College of Liberal Arts
Admission Requirements
- Regular admission to the university constitutes admission to the College of Liberal Arts for students entering as first-year students and as transfers from other institutions. There is no separate admissions process.
- The College of Liberal Arts will accept inter-college and college transfers.
Academic Policies
Changing Your Major or College
If you want to declare a major, change your major, or transfer to a different college at Marshall, e-mail cola@marshall.edu.
Advising: General
Your advisor is a member of the faculty or a professional staff person in your major. Advisors help you select appropriate courses for the major, minor, and general education requirements. In addition, your advisor can give you advice about career and graduate school opportunities. Although you most often will see your advisor during registration periods, all advisors are available during office hours throughout the semester. You should arrange an appointment with your advisor at any time during the semester when you need their advice.
As a Marshall University student, you are responsible for understanding and following the degree requirements outlined in this catalog as they apply to university and college degree requirements, the requirements for the major, and the requirements for other programs you may be pursuing. Changing your schedule by adding and dropping courses may affect your program of study and the time required to complete your degree.
Advising: Preregistration
If you are a first-year student or sophomore and have declared a major, you must meet with your advisor before registering for classes. The advisor is the only person who can remove your “advisor hold” so you may register for courses.
Determining Your Catalog
When you declare your major, the catalog current on that date will then become the official document specifying the requirements for your major. You will have ten years to complete the requirements for the major. If you do not meet these requirements within ten years of declaring your major, then you will need to meet the requirements for the then-current catalog. If you decide to change your major or to transfer to another college, you are governed by the catalog in effect at the time of change.
Credit Evaluations for Rising Juniors and Seniors
Once you have completed 90 credit hours, the staff of the College of Liberal Arts will review your academic record to ensure you are on the right track for graduation. You will receive notification that you will need to meet with the Academic Advisor in the College of Liberal Arts main office to review your academic record. After the meeting, the advisor will lift the hold, which will allow you to register for courses.
Academic Standing
- Good Standing
You are in good standing when both your Marshall GPA and overall GPA are 2.0 or above. - Academic Probation
If you have a deficit of quality points in your Marshall or overall GPA you are classified as on “academic probation.” Quality point deficits accumulate as a result of excessive grades of D or F, causing your GPA to fall below a 2.0. If you are on academic probation, an academic obligation hold is placed on your registration status. This means that you cannot use Web registration. You must also secure approval from the Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts before you can register or change your schedule in any way. You will not be able to register for more than 14 semester hours. If you are on probation and are subject to mandatory advising, first take your proposed schedule to your advisor. Once your advisor approves your schedule, take it to the College Office for approval by the Associate Dean. The Associate Dean will help you set goals for academic progress through an Academic Engagement Plan. One strategy is to repeat courses taken before the 90th attempted hour in which you received a D or F. (See “D/F Repeat Rule” in this catalog.) When your quality point deficit is zero, you are no longer on academic probation.
Degree Requirements
Students completing requirements in the College of Liberal Arts receive the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree or a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Geography or Psychology. Each degree requires a minimum of 120 hours of credit. Within the 120 credit hours, you must meet these general and specific requirements.
General Requirements for Graduation
- Core Curriculum: All students must complete the Core Curriculum defined in this catalog.
- Grade Point Averages: All students must have a Grade Point Average of 2.0 or higher for
- all work attempted at Marshall University and
- all attempted collegiate work (Marshall University and other institution credit).
Students must also earn a minimum Grade Point Average of 2.0 for the major unless the major requires a higher average (see major descriptions for specific requirements).
- Residency Requirement: All students must complete 15 credit hours in the major field and 12 credit hours of upper-division coursework within the College of Liberal Arts at Marshall University.
- Transfer: No student may count more than 72 credit hours which were transferred from an accredited West Virginia two-year institution of higher education. Students planning to transfer credit to Marshall University should consult with the Associate Dean to determine whether the credit will apply to the degree program.
College of Liberal Arts Degree Requirements
Students completing requirements in the College of Liberal Arts receive the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree with the exception of the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Geography and Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Psychology. A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for graduation.
Students in the College of Liberal Arts must complete the following requirements:
- Total University Hours: All students must complete a minimum of 120 credit hours of college-level work (100-level or greater).
- Major: All students must complete the requirements for the declared major.
- Upper Division Hours: All students must complete a minimum of 42 credit hours in courses numbered 300-499. Courses transferred from two-year or community colleges or Advanced Placement credit cannot be used to satisfy the upper division requirement regardless of the Marshall University course equivalent. Courses completed at a four-year regionally accredited college transfer at the level at which they were completed at the other institution.
