Course Formats
Courses may be offered in a variety of formats, including in-person, hybrid, and asynchronous or synchronous fully online formats. No student is required to take a course in a fully online format, although this may affect the timing of graduation.
Advising and Registration
All graduate registrations must be approved electronically by the Graduate Advising Office or the Doctoral Program Coordinator. Registration for all student teaching courses must be approved by the Office of Field Placement. Students are advised to register in a timely fashion for those courses they know they must take in a given semester. Graduate Education courses are closed with 25 students; however, some courses, including some methods and assessment courses, practica, seminars, Liberal Arts, and technology courses, are closed with fewer students.
Students who are not registered may not attend classes.
Registration Conditions
The College reserves the right to divide, cancel, or reschedule classes or reassign instructors. If course cancelations occur, students will be notified in order to adjust their schedules. Places in limited enrollment courses cannot be held after classes begin. Graduate Advising, in consultation with faculty, has the right to notify the Registrar’s Office to admit students to limited enrollment courses.
Adding, Dropping, and Withdrawing from Courses
Graduate students may add and drop courses during a specified period at the beginning of each semester/session. No courses may be added after this period. After the deadline, students may withdraw from courses up to a specified date near the end of each semester/session. Withdrawing from a course requires approval by the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs. Withdrawing from a course after the “Add/Drop Period” will be recorded as a “W” on the student’s official transcript. Students must officially drop or withdraw from courses; otherwise, courses will remain on transcripts with a grade of “F.”
All students who wish to drop or withdraw from courses are strongly urged to consult with the Office of Financial Aid beforehand.
Refunds of tuition when students drop or withdraw from courses are pro-rated downward beginning on the first day of the semester, not the first meeting of the class. Please see the refund policy below.
Communications
All graduate students are given a Manhattanville e-mail address. All official communications with graduate students will occur through e-mail to the Manhattanville e-mail address. Grade reports will be available only through WebAdvisor on the college website.
Field Experience
All programs leading to New York State certification must provide a minimum of 100 hours of field experience for candidates. Field experience hours are incorporated into course assignments for required courses. Students should be aware that many courses require a time commitment beyond the time in the college classroom. A course which requires field experience cannot be passed unless the field experience hours have been successfully completed. Field experience hours must be completed at specified grade levels in specified types of schools, including the full range of grades for the certificate being sought and schools with a diverse student body. Students must provide their own transportation to field experience sites.
Manhattanville Writing Assessment
Most Masters degree and Advanced Certificate candidates must complete a writing assessment within their first full semester following matriculation. The assessment is completed online through Blackboard on the college website. On the basis of the results, students may be required to successfully complete the Graduate Education Writing Tutorial or equivalent remediation before continuing graduate coursework or while they pursue the degree or program. Offered each semester, the Graduate Education Writing Tutorial is a non-credit bearing workshop open to all graduate students for which students register officially. The tutorial or other options for academic support may also be recommended. When the Writing Assessment Committee finds some concerns in a student’s writing, that student must consult their department chair or program coordinator. If there are exceptional extenuating circumstances, the results may be appealed once, with the approval of the student’s advisor, who will contact the Chair of the Writing Committee.
Students in dual BA/Masters programs, Masters of Ed Studies, CAS in Bilingual Education, and programs not leading to teacher certification or licensing are exempt.
Student/Supervised Teaching
Student/supervised teaching is the culmination of all certification programs. Student teaching consists of one complete semester of 14 weeks, following a full-time school schedule, and includes a weekly seminar. The weekly seminar is an integral part of student teaching and all course assignments for the seminar must be successfully completed. Professional behavior and deportment are critical to successful teaching and will be assessed during the student teaching experience.
Successful completion of student teaching requires success in both seminar and classroom teaching experience. Students who pass only seminar will not receive a passing grade in the student teaching course and vice versa. Student teaching may be repeated once only for a single program only if a student receives a grade of “C” or below. If a host K-12 school removes a student from a student teaching placement, the college will attempt to find one additional placement, after which, the Masters degree may not be achievable.
Placement of teacher candidates in classrooms for student teaching is a complex process, necessitating finding appropriate schools and grade levels to fulfill certification and degree requirements. Considerable time is also required to ensure that each candidate will be placed in the most suitable seminar group. ALL student or supervised teaching must be pre-approved.
Therefore, candidates for student teaching must schedule an appointment with the Office of Field Placement. Candidates for student/supervised teaching in Fall semester must meet with the Office of Field Placement by March 1 of the preceding Spring semester. Candidates for student/supervised teaching in Spring semester must meet with the Office of Field Placement by October 1 of the preceding Fall. Students who do not meet these deadlines may have to postpone student teaching.
