ACADEMIC FREEDOM
Apicius Armenia (AA) maintains for individuals in a teaching capacity at the institution a policy of freedom of inquiry, instruction, research, and publication throughout the duration of employment. Knowledge sharing and evaluation do not conform to orthodox beliefs, methods, and practices. Faculty members and those in instructional roles have the right to address issues as related to the teaching assignments they hold. Such figures are not authorized, however, to redirect students towards one’s personal perspectives, and must abide by the academic procedures, standards, and regulations in place as highlighted by Faculty Guidelines and Best Practices for Course Delivery.

ACADEMIC LOAD
A full-time semester load is considered 18 credits for career certificate students.

REGISTRATION CHANGES
Upon the submission of a student enrollment, students may make registration changes if permitted by the program during the pre-arrival course registration period before arrival in Armenia. The final registration phase takes place upon arrival in Armenia. Once in Armenia, students may not switch program categories.

COURSE REGISTRATION
A student's selection of a program of study is usually based upon academic interests, vocational objectives and personal growth objectives. Individual course selection and registration is a function of the program of study. Course selection and registration procedures have been established for each student's status and additional details pertaining to the course selection are communicated as part of the applicable acceptance process. Class offerings, dates, times and deadlines and other important registration details specific to each session are published in that semester's class schedule which is available online.
All courses are taught in English unless otherwise indicated.

WITHDRAWALS AND EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
Students are required to become familiar with AA policies, procedures and deadlines. Please refer to the Academic Calendar published each semester in the Course Schedule for specific deadlines. AA reserves the right to cancel or combine classes; to change the time, dates, or locations; or to make other necessary revisions in class offerings. AA may discontinue courses and make changes to the course offering.
Extenuating Circumstances
Extenuating circumstances are defined as a serious illness requiring sudden hospitalization, a government-mandated quarantine/isolation, or death in the immediate family. All petitions related to such circumstances must be submitted to the Academic Affairs Office for review and include supporting dates and official documentation that certify the extenuating circumstance.
1. Cases requiring leave from program but the conditions allow for Remote Program Completion: students complete the coursework and exams on MyApicius (learning management system).
2. When extenuating circumstances prevent students from completing a major course requirement such as a final exam and/or final project:
a. Students have up to 7 maximum days from the date of the exam to make up the missed final exam and/or final project.
b. If the extenuating circumstances do not allow for the final exam and/or final project to be completed within 7 days of the exam date, AA will issue an Incomplete status for the courses.

Lessons 1-6:
Students may request a Withdrawal (W).
Lessons 9-11:
Any withdrawal request results in a Withdrawal/Failure (WF).

Please note: Please see the Attendance Policy for non-extenuating requests related to remote delivery.

MY APICIUS ONLINE PORTAL FOR STUDENTS
AA has a paper-free policy and is committed to environmentally friendly and sustainable initiatives. All course documentation is digital and can be found at MyApicius, the online portal for all students and faculty members.

SYLLABUS
The course syllabus is the student’s guide to the course. Students should receive a syllabus at the beginning of each course that describes the course, policies within the course, and procedures that govern the delivery of the course. Syllabi are available on MyApicius, the online portal for MyApicius students and faculty.
Students are responsible for obtaining the syllabus and understanding the course policies in the syllabus. Any questions regarding information in the syllabus should be directed to the instructor for clarification.
Students are responsible to be aware of any required site visits, or extra course activities which may occur on days or at times other than the scheduled class meeting times. To access all course materials students are asked to log into the MyApicius platform using their usernames.

AA POLICY FOR CONTACT / CREDIT HOURS
AA Unit of Credit
The unit of credit used at AA is the semester credit hour.
1 Credit approximately corresponds to 2 ECTS credits.
Contact hour relationship: An academic hour consists of 50 clock minutes of contact time.
1. Lecture
A semester credit hour is earned for fifteen 50-minute sessions of classroom instruction with an expectation of two academic hours outside of the classroom for each session.
2. Experiential Learning,
A semester credit hour is earned for fifteen sessions, each session represents a minimum of 150 minutes. Due to the institution's unique learning model, EL hours are dedicated to community-geared projects that are guided by faculty within AA CEMI facilities.

ATTENDANCE
Academic integrity and mutual respect between the instructor and student are the foundation of any academic institution. This is reflected in the attendance policy. Class attendance is mandatory and counts towards the final grade. The number of absences is based on the number of class meetings missed. Students who arrive late or depart early from class may be counted as absent.
Standard Attendance Policy
Absences are based on the 50-minute academic hour, 1 absence equals 3 lecture hours.
The above hours refer to lecture hours. Hours may be distributed in different formats according to the academic course schedules.
Contact / credit hour policy includes additional distribution ratios according to delivery category.
Ex: 1 absence equals 9 Experiential Learning hours.
Late Arrival and Early Departure
Arriving late or departing early from class is not acceptable. Two late arrivals or early departures or a combination will result in an unexcused absence. Travel is not an exceptional circumstance.
TRAVEL (OR DELAYS DUE TO TRAVEL) IS NEVER AN EXCUSE FOR ABSENCE FROM CLASS. It is the student's responsibility to know how many absences are incurred. If in doubt, speak with your instructor!
Important Note: 2 missed encounters impact the participation/attendance grade, 3 missed encounters constitute an automatic F.
For non-extenuating circumstances, any requests for remote delivery of a course lesson or exam are subject to a fee (100EUR per lesson or exam). Requests must be made no later than 3 days prior to the lesson or exam date, and are considered approved once payment is finalized.
Fees are subject to variation each academic year. Please refer to the "Extenuating Circumstances" paragraph of this catalog section for cases that waive the required fee.