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Global Languages and Cultures | ||
| Option 1: Successful completion of a 6-hour sequence ending with: FRN 102 Elementary French II, GER 102 Elementary German II, JPN 102 Intermediate Japanese II, LAT 102 First Year Latin, SPN 102 Introductory Spanish II AND 6 hours of courses with Multicultural, International, or GLC attribute. | ||
| Option 2: Successful completion of 12-hour sequence ending with: 1 | 12 | |
| Intermediate French IV | ||
| Intermediate German II | ||
| Intermediate Japanese IV | ||
| Intermediate Latin | ||
| Intermediate Spanish IV | ||
| Humanities (in addition to the Core II requirement) | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Any Classics course | ||
| Any Philosophy course | ||
| Any Religious Studies course | ||
| Any English course except: | ||
ENG 101P 
| Beginning Composition Plus | 4 |
| ENG 101
| Beginning Composition | 3 |
| ENG 201
| Advanced Composition | 3 |
| Any French course except: | ||
| FRN 101 | Elementary French I | 3 |
| FRN 102 | Elementary French II | 3 |
| FRN 203 | Intermediate French III | 3 |
| FRN 204 | Intermediate French IV | 3 |
| FRN 305 | Intro to FRN Comp & Conv | 3 |
| FRN 315 | Adv Grammar & Composition | 3 |
| FRN 323 | Adv Frn Gram & Oral Com | 3 |
| Any German course except: | ||
| GER 101 | Elementary German I | 3 |
| GER 102 | Elementary German II | 3 |
| GER 203 | Intermediate German I | 3 |
| GER 204 | Intermediate German II | 3 |
| GER 315 | Advanced Grammar, Conv, Comp | 3 |
| GER 316 | Advanced Grammar & Conv & Comp | 3 |
| Any JPN course except: | ||
| JPN 101 | Elementary Japanese I | 3 |
| JPN 102 | Elementary Japanese II | 3 |
| JPN 203 | Intermediate Japanese III | 3 |
| JPN 204 | Intermediate Japanese IV | 3 |
| JPN 305 | Advanced Japanese I | 3 |
| JPN 307 | Japanese Conversation | 3 |
| JPN 315 | Advanced Japanese II | 3 |
| JPN 325 | Business Japanese | 3 |
| JPN 330 | Japanese Grammar | 3 |
| JPN 490
| Japanese Capstone | 3 |
| Any Spanish course except: | ||
| SPN 101 | Introductory Spanish | 3 |
| SPN 102 | Introductory Spanish II | 3 |
| SPN 112 | Elementary Spanish | 3 |
| SPN 203 | Intermediate Spanish III | 3 |
| SPN 204 | Intermediate Spanish IV | 3 |
| SPN 305 | Intro to SPN Conversation I | 3 |
| SPN 306 | Intro To SPN Conversation II | 3 |
| SPN 307 | Spanish for Law Enforcement | 3 |
| SPN 315 | Intro to Composition I | 3 |
| SPN 316 | Intro to Composition II | 3 |
| SPN 323 | Adv Grammar and Oral Comm | 3 |
| SPN 324 | Adv Gram & Oral Com II | 3 |
| SPN 325 | Commercial Spanish | 3 |
| SPN 433 | Int Adv Spn Gram | 3 |
| SPN 490
| Spanish Capstone Experience | 3 |
| Social Sciences (in addition to the Core II requirement) | ||
| Select 9 hours from at least three fields from the following (check prerequisites before registering): | 9 | |
| Anthropology | ||
| Communication Studies any course except: | ||
| CMM 103
| Fund Speech-Communication | 3 |
| CMM 104H
| Honors in Speech Comm | 3 |
| CMM 207
| Business Communication | 3 |
| Geography any course except: | ||
| Physical Geography (CT) | ||
| Intro to Meteorology (CT) | ||
| Severe Storms and Natl Hzrds | ||
| Climatology | ||
| Environmental Raster GIS | ||
| History | ||
| Political Science | ||
| Psychology | ||
| Sociology | ||
| Women's Studies course: | ||
| Intro to Women's Studies | ||
| Natural and Physical Sciences (in addition to the Core II requirement) | ||
| Select one four-hour course from one of the following fields (check prerequisites before registering): | 4 | |
| Biology | ||
| Chemistry | ||
| Geography courses: | ||
| Physical Geography (CT) | ||
| Intro to Meteorology (CT) | ||
| Severe Storms and Natl Hzrds | ||
| Geology | ||
| Natural Resources | ||
| Physical Science | ||
| Physics | ||
- 1
- Students must complete the sequence beginning with the first course they take.
- Students who have had three or more years of a language in high school should take a placement test to see where in the elementary/intermediate (101-204) sequence they should begin their language.
- Please note that students cannot take a placement examination after they have started a language at Marshall or any other university. Students also should not take the placement test until they are ready to start a language. Students are encouraged to start language as soon as possible after high school if they intend to remain in the same language they took in high school.
- Please contact Ms. Tracie Wheeler (Wheelertr@marshall.edu) to register for the placement exam.
- Students who successfully place into a course above 101 can receive up to nine hours back credit for the courses they have placed out of provided that they take and pass with a grade of C or better the next course in the sequence. Back credit is awarded only in the semester in which the student takes the next course.
- Native and heritage speakers must take a placement test before they register for 101-204 in any language. Students who are native speakers of languages other than those taught by the department can receive a foreign language waiver provided that they can demonstrate speaking, listening, reading, and composition skills in that language. Students must identify a faculty member on campus, who can aid with the assessment of their skills. The chair of Modern Languages will arrange the testing of the student and the notification of the appropriate individuals. To request a foreign language waiver, please contact Dr. Rosario Quintana Villamandos (quintana@marshall.edu).
- This requirement also may be waived through conclusive proof of native proficiency in a foreign language and its culture.