Candidates for student/supervised teaching must also schedule a review by Graduate Advising before meeting with the Office of Field Placement. With approval of the Office of Field Placement, students who are employed as teachers in an accredited school and teaching in the area of their degree or post-masters program may be able to use their own classrooms as their student teaching sites.
Students must be fully matriculated prior to beginning their student/supervised teaching.
Virtually all graduate Education courses, NYS liberal arts requirements for certification, and required NYS workshops and certification exams must be completed before student/supervised teaching, except in exceptional circumstances. Those who are not candidates for NY teaching or leadership certification do not need to meet NYS certification requirements.
All students undertaking student teaching will complete an electronic portfolio, the “edTPA,” or, for those already certified or not seeking NYS certification, a substantial equivalent, as a requirement for successful completion of student teaching. For those seeking their first NY State teacher certificate, the edTPA must also be submitted to NYSED for evaluation, as a requirement for certification in NY State.
Student teaching can be completed only in the Fall or Spring semesters; exceptions for student teaching in Summer session for full-time, in-service teachers completing a Masters degree in a subject or grade level other than the one they are currently teaching are sometimes possible. No summer placement can be guaranteed.
Students must provide their own transportation to and from student teaching sites. Student teaching must be completed within a twenty-five mile radius from the college within Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Fairfield, Bronx or New York Counties.
Successful completion of student teaching does not automatically entail that the candidate is eligible for certification.
For additional information, please refer to the Student/Supervised Teaching Handbook in the Field Placement Office.
Independent Study
Courses in independent study format may be available optionally where courses may not be offered with regularity in smaller programs, where there are unavoidable course conflicts, or where students have an extensive background in a subject. Independent study courses are offered strictly with the approval of a faculty mentor who will supervise and the Office of Graduate Advising or the Doctoral Program Coordinator. Hours and assignments will follow NY State and School of Education requirements. No more than three independent studies are typically allowed in a degree or certificate program. Doctoral students may complete no more than 6 credits in this format at the college.
Meeting times and hours are specified on the “Independent Study Contract,” which is completed by the instructor, signed by the student and the instructor, and approved by the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs or the Doctoral Coordinator. Independent studies also have specific reading and/or research assignments, which are set and reviewed by the instructor, each of which requires a minimum number of hours.
Grade Requirements
Students in all Masters and Doctoral programs must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00. Professional behavior and dispositions are an absolute requirement in all Education fields and will be part of the assessment of students in all courses.
Masters students receiving a grade of C or below in any course or whose cumulative Grade Point Average is below 3.00 at the end of any semester will be subject to review by the Office of Graduate Advising and/or the SOE Graduate Academic Standards Committee. At their discretion, this review could result in a requirement that the student repeat that course at the college or elsewhere or complete one or more equivalent courses or be denied permission to register for further study in the School of Education. Grades below C will not count towards a degree or advanced certificate Program. If a student receives a C or below in any course and re-taking the course is required, the course may be repeated only once.
No more than one course with a grade of C may be counted for credit in a student’s doctoral program. Doctoral students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or above. Those whose cumulative grade point average drops below 3.25 or those who earn a C or less in two or more courses will be placed on academic probation. Once on academic probation, a student must meet with his or her academic advisor and make a plan for correcting the problem. The student will have one calendar year to implement the plan. Students who earn C’s or below in two courses must take at least one of those courses again at the next available opportunity and earn a B or above. Doctoral students who do not meet the requirements for removing themselves from academic probation within a year will be reviewed by the Doctoral Admissions Committee, which may expel the student or develop a new plan for remediation.
All courses applying towards certification or licensing and all courses counting towards a degree or Advanced Certificate program, except for some internships, must be taken for a letter grade.
Students cannot graduate while on academic probation, suspension, or expulsion, or while any course is incomplete.
Repeating a Course
Graduate Education courses in which a grade above C has been earned may not be retaken for credit towards a degree or advanced certificate program. Graduate Education courses in which a grade of C has been earned may be repeated only with permission of the Office of Graduate Advising, the Doctoral Advisor, or SOE Graduate Academic Standards Committee. A non-matriculated student who is taking a course for purposes of teacher certification may retake a graduate course if he/she has received a grade of C+ or below. Repeated courses will not count towards cumulative credits earned, except for certain internships.
For repeated coursework, both grades earned will count towards the cumulative GPA.
