By Trevor Maloney
Many students have expressed their discontent with the capstone project that was introduced as a new requirement in the fall of 2013. However, what will surely come as good news to those unhappy with the project is that the requirement is invalid, at least for some.
In the language of the student handbooks of both 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, all academic changes (capstone requirement) take effect at the beginning of the academic year (2013-2014) and apply to all students. However, in a subsequent clause, it states that students can override any changes and apply the rules of their first-year handbook by submitting this request to the Board of Examiners.
This means that students who matriculated into UCR before the fall of 2013 are not required to do the capstone project. At the General Assembly of April 9, 2014, AAC Chair, Yvette Lanting confirmed that this is true. It is worth mentioning that some students have already been officially exempted.
There are some conditions that students need to fulfill in order to ensure their exemption:
- Submit a request to the Board of Examiners stating you would like to be exempt from the capstone requirement
- State that you would like to apply the academic rules from the handbook of your matriculation year
- Don’t forget to document your matriculation year
- Explicitly mention the sections of the handbook that apply (clause 8.2 for students who matriculated in 2011-2012, 11.2 for those who matriculated in 2012-2013)
Students can use this form to write their request or send an email to the Registrar to the attention of the Board of Examiners.
Taken from the Student Handbook of 2011-2012
8.2 All changes apply to all students. A student will be allowed to refer to and apply the academic rules that were set during his/her first year at RA. If a student wants to make use of this provision, he or she must inform the Board of Studies in writing.
Taken from the Student Handbook of 2012-2013
11.2 All changes apply to all students. A student will be allowed to refer to and apply the academic rules that were set during his/her first year at RA. If a student wants to make use of this provision, he or she must inform the Examination Board in writing.
This article was last updated at 17:00, April 11, 2014.
Trevor Maloney, class of 2015, is an International Law and Politics major from West Palm Beach, Florida, United States.
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