Academic Affairs

Credit Hours

Each course that you take at HACC will have a number of credit hours, or credits, associated with it.  In a sense, this term is a measurement that determines the relative amount of time you may spend working in a course as well as how much the course will cost in tuition.  Specifically, there is an expectation that a minimum of three hours of student work each week during the term will be devoted for each credit.  The higher the number of credits, the more time you will likely have to devote to the course.  At HACC, tuition is calculated on the basis of each credit.  A majority of HACC courses are three credits.

Full-time students will usually take at least 12 credits in a fall or spring term (also called a semester), with 15 credits being a number needed in most cases if a student wants to graduate with an associate degree in two years.

Program Requirements

As a HACC student, you will be taking classes as part of an academic program (many times also called a major).  There are several different types of programs at the college that each have a unique focus.

Associate Degrees often total 60-65 credits and are designed either for transfer to a four-year institution or to prepare students to enter the workforce in a particular field.  Depending on the program, students can earn an Associate in Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS), Associate in Fine Arts (AFA), and Associate in Applied Science (AAS).  In most cases, the AA, AS, and AFA degrees are designed for transfer while the AAS degree is focused on direct employment after graduation.  Associate degrees include both courses specific to a program of study as well as general education and core knowledge courses. These courses help provide students with an established baseline and common body of knowledge and skills in areas such as writing, oral communication, technology literacy, cultural awareness and quantitative literacy (often math).  These courses are important both for transfer students and for furthering the “soft skills” that employers desire while exposing students to areas such as science, the humanities and the social/behavioral sciences.

HACC also offers Certificate and Diploma programs.  These are generally more focused on technical career fields and involve fewer credits (30 in the case of certificates and 16 in the case of diplomas).  In some cases, students can earn a certificate on their path to an associate degree.

HACC’s Academic Schools

Most programs at HACC are offered through its four Schools.  These are the:       

• School of Business, Technology and Industry–home to HACC’s business, computer technology, engineering and trades programs

• School of Health Science–home to HACC’s nursing and health care programs

• School of Liberal Arts–home to a wide variety of HACC programs in art, criminal justice, education, human services, humanities and social/behavioral sciences

• School of Science and Mathematics–home to HACC’s science, computer science, math 

and wellness programs

Each School has an administrative team that manages its courses and programs and is available to answer student questions.  Please see the contact information elsewhere in this handbook.

Academic Calendar and Weather/Emergency Announcements

HACC publishes its academic calendar, or its key dates for when classes are taking place, several years in advance to help students know when terms start and end, which holidays are celebrated (with no classes held), when registration starts, and when final exams are held.  Students can view the academic calendar at College Calendars (hacc.edu).  The college also has a process to delay or cancel classes on a given day due to weather or other emergencies.  For the latest information on possible emergency closures, please visit the webpage at Weather Announcements (hacc.edu).

Course Formats

HACC offers courses in a variety of formats, sometimes called modalities.  For example, some courses are offered entirely face-to-face on one of HACC’s campuses while others are offered fully online (with everything done over a device without set class meeting times) through our Virtual Learning option.  HACC also offers courses that combine face-to-face and online elements as well as remote courses broadcast over Zoom to students wherever they are on a set schedule (for example, every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m. during the semester).  When signing up for courses, students will want to pay close attention to the format.  HACC recommends that students check out the helpful information on these formats available on its webpage at https://www.hacc.edu/ProgramsandCourses/ClassSchedules/index.cfm. 

What to Expect on Your First “Day” of Classes

The first day of classes is a time of excitement and frankly uncertainty whether a student is brand-new to HACC or coming back for another semester.  Many times your class teacher, also known as your faculty member, instructor or professor, will send you an introductory email (on HACC’s Hawkmail email system) before the first-class meeting.  This is how a student will receive the class Zoom link for example if they are registered for a remote class.  If a student is in an online class, they will be able to log in to the course in D2L (accessible through the myHACC portal system) on the first day of the term to get oriented to that course.  On campus, students report directly to their assigned classroom or lab space (that room assignment can be found with your schedule in myHACC).

Regardless of the format, one of the first things students will want to look at from their instructor is the course syllabus.  The syllabus is provided by the instructor and will contain information about the course including the instructor’s contact information, the weekly class schedule and assignments, textbook information if applicable, how grading will be done, and course policies.  Students are encouraged to ask questions about the syllabus to make sure that everything is as clear as possible.

Course Policies

In the syllabus, students will find out more about key policies in each class.  This includes, among others, the instructor’s attendance policy, academic dishonesty policy and makeup policy.  Each instructor, or sometimes program, may have a slightly different policy so it is important for students to be aware of them and to stay in touch with their instructor with questions.

Choosing and Changing a Major

When a student first applies to HACC, they choose an initial major or program of study.  This helps HACC staff provide meaningful orientation and advising information that is relevant to the student.  However, if a student finds that they wish to change their major, it is definitely possible to do so.  In fact, this happens for many students and is normal.  A student wishing to change their program of study must complete and sign a Change of Major Program Form at https://www.cognitoforms.com/HACC2/ChangeOfMajorForm2.

Grading System

HACC uses the following schedule of letter grades, definitions and quality point equivalents.

 Grade         Quality Points Per Credit Hour  

A                                         4.0 

B                                         3.0 

C                                         2.0 

D                                         1.0 

F                                          0.0

I                                           Does not count in GPA until course is completed

W                                        Does not count in GPA

The grade-point average (GPA) for a given term is determined as follows: 

1. Multiply the number of quality points equivalent to the letter grade received in each course by the number of credit hours for the course to arrive at the number of quality points earned in each course.

2. Divide the sum of the quality points by the total number of credit hours taken (W grades do not count as hours taken). 

The quotient represents the GPA for the term. The cumulative GPA is determined in the same manner as the term grade-point average, except that all of the student’s work at the College is taken into consideration. Work taken at a college before attendance at HACC is not considered when computing the GPA. 

For example, a student earns 1 A, 2 Bs and 1 C in 3-credit courses in a term.  The term GPA would equal ((4 quality points for the A x 3 credits OR 12) + (3 quality points for the B x 3 credits OR 9) + 3 quality points for the second B x 3 credits OR 9) + (2 quality points for the C x 3 credits OR 6)) = 36 total quality points / 12 total credits = 3.0 GPA

Midterm grades are available on myHACC approximately in the eighth week of the fall and spring terms. These midterm grades indicate the student’s progress in a specific course, but they are not entered on the transcript. The student’s final grades are available on myHACC within one week of the close of each term. A student who earns the grade of D or F in a course is permitted to repeat the course. Only the grades and credits earned when the course is repeated, will count in the student’s cumulative GPA. 

Dean’s List

Each term, the College publishes a dean’s list naming students who have achieved the academic distinction of at least a 3.25 grade-point average (GPA).

• Full-time students on the dean’s list have completed 12 or more college-level credit hours in a term.

• Part-time students are eligible for the dean’s list issued in August if they have not been full-time during either the fall or the spring terms and have completed a minimum of 12 college-level credits during the year (beginning in the fall and ending with the second summer term). 

The calculation of GPA for the dean’s list will not include “0-level” courses. The dean’s list is distributed for publication to area news media. Students on the dean’s list will receive a certificate of commendation.