Incompletes
An incomplete or “Grade Deferred” for a graduate Education course is granted by the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs or Doctoral advisor, as appropriate, with approval by the course instructor, for extraordinary reasons and for a limited, specified period of time, where there is a realistic probability of successful completion of the course and learning objectives can be achieved. This will typically not exceed one semester and may not exceed one year. If the work is not completed by the time specified, the student’s grade automatically becomes an “F.” An incomplete Grade Contract must be signed by the instructor, student, and Associate Dean or Doctoral advisor.
Transfer Credits
With the approval of Graduate Advising, matriculated Masters and advanced certificate program students may transfer up to six graduate credits toward their degree from a regionally accredited college or a non-regionally accredited institution with comparable curriculum and standards to those at Manhattanville College, provided that the coursework is determined by Manhattanville SOE faculty to have the necessary learning outcomes, to be current, to be appropriate for the student’s program, and to have earned a letter grade of B+ or better. Additional credits taken at selected regional institutions or for specific programs above 6 credits but below 51% of required courses will be considered in limited instances at the discretion of the college. No courses graded Pass/Fail can be accepted for a degree or certificate program, unless the grading policies of the relevant college can be documented.
No credits can be transferred to a Masters degree or Advanced Certificate program from a Masters degree completed at another institution. Credit for student teaching cannot be transferred from another institution.
Up to 12 credits of post-masters courses, taken at a regionally accredited institution, or a non-regionally accredited institution with comparable curriculum and standards to those at Manhattanville College, provided that the coursework is determined by the faculty to have the necessary learning outcomes, to be current and appropriate for the student’s program, that has earned a grade of B+ or better, within the last ten (10) years, may be transferred into the Doctoral degree to replace specified courses, with approval of the Doctoral Admissions Committee.
Students in the Executive Ed.D. in Educational Leadership may transfer up to 39 credits into the 59-credit doctoral program, with approval of the Doctoral Admissions Committee.
Candidates must file a written request to have course credits approved for transfer. Masters-level students are strongly advised to request approval from Graduate Advising for coursework to be transferred before courses are taken. Acceptance of transfer credits cannot otherwise be guaranteed. Doctoral students will normally make this request and receive advisement and possible approval during the second semester of the program.
In all cases, faculty may request a course description and/or a syllabus to facilitate review. It is the student’s responsibility to verify that the coursework will earn/has earned official graduate-level credits and a letter grade. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the School of Education receives an official copy of the transcript for a transfer course. If transcripts are received later than 10 business days before the student’s graduation, that student’s graduation will be postponed until the following semester.
Any course substitutions made among courses offered by Manhattanville for a Manhattanville degree or Advanced Certificate program must be approved by the department chair or program coordinator.
Professional Development
Courses taken for purposes of professional development or NYS Continuing Teacher and Leader Education hours may be taken on a Pass/Fail basis. A grade of “Pass” will be awarded for work equivalent to a B- or above. Students taking graduate courses for professional development credit or CTLE hours must complete all assigned work for the course. It is the responsibility of participants to verify with their schools or school districts whether such credit is acceptable.
Auditing courses
Students may audit most graduate courses in the School of Education. Auditors may not audit doctoral courses, most Education Leadership courses, online or hybrid courses, most courses held off-campus, practica, seminars, student teaching, or courses requiring specific equipment such as Physical Education or Ed Tech courses.
Auditors must register by the first day of the semester, if space is available, and may start attending. Auditors will be officially registered as of the “add/drop” deadline each semester. Auditing will result in an official college transcript with no letter grade or credits earned.
Auditors may participate in in-class activities not leading to a grade, such as class discussion or small group work. Auditors will not submit work to be assessed by the instructor and will not present assigned work individually or as part of a group to the class.
Comprehensive Exam, Degree Portfolio or Final Project
All Masters degrees conferred in New York State must include a culminating experience. Depending on their programs, degree candidates are required to complete one or more culminating experiences as specified for the relevant program. SEE PROGRAM PLANS FOR SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.
Different programs require comprehensive examinations at different stages. Comprehensive examinations in Secondary subjects, Special Subjects, Literacy, and Special Education are offered twice a year, during the Fall and Spring semesters. For students whose graduation would be substantially delayed or who will be student teaching in the Fall, examinations in all areas except Special Education may be offered in the Summer. Students must register for the relevant examination by the beginning of the semester in which they will take it.
Students who fail any comprehensive examination or whose portfolio is rejected may retake or resubmit it once and may be required to successfully complete the graduate education writing tutorial or other remediation approved by the program director or department chair before retaking the exam. Those who fail or are rejected a second time will be required to substitute additional remediation, which may include coursework and must include a substantial writing component, and will be prohibited from registering for any other graduate education courses until this requirement has been satisfied. Those who submit a portfolio for Childhood, Science Education, or Education Leadership which is rejected may revise and resubmit in the same semester.
