft system assists instructors and the administration to enforce the attendance policy. Students should be aware of the attendance policy approved by the university.
Automated warnings are generated by the PeopleSoft Student Information System (PSIS) and the alert is e-mailed to the student’s GUST e-mail with a copy to the instructor. The student also receives a text message detailing absences and warnings. The instructor may issue a separate warning, but is not required to do so. It is incumbent on the student to check his/her GUST e-mail for absence warnings and all other important announcements.
An e-mail from GUST is considered as an official communication. It is the responsibility of the student to access his/her e-mail on a regular basis and to respond to any concerns or questions raised in the e-mail. It is also the student’s responsibility to ensure that their GUST e-mail account is kept active by periodically deleting old e-mails.
NOTE: Since classes at GUST are given in different formats, the set of conditions necessary for being dropped for excessive absence is given for each case below.
Classes That Meet Three Times a Week for 50 Minutes Each
- If a student misses 3 class periods, a first warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 6 class periods, a second warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 9 class periods, a third warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 12 class periods, then the student will be dropped automatically from the course
- If this occurs before the end of the 10th week a “WA” grade will be assigned
- If this occurs after the 10th week an “FA” grade will be assigned
- For students who are registered in only 12 credits (or 4 courses), after missing 12 class periods then the grade that will be assigned to the course the student is being dropped from is an “FA” (PUC Scholarship students only)
The classes missed above refer to all absences irrespective of the reasons.
Classes That Meet Two Times a Week for 75 Minutes Each
- If a student misses 2 class periods, a first warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 4 class periods, a second warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 6 class periods, a third warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 8 class periods, then the student will be dropped automatically from the course
- If this occurs before the end of the 10th week a “WA” grade will be assigned
- If this occurs after the 10th week an “FA” grade will be assigned
- For students who are registered in only 12 credits (or 4 courses), after missing 8 class periods then the grade that will be assigned to the course the student is being dropped from is an “FA” (PUC Scholarship students only)
The classes missed above refer to all absences irrespective of the reasons.
Classes That Meet Once a Week for 150 Minutes
- If a student misses 1 class period, a first warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 2 class periods, a second warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 3 class periods, a third warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 4 class periods, then the student will be dropped automatically from the course
- If this occurs before the end of the 10th week a “WA” grade will be assigned
- If this occurs after the 10th week an “FA” grade will be assigned
- For students who are registered in only 12 credits (or 4 courses), after missing 4 class periods then the grade that will be assigned to the course the student is being dropped from is an “FA” (PUC Scholarship students only)
The classes missed above refer to all absences irrespective of the reasons.
Classes That Meet Five Times a Week for 50 Minutes
- If a student misses 5 class periods, a first warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 10 class periods, a second warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 15 class periods, a third warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 20 class periods, then the student will be dropped automatically from the course
- If this occurs before the end of the 10th week a “WA” grade will be assigned
- If this occurs after the 10th week an “FA” grade will be assigned
- For students who are registered in only 12 credits (or 4 courses), after missing 20 class periods then the grade that will be assigned to the course the student is being dropped from is an “FA” (PUC Scholarship students only) (in the case of MATH 095 and MATH 099 an “NP” grade will be assigned)
The classes missed above refer to all absences irrespective of the reasons.
Classes That Meet for 20 or 25 Hours a Week for 50 Minutes (ENGL 097 and 098)
- If a student misses 10 class hours, a first warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 20 class hours, a second warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 30 class hours, a third warning is issued to the student and a copy is sent to the faculty member
- If a student misses 40 class hours, then the student would be dropped automatically
- If this occurs before the end of the 10th week a “WA” grade will be assigned
- If this occurs after the 10th week an “NP” grade will be assigned
Student’s Absence
If the instructor feels the reason for a student’s absence is legitimate or if the student has reported the absence in advance, it is up to the discretion of the instructor as to how this is handled with regard to attendance warning notices. Students who are dropped because of excessive absence are not entitled to a refund of fees. The course withdrawal refund schedule is clearly outlined at the start of the semester. If students withdraw from individual, courses they will forfeit student fees that have been paid as indicated in the approved refund schedule.
