2020-2021 Graduate Bulletin > Policies and General Information > Academic Policies and Information > Residence Requirement

Residence Requirement

A graduate student should devote such time to graduate study and research in residence at CMU as may be appropriate to the program of study. Students are expected to take every opportunity to work in close association or collaboration with graduate faculty members, with other graduate students in the same program, and with distinguished visiting scholars. These opportunities exist at the university campus and in classes, seminars, internships, and research projects organized or placed elsewhere as part of the university's continuing involvement in a broadly-based commitment to education.

General Residency Policy - Global Campus

All courses offered through Global Campus carry Central Michigan University credit, regardless of the geographic location where they may be offered, and main campus instruction is not required for degree or certificate completion. To fulfill degree requirements, an undergraduate student must successfully complete at least 30 semester hours of university residence credit through campus and/or Global Campus experiences. To fulfill graduate certificate requirements, a graduate student must successfully complete at least nine semester hours through the same alternatives. A graduate degree student must successfully complete at least 18 semester hours (MSA) or 15 semester hours (MA) through the same alternatives. Correspondence course credits, CLEP credit, Prior Learning Credit, and hours earned by Credit by Examination may not be applied to meet any of the hours required in residence.

Students Who Move - Global Campus

A graduate degree student who has completed 21 or more semester hours of work with CMU, or a graduate certificate student who has completed at least 9 semester hours of work with CMU, and has moved away from a program center should maintain contact with the original advisor if possible. The original advisor can determine which courses should be taken to complete the program and recommend courses through CMU Online or other institutions which may be used as part of the CMU program. If a student is not able to maintain contact with the original advisor, he or she may be assigned to a Mount Pleasant-based advisor as an “isolated student.” In such a case, the student should contact CMU Global Campus at 866-774-1018 to determine the new advisor and review his or her tentative program plan and other relevant materials to the new advisor. The undergraduate student who moves from one program center to another should contact the new program center to be assigned to a new academic advisor, who will review her or his program plan. If the undergraduate student has less than 20 credits to complete, he or she may wish to maintain contact with the original academic advisor if possible.