Technology Requirements

At RCU, electronic communication is the preferred medium for students, faculty, and staff. To take advantage of this technology, it is required that students, faculty, and staff acquire and maintain e-mail access with the capability to send and receive attached files.

To navigate the internet, it is recommended that the latest version of one of the following browsers be used:

• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge

RCU also provides documents that can be accessed using Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available without cost to students at www.adobe.com.

RCU strives to prevent the spread of computer viruses by employing the latest virus detection software on all university-owned computer systems; however, RCU makes no guarantee related to the unintentional propagation of computer viruses that may go undetected by our virus detection software.

RCU will not be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages of any kind, including but not limited to: loss of data, file corruption, or hardware failure, resulting from the effect of any malicious code or computer virus unintentionally transmitted by university staff members, faculty, students or affiliates.

RCU strongly recommends and urges all faculty and students to seek out and install adequate virus detection software and to routinely check for, and install, the most recent updates to their anti-virus software no less frequently than once each month for their computer and operating system.

Technical Specifications and Instructions

In general, students access course materials using a computer or laptop (PC or Mac), tablet and mobile devices, a modern web browser, and a high-speed Internet connection. However, it is recommended to use a Laptop, PC, or tablet to access assignments and additional resources.

Proctoring

All RCU students are required to complete four (4) proctored examinations as part of selected courses throughout the program. These courses are;

• Human Resource Management
• Finance for Managerial Decision Making
• Business Innovation and Creativity
• Capstone Project-Presentation

Students taking a course that has a proctored examination must complete the examination to pass the course. Information regarding proctoring, including the technical requirements and how to schedule a live proctored exam, will be provided to students in the courses where it is required.

Attendance Policy

To achieve academic success, students at RCU are expected to attend online lectures and participate in class activities.

In the online learning environment, attendance is defined as:

• Logging into the online learning environment at least once per week.
• Completing academic engagement activities as defined on the syllabus e.g. quizzes, assignments, multiple choice questions, and discussion forums.
• Checking email regularly for notices.
• Quality and considered contribution towards online discussion forums with faculty members and fellow students.

Specific attendance policies are included on each course syllabus, as applicable.

Academic Credit Policy

RCU’s semester credit hours align with standard academic measurements, based on course learning outcomes and expected student effort. Each credit hour represents at least 45 hours of work, with 15 hours in academic engagement and 30 in preparation. A three-credit course thus requires a minimum of 135 hours: 45 hours of academic engagement and 90 hours in preparation.

Academic engagement may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Reviewing a class lecture
• Taking an examination
• An interactive tutorial
• Computer-assisted instruction
• Contributing to an online discussion
• Attending a study group assigned by the institution
• Initiating a course-related contact with a faculty member

Student preparation may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Homework (including reading and study time)
• Completing an academic assignment
• Completing an academic project
• Academic Research

Estimated time for all activities within a course is stated in the syllabus.

Leave of Absence Policy

Students can request a Leave of Absence (LOA) between courses for personal or professional reasons. Each individual LOA can be requested for up to two (2) consecutive 3-credit courses. A student may not take more than 6 months (24 weeks) or ½ of the program length, whichever is shorter, as a LOA in a calendar year.

All LOA requests must be submitted in writing to the student’s Academic Advisor, and need to include the start date, return date, and reason for the LOA. Student Support reviews the request and notifies the student of the decision within seven (7) calendar days.

Students who fail to return to RCU, as indicated on the return date, will be terminated from the program.

RCU does not permit students to take a leave of absence during a course session.

Makeup Work

All assignments are due on the date specified in the course syllabus.

A student who anticipates an absence due to a legitimate reason (e.g., military service, medical issues, work travel, or family emergency) and cannot complete coursework on time must notify their faculty or the CAO at least seven (7) working days in advance unless prevented by an emergency. Documentation should be submitted to the CAO before the absence when possible. The CAO will verify the legitimacy of the absence and, if approved, work with the student to develop a plan for making up missed work.

If a student misses an assignment deadline due to an absence and has not contacted the CAO in advance (unless extenuating circumstances apply), they cannot make up the missed work.

For absences unrelated to approved reasons, students must complete all work before the absence, as make-up work will not be permitted.

Course Extensions

Course extensions of up to seven (7) calendar days may be granted in the case of a personal or family emergency. Students must submit a request for a course extension in writing to the faculty. The request must include the reason that the course extension is needed and include backup documentation, as applicable.

For approved requests, a student will have the length of the extension to complete and/or submit all remaining coursework to the course faculty. The final grade for the course will be issued after the work has been submitted, or after the course extension period if the student fails to complete the work.

Multiple course extensions on the same course are not allowed.

Grading

At RCU, letter grades are awarded following each student’s demonstration of the prescribed learning objectives and outcomes of each course as follows:

Students may also receive the following designations, as appropriate, which do not receive any GPA points:

• W (Withdrawal): Students who withdraw from a course receive a grade of “W.” This grade is excluded from the calculation of the CGPA, but the course counts toward credit attempted in satisfactory academic progress evaluations.
• TC (Transfer Credit): Semester credit granted for semester credits accepted in transfer from other institutions.
• R (Repeated Course): Students may retake a course to improve an unsatisfactory grade. Once a grade is recorded for the repeated course, the original grade is replaced with an “R” and excluded from the GPA calculation. The new grade points will apply to the cumulative GPA. A maximum of two courses may be repeated for a better grade, though improvement is not guaranteed.

RCU faculty may choose to use a performance-based grading component within a course. The course syllabi provide more information about this option and all other course-specific grading information including a comprehensive list of graded assignments, assessments, and related weighting.

Grade Reporting

Faculty will report final grades within seven (7) days of the end of a term. Grades will be reported in the LMS. Students can access their grade reports by using their login ID and password.

