Geographic Information Systems - Advanced Diploma

Effective Term:

Effective Year:

Advanced Standing:

ADVANCE OR TRANSFER CREDIT AND PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT

1. A student may obtain credit for a maximum of 75% of program requirements by Transfer Credit, Advanced Placement, Prior Learning Assessment or combination thereof, with the exception of BGIS, which has a minimum residency requirement of 56 credits taken at Selkirk College in semesters one through 5; this generally includes the ADGIS 300 and BGIS 400 level courses.

2. Application for advanced credit is to be made prior to entry into the program and students are advised to attend all classes for which they are seeking advanced credit until the credit is formally approved.

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Re-Entry Instructions:

1. Students normally must complete the entire program within 24 calendar months of initial entry to qualify for a diploma. Re-entry applicants who cannot meet this deadline will be required to retake courses which have changed.

2. Re-entry is permitted only when space is available.

3. Students in good standing who must interrupt their program may apply to re-enter the program within one year of departure.

4. Students who fail to complete a course successfully may apply to re-enter the course the next time it is offered.

5. Priority for re-entry will be given as follows:

a) students who interrupted their program for illness or compassionate reasons; and

b) students who failed to meet program requirements for promotion.

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Assessment:

Grading

Grades and the calculation of the grade point average will be based on the Standard Academic and Career Grading table. With the exception of GIS 320 – GIS Professional Development and a 300 level COOP course which will be assigned a credit/no credit grade (CRG/NCG) as described in the Competency Based Grades table. This non-grade status is recorded on the transcript and is not calculated in the grade point average. To view the grading tables see Policy 8612: Grading.

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Grading Table:

Standard Academic and Career Programs

Types of Assessments:

a) Assessments will occur as specified in course outlines and will be four or more events per course.

b) GIS 320 assessment occurs on a weekly basis. All activities in which students participate may be considered assessment events. Informal verbal and/or written feedback and formal, written feedback is regularly provided by the instructor or field supervisor. Formal, written performance appraisals are summaries of assessment events to date and there may be one or more of these events as well as the written feedback on the practicum project included in the assessment process.

c) In both theory and lab courses assessment events will normally include assignments, presentations, reports, examinations, tests and quizzes. These will be specified in the course outlines.

d) In the practicum, formal written appraisals will be given using a tool, which is based entirely on the stated performance criteria for the program practicum activity level and/or to write all exams in order to receive credit for the course.

e) No single assessment can be worth more than 50% of the final grade of any course.

f) Presentations will be required for GIS 492: BGIS thesis.

Examinations

1. The schedule for midterm examinations will be published in the course outlines. Final Exam schedules will be published via the Registrar's Office.

2. Regulations for invigilated examinations at Selkirk College sites or other designated sites include the following:

(a) tests, quizzes, exams must be written at the scheduled appointment time when invigilation services are available

(b) students leaving the exam room before the conclusion of the exam without the permission of the invigilator may forfeit their right to return and complete the exam

(c) no books or other material may be brought into the examination room unless consent of the invigilator has been given

(d) no material relating to the examination may be removed from the examination room. Under no circumstances may materials upon which answers are written be removed

(e) making use of materials, books or notes without the approval of the invigilator, speaking or communicating in other ways with other students, or exposing written papers to the view of other students is not permitted

(f) students in violation of the above items will be required to leave the examination room immediately and will forfeit the right to have the examination evaluated

(g) any questions must be directed to the invigilator

(h) all completed tests must be returned to the instructor/invigilator and will be kept on file for the required time period

3. Regulations pertinent to face-to-face laboratory and practicum testing will be according to course outline details and as previously described.

Supplemental Assessment(s)

a) Supplemental final examinations/activities will only be considered upon written request by the student to the course instructor and will need to be approved by both the instructor and the school chair.

b) At no time will the mark on a supplemental examination/activity exceed the equivalent of a "C" grade for the evaluative event.

c) Normally, only one supplemental final examination/activity will be allowed in the program.

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Attendance:

1. Attendance at all scheduled laboratories, practicum experiences, examinations and other learning experiences is mandatory. Upon the recommendation of the course instructor to the School Chair, students who have been absent from either two labs and/or four lectures, without a prior and/or confirmed acceptable excuse, may be required to withdraw from the course,

2. Students absent from any Advanced Diploma in GIS or BGIS course, for any reason, are responsible for the work they have missed. They must make up assignments as required.

3. Absences from learning experiences may preclude the student from meeting the requirements for that course.

4. Students claiming illness, accidents or compassionate reasons for absence from learning experiences must contact the instructor concerned as soon as possible.

5. Students may be required to supply a medical professional certificate to substantiate claims of illness. A student who must be absent from a practicum experience is responsible for notifying the agency and/or instructor at least one hour prior to the scheduled time for the experience to begin.

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Professional Requirements:

1. Students enrolled in the Online Advanced Certificate will need to have access to their own personal computer. This computer will need to be capable of running the most recent version of ESRI’s ArcGIS Pro software. Students will receive minimum specifications required of this computer when they register, but typically it needs to be able to run on a recent windows operating system, with adequate graphic capabilities and ample RAM and hard drive space.

2. Should a student make inappropriate use of the equipment including theft or vandalism, they will be required to withdraw from the program.

3. Student behaviour in the physical or online classroom that disrupts the class, upsets the learning environment of other students or poses a threat to other persons in the learning environment is unacceptable. Students behaving in such a manner will be given a verbal warning for the first offence and placed on probation for the second offence. Any subsequent similar behaviour is grounds for the compulsory withdrawal from the course in question. Subsequent misconduct will result in the student being withdrawn from the program.

4. Students are expected to be on time and prepared for all face-to-face classes prior to entering the classroom. Assigned materials are to be read by students; such materials and textbooks are not necessarily reviewed in class by the instructor.

5. The student is responsible for researching and obtaining notes of missed sessions. Instructors are not expected to give personal reviews to students who miss a class.

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Other Regulations:

PROBATION

See Policy 8619: Probation for more information.

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