Culminating Experience Reports required for all Childhood programs and Science Education portfolios will be due during the semester prior to student teaching, except in limited cases where students have not completed all pre-requisite courses. Education Leadership portfolios are due in the final semester of the student’s program. The above portfolios are submitted electronically. Information can be accessed at https://mville.digication.com/home_guest.digi.
Candidates in Teaching Languages Other Than English and in Bilingual Education must also complete the Oral Proficiency Interview and Written Proficiency Test of the American Council for Teaching Foreign Languages, with scores of “Advanced-Low” or above.
Doctoral Portfolio
Doctoral students will submit an electronic portfolio documenting progress in each of the major program activities, including in-class work, field work, and applied research projects, for evaluation at the end of the Spring semester each year. Students will begin developing an e-portfolio in the professional and scholarly communications course taken in the first semester of doctoral work. All portfolios will be electronic and all doctoral students will continuously update their portfolios until they complete their doctoral program studies.
If it is determined that the student has performed unacceptably in many areas, and/or has demonstrated patterns, characteristics, skills, or abilities incompatible with positions of responsibility and leadership, the academic advisor in consultation with the Program Director will work with the student to develop a detailed action plan with specific outcomes that can be monitored and assessed. The advisor and one additional faculty member will meet with the student monthly to monitor progress and discuss possible adjustments in the action plan. The portfolio committee meets at the end of each semester and determines whether the student may continue in the program. If the committee feels that the student has been successful in dealing with the problems, close supervision ends.
If the decision is negative, that decision, the documentation of the committee meetings, and the supporting evidence is passed on to the program coordinator. The coordinator arranges a meeting with the Department Chair and the Dean of the School of Education. After the group reviews the material provided, they also meet with the student and then make a decision to support or overrule the portfolio committee. If the group upholds the committee’s decision, the student will not be allowed to continue.
Dissertation
Extensive information on the doctoral dissertation, the dissertation committee, and processes for completion and defense of the dissertation can be found in the Doctoral Dissertation Handbook, available on the college website and through the Doctoral Program Coordinator.
Intent to Graduate and Graduation
It is the responsibility of students in all degree or advanced certification programs to notify the School of Education of their intent to graduate, by the beginning of the semester of graduation. “Intent to Graduate” forms are available in the Graduate Advising Office and online. Students must complete all program requirements and the Intent To Graduate form in order to graduate. Only students who have received or will be receiving an actual degree are eligible to participate in commencement ceremonies. Individuals who have completed the required curriculum for an Advanced Certificate program or a Professional Diploma will be listed in the commencement program, but are not eligible to participate in commencement. Official documentation of completion of a certificate program or a professional diploma is recorded only on the student’s official transcript.
Diplomas and transcripts will be withheld from any student who has a financial obligation to the college.
Leaves of Absence, Withdrawals, and Return
The College understands that students may encounter unforeseen obligations and unpredictable occurrences that can make completing a graduate program overly difficult. Graduate students wishing to withdraw completely or take a leave of absence may do so at any time by informing the Office of Graduate Advising and completing a Graduate Leave/Withdrawal form, available from Graduate Advising. Withdrawal from a program that includes withdrawing from on-going courses after the “add/drop” deadline of a given semester will be governed as stated in the sections “Adding, Dropping, and Withdrawing from Courses” and “Refund Policy.”
All students leaving a program under any such circumstances are strongly urged to consult with the Office of Financial Aid. Graduate Advising will inform the Registrar, Financial Aid, Student Accounts, and Graduate Admissions.
To return after a leave of absence, Masters students must make a request for reinstatement to the Office of Graduate Advising, in writing. Depending on the length of the hiatus, additional Education courses may be required to update the student's program, as determined by the relevant department of the School of Education. Students will also have to meet any new or revised certification requirements imposed by NYSED.
Masters students who have withdrawn must apply to the Graduate Admissions Office for formal re-admittance. Re-admittance is not guaranteed. Students must meet standards for admission that are in effect at the time of application for re-admittance.
Doctoral students may apply in writing for a leave of absence for up to one year. Approved leave will not count toward the student’s time-to-degree. Leaves will not be granted to students who have completed less than one full term of enrollment or who are not in good academic standing. Such students must also apply for permission to re-enter. Students with permission to reenter will coordinate with their doctoral advisor how to re-schedule coursework. Approval for withdrawal and re-entry is not automatic.
All graduate students with outstanding registration holds, whether academic or financial, cannot be readmitted or resume study until these have been resolved.