Grade Appeals

Students who believe they have been graded unfairly may appeal their final course grades. The burden of proof in appealing a grade rests with the students. For a change in grade to be recommended, students must show that the grade originally given was unjustly or unfairly awarded.

1. To appeal a grade, students must contact student support within five (5) days of final course grades being reported in the LMS. The appeal must explain why the grade received was incorrect and include relevant supporting evidence.
2. The CAO will review the appeal and discuss the appeal with the course faculty within five (5) days. The faculty will make a recommendation to the CAO on whether or not the grade should be changed.
3. The CAO will review and may approve or suggest an alternative to the faculty’s recommendation. If an alternative is suggested, the CAO and faculty will discuss and agree on a final recommendation. This review will be completed within five (5) days.
4. The final recommendation, approved by the course faculty and the CAO, will be communicated to student support. The student will be appropriately notified by email of the final decision and the final grade will be reflected in the LMS.

Student Support will change the student’s grade, as recommended, and place a record of the appeal and final recommendation in the student’s academic file.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is evaluated for all students at RCU after the end of each semester to ensure students are successfully completing the courses. Students are notified about the SAP session through email. This assessment provides an opportunity to review and evaluate the academic progress of the students. An action plan is recommended if the there is any corrective action required. At each Progress Evaluation point, RCU will make sure the following criteria have been met:

• Grade Point Average (Qualitative): The student has a cumulative GPA (cGPA) of at least 2.5 to be considered in academic good standing.
• Pace of Completion (Quantitative): The student has successfully completed 67% of the credit hours attempted.
• Maximum Time Frame (MTF): The student must complete his or her program within 150% of the scheduled timeframe for completion as published in the Catalog.

Academic Warning and Continued Warning

Students who do not meet either of the above criteria at any evaluation point will be considered to be making unsatisfactory academic progress and will not be in Good Standing.

Academic Warning

Students not in Good Standing will be placed on Warning status and notified by email. This status will last one semester, during which they will follow an academic improvement plan to work toward regaining Good Standing. If progress is shown but Good Standing is not achieved by the end of the Warning period, the student will be placed on Continued Warning.

Progress toward regaining good standing is demonstrated through students raising their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) toward the minimum 2.5 average and demonstrating the ability to complete the program within the maximum time frame of 150%.

Both components of progress toward good standing must be met for a student to qualify for a Continued Warning. A Continued Warning notification will be sent via email.

Continued Warning

Students on Warning status who show progress but do not regain Good Standing may be granted one additional semester, called Continued Warning, to continue their improvement plan. If Good Standing is not achieved by the end, the student will be terminated from the program.

Termination

Students failing to return to Good Standing at the end of the Warning period who do not meet the requirements for Continued Warning, or students failing to return to Good Standing at the end of the Continued Warning period will be terminated from RCU. Students will receive notice of Academic Termination via email and will no longer have access to the LMS.

Appeals

Students wishing to appeal against the Academic Termination determination must do so in writing or by email within ten (10) calendar days of receipt of the Academic Termination email notification.

Appeals should be directed to the CAO. All appeals should be made in writing or by email and include appropriate documentation (e.g., a physician’s statement, accident report, evidence of grade miscalculation, etc.) showing that the failure to obtain Good Standing was beyond the student’s control. The CAO will notify students of the decision within ten (10) days of receiving the appeal. The CAO’s decision is final.

Probation

In cases where an appeal is accepted, that student is placed on Probation status for the next evaluation period (academic semester) through the next evaluation point. During this time, students will be provided with an academic improvement plan to regain Good Standing by the end of the Probation period. Students not achieving Good Standing at the end of the Probation period will be terminated from RCU. Termination following Probation cannot be appealed.

Transfer and Readmitted Students

Transfer students from outside the institution will be evaluated qualitatively only on the work completed at RCU. The maximum time frame is reduced for transfer students based on the remaining length of the program upon enrollment.

Incomplete Courses
RCU does not issue incomplete grades.

Remedial Courses
RCU does not offer any remedial courses.

Course Repeat Policy
A failed course may be repeated in an attempt to earn a passing grade. Each attempt counts as attempted credit hours toward the Maximum Time Frame. Only the highest grade earned will be included in the computation of the cumulative grade point average (cGPA). The student transcript will list each course in which a student has enrolled and earned a grade. The failing grade will be changed to a grade of R on the transcript indicating that a particular course has been repeated.

Re-admittance
Students whose enrollment at RCU is terminated due to academic reasons will be eligible for re-enrollment after a waiting period of six (6) months. These students may be eligible to receive credit for courses previously completed at RCU per the transfer of credit policy.

Graduation Requirements

To graduate from RCU and be awarded a Master of Business Administration (MBA), students must:

• Successfully complete all required courses;
• To complete a minimum of 30 credit hours (including capstone) in the program at RCU;
• Be in academic good standing; and
• Have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 or higher

Once graduation requirements have been verified, the student will be notified via email and the diploma made available.

Evaluation

At the end of each course, students are encouraged to complete an end-of-course survey. These surveys are anonymous, so students can submit suggestions and feedback freely. Findings from these surveys are used to improve course content, quality of online learning materials, teaching and learning, ease of use of technology, and the overall student experience at RCU.

Counseling/Placement

RCU, as a newly established university, currently does not offer dedicated counseling and placement services. However, plans are in place to introduce these services as part of our comprehensive Student Support Services once we achieve DEAC accreditation and reach a significant milestone in student enrollment. At that point, a dedicated team of professional counselors and career advisors will be brought on board to assist students with academic guidance, career planning, and job placement opportunities. This initiative aligns with RCU’s mission to empower students with the tools and resources they need to succeed academically and professionally.