Program Policies

Students are expected to respond to emails within 48 hours during the academic year.   Students must also monitor their email during the summer and are expected to respond within 7 days.   Summer communication is essential to ensure a candidate's fieldwork placement for the upcoming academic year.

Students have the option to use the Dominican account (option 1) or have their Dominican email forwarded (option 2) to a personal email account. Email is a mechanism for official communication within the Dominican University of California.  Therefore all students at Dominican University of California MUST have a Dominican Student Email account set up and working. Having email lost as a result of redirection does not absolve a student from the responsibilities associated with communication sent to their official DU e-mail address. 

Students are expected to adhere to the Academic Honesty Honor Code stated in the Catalog. 

Students should practice academic integrity in all of its forms, including abstaining from plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic misconduct. The University reserves the right to determine in any given instance what action constitutes a violation of academic honesty and integrity. 

Clear Academic Standing for all students is defined by Dominican University policy as the condition of maintaining a minimum overall cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0. 

Students must achieve a minimum grade of a B or higher to pass a course.   Students who receive a grade lower than a "B" must retake the course.  If the student fails the course, then the student will have one opportunity to retake the course.   If a course is failed twice, the candidate will be dismissed from the program.   

Students are expected to participate fully in all synchronous class sessions and complete all asynchronous course activities by the deadlines established by the instructor. Engagement in both synchronous and asynchronous components is essential to meeting course requirements; failure to participate as required will negatively affect course grades.  Students who miss more than two synchronous sessions will not be eligible to receive a passing grade, except in cases of documented extenuating circumstances with prior approval from the instructor.

Candidate progress on the TPA will be monitored in the Preparation for Supervised Teaching and the Student Teaching Seminar (EDU 5180/5280 and EDU 5185/5285/5385).  Students are expected to complete Cycle I by the first day of the spring semester and Cycle II by the last day of the spring semester.  

Students who have finished all coursework but have not passed their TPAs will graduate with their Master's Degree.  However, in order to be recommended by Dominican for a preliminary teaching credential students must continue to remain enrolled in the TPA Completion course (EDU 5005) as a non-degree seeking student until both TPA Cycle I and TPA Cycle II are successfully passed.  

EDU 5005 carries a student fee and provides 20 hours of faculty support for TPA completion. Financial aid is not available to cover fees for EDU 5005, but students in need of financial assistance can contact Julie Grellas at julie.grellas@dominican.edu to see if there are Departmental funds available.  

Students may enroll in EDU 5005 up to five times. 

A Professional Standards Committee (PSC) may grant a Teacher Candidate’s request to substitute prior coursework (maximum 8 units) for a required credential course when prior university course work is the equivalent of the program requirements (including meeting the SB 2042 program standards). To request a substitution of a required credential course, a candidate must provide the PSC with the following information:

• Provide a request in writing, indicating for which course the exemption is requested.

• Provide a copy of an official transcript, showing the prior course work.

• Provide a copy of the syllabus for the course intended for substitution.

• If a student takes a Leave of Absence for more than one academic year (not including students who return to finish the Master’s degree completion), they will lose the merit scholarship; an appeal process will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

Due to rapidly changing information and knowledge in the field of education, prior coursework may no longer meet the program requirements after a leave of absence. Re-enrolling students may be required to retake courses. To return, the student will be required to submit the EDU Re-Admission Form.

Students who are returning to complete their student teaching semester in the spring semester must also complete their fieldwork application by November 7. 

Test scores from other colleges/universities are not a part of the Dominican University of California transcript and must be requested from the appropriate testing agency or institution; copies may not be obtained from Dominican (Academic Catalog).

For more information see  Approved Amendments to Title 5 Regulations Pertaining to the Period of Validity of Examinations for Certification; Keep several official copies of your transcripts for job applications. 

After completing the preliminary credential coursework at Dominican University, students continue with summer coursework to complete their Master’s degree, which consists of two additional MS Core Courses (8 units).

For students who do not directly continue their enrollment in the summer after completing the preliminary credential coursework, or who only take the first Core MS Course:  

1. File a Dominican leave of absence with the registrar’s office.

2. Submit the EDU Re-Admission Form when returning. 

3. Apply for graduation in Colleague in the semester prior to the completion of all coursework.  

4. Students must complete all MS degree requirements in a 6-year period (from the first semester of the credential program to the completion of the MS Core Courses). 

5.  Summer graduates will walk in the December Graduation Ceremony.  

Students who have finished all coursework except supervised teaching (EDU 5185/5285/5385) may enroll in the summer MS Core Courses (EDU 5910 & 5920). However, the MSED will not be conferred until supervised teaching is successfully completed.

Students who have finished all coursework but have not passed their TPAs will graduate with their Master's Degree.  However, students must continue to remain enrolled in the TPA Completion course (EDU 5005) as a non-degree seeking student until both TPA Cycle I and TPA Cycle II are successfully passed in order to be recommended by Dominican for their credential.