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Finish Away Status
(FINA)
Oberlin College allows students to complete their degree requirements away from
campus under the following regulations:
For Arts and Sciences Students:
A student who lacks at the end of the spring semester a maximum of eight credit
hours or at the end of the fall semester a maximum of four credit hours required
for graduation may apply through the Registrar's Office for permission
to complete these hours away from Oberlin. The work may be done at another
institution or through Oberlin courses on an Enrolled-Not-in-Residence registration.
Permission to complete more than four hours at the end of the fall semester or
more than eight hours at the end of the spring semester away from Oberlin will
be granted only after careful consideration of educational or personal reasons
by the Office of the Dean of Studies.
In rare cases, a student who has spent at least six semesters
in residence or on Oberlin programs and has completed a major,
may request a waiver of the last semester-in-residence requirement
with a program of up to 16 hours of off-campus study (either
Enrolled-Not-In-Residence or study at
another institution through an academic
leave of absence. Such a request must be justified by a
clear educational rationale – see Course
Catalog.
For Conservatory Students:
A student in an undergraduate degree program who lacks not more
than six hours of the amount required for graduation may request
approval for Finish Away status from the Associate Dean in the
Conservatory in order to complete these hours at another institution;
if any of these six hours are requirements for the student's
major, the major department must also be petitioned for approval
of Finish Away status – see Course
Catalog.
For Double-Degree Students:
Normally double-degree students complete both degrees at the
same time. However, under certain circumstances, a student may
request permission to finish degree requirements off campus
according to the following procedures. In the Conservatory of
Music, a student who lacks not more than six credit hours may
request approval of Finish Away status from the Associate Dean
in the Conservatory in order to complete these hours at another
institution; if any of these hours are requirements for the
student's major, the major department must also approve completion
of requirements for Finish Away status. In a small number of
cases, a student who has spent at least 6 semesters in residence
or in Oberlin programs and who has completed a major, may request
a waiver of the last semester-in-residence requirement with
a program of off-campus study, justified by clear educational
purposes, for up to 17 hours, either Enrolled-Not-in-Residence,
or study at another institution through an academic
leave of absence. In the College of Arts and Sciences, a
student who lacks not more than eight credit hours at the end
of the spring semester or four hours at the end of the fall
semester of the amount required for graduation may apply through
the Registrar for permission to complete these hours away from
Oberlin. The work may be done at another institution or through
Oberlin courses on an Enrolled-Not-in-Residence registration.
Permission to complete more than four hours at the end of the
fall semester or more than eight hours at the end of the spring
semester away from Oberlin will be granted only after consideration
of educational or personal reasons by the Office of the Associate
Dean.
Steps To Take To Apply for Finish Away Status:
1. If a student falls within the guidelines stated above, he or she should
contact the Office of the Registrar to make arrangements to complete the degree
through
Finish Away (FINA) status. Students have one year to complete their requirements
under the normal Finish Away guidelines.
2. Academic Leave of Absence to Finish Away: In special circumstances a student
may be allowed to complete degree requirements through an Academic Leave of
Absence (ALOA). This normally involves students who have completed all required
course
work and wish to spend their last semester on an academic leave either at another
U.S. institution or through a study abroad program. See Course
Catalog for further information about ALOA status. Students in this category
must complete the following steps:
- A completed
ALOA application must be submitted by the ALOA deadline
(the first Wednesday after fall or spring break) in the
semester prior to the leave.
- Students asking for a waiver of
the last semester in residence must meet with Ellen Sayles,
Associate Dean of Studies, to review their degree progress
and
remaining requirements.
- Students must be approved for the academic leave
by the Off-Campus Study Committee.
3. Enrolled-Not-In-Residence (ENR) Status: Under special circumstances,
students may arrange for independent study in appropriate off-campus
locations. This independent study status is limited to students
who have completed two or more semesters at Oberlin and is arranged
with faculty members and approved in advance by the Associate Dean
of the appropriate division. Students pay Oberlin College tuition
for this work, which must be completed within a specified semester.
Students must first submit a written proposal for faculty approval;
the student then submits this to Ellen Sayles, Associate Dean,
Office of the Dean of Studies (Peters 205). Final approval must
take place before the beginning of the semester in which ENR is
to occur. When a program is approved, notification is sent to the
Registrar, who bills the student and enrolls the student in the
course or courses. This must be completed by the end of the enrollment
period for the semester the student wishes to be on ENR.
Please Keep in Mind the Following About Any Type of Finish Away:
1. You must be eligible to transfer all credits while on FINA without
exceeding the transfer limit: no more than 56 hours of transfer
work (62 for Conservatory or DD students) toward an Oberlin degree
(count transfer work before and after coming to Oberlin including
AP, BP, and "thirteenth year" credit, etc. in this
calculation); and no more than 36 transfer credits earned once
you matriculated at Oberlin.
2. Hours taken at another institution are transfer hours subject
to the normal transfer of credit fee; if you elect to do outstanding
hours through Oberlin on an Enrolled-Not-In-Residence basis (i.e.,
ENR) then you pay Oberlin's current hourly tuition rate for
each ENR hour. Check the Course
Catalog for current
rate.
3. If you want to march at graduation, you must submit to the Registrar
by mid-May an official transcript or letters from your professors
verifying that you have passed all courses with at least a 'C-'.
Please check the "Marching
at Graduation" section in
the Course Catalog carefully to make sure that you will be eligible
to march.
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