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
The institution is committed to fostering interfaith diversity within the academic community. In addition to official Armenian national holidays, the Academic Affairs Office reviews a list of major religious holidays for which accommodations for religious observances may be granted.
Academic policy guidelines regarding religious observances are provided as follows.
Types of accommodation: For approvable requests, accommodations may consist of excused absences for class schedule conflicts, or extended time when the conflict impacts a submission deadline. Extended submissions including exams must be completed within 24 hours. Exams may not be requested earlier than the scheduled date.
Requesting an accommodation: Students may submit accommodation requests up to two weeks prior to arrival in Armenia. Requests will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Office and faculty members of the impacted courses. Submission of the form does not grant automatic approval of the request.
Approved requests and academic honesty: For approved requests, students are responsible for abiding by the parameters and timeframes of approved accommodations and understand that further extensions will not be granted. Any coursework or course requirements submitted via an approved accommodation is subject to the course syllabus and academic policy standards, including the academic honesty policy.
The institution and its faculty reserve the right to suggest accommodations as permitted by campus organization or scheduling circumstances.

TEXTBOOKS
Information on your textbooks is in the course syllabus.

SITE VISITS
Certain classes may have site and museum visits as a mandatory part of the course. Students will be informed during the first lesson on details (when, how) and if there are any additional costs.

GRADING AND EVALUATION SYSTEM
The grading scale below is used in establishing the final course grade.
A 93-100%; A- 90-92%;
B+ 87-89%; B 83-86%; B- 80-82%;
C+ 77-79%; C 73-76%; C- 70-72%;
D 60-69% (minimum passing credit); F 0-59%;
F / Failure: In the case of failure due to excessive absences the procedure outlined in the attendance policy will apply.
Grade Point Average: AA uses the 4-point system as a measure of academic success. Academic letter grades carry the following values: A = 4.00; B = 3.00; C =2.00; D = 1.00; F = 0.00
The syllabus of each course outlines how submitted coursework and student performance are evaluated according to the above grading system.
Grading as per AA policy exclusively occurs on the MyApicius and are submitted by faculty members on the academic portal for each course scheduled at AA.
Please note that in addition to grading evaluation for academic courses, evaluation methods are also conducted as a part of the AA assessment system for improving the overall learning and teaching process for students and faculty as well as for staff development.

EXAMS
All students must take quizzes and final exams at the established exam time and date indicated in the course syllabus. The date and time cannot be changed for any reason. Not attending during the designated Exam or Quiz day will result in a zero and no credit for the exam; the final grade will be adjusted accordingly. All courses registered for and grades received for those courses will be shown on a student’s transcripts.
Permission will be given to reschedule exams for approvable emergencies only (see par.Extenuating Circumstances); each case will be individually reviewed and decided upon by the Academic Affairs Office. Requests should be made in writing through a petition. Each request must be provided in writing and provide details regarding the request and be accompanied by any necessary documentation. Requests must be filed prior to the date of the scheduled exam.
Should the request be accepted the exam, date and time will be rescheduled. The student will not under any circumstance be able to reschedule this date. Faculty will work with the student and Academic Affairs in order to provide conditions for a comparable exam to be given to the student.

PROCTORED EXAMS
Proctored exams are authorized only in the case of severe emergencies. The authorization must be formally granted by the Academic Affairs Office.

TRANSCRIPTS
Final transcripts are released by the Registrar's Office typically within 4-6 weeks of the conclusion of the academic season of enrollment. Two official copies are shipped express to the student. The timetable for issuing formal official transcripts is consistent with the practices of most US universities. Transcripts will be withheld from students who have not satisfied their financial obligations with the institution.
Fees per additional copy request:
€30 hard copy fee and €20 for shipping
€10 for electronic
School of Record:
For students from non-affiliated institutions (see website for list), US credit can be issued through FUA's School of Record.

RUSH TRANSCRIPTS
All requests for Rush Transcripts must be made in advance by sending the official form to the Registrar's Office within the deadline written in the rush transcript request form. In the event a rush transcript is needed to meet graduation deadlines, AA can issue unofficial or official transcripts shortly after all final grades are turned in. Typically this is within two weeks after the conclusion of the academic season.
To facilitate this service to our students, the following procedure is intended to help streamline and standardize the process:
Rush Official Transcript Requests
The Registrar's Office issues and sends a hard copy or emails a pdf copy of the Official Transcript to the provided address (or affiliate organization for visiting students).
Fees per additional copy request:
€30 hard copy fee and €20 for shipping
€10 for electronic

GRADE DISPUTES
AA is dedicated to fair and accurate appraisal of students’ coursework. When disagreements arises over final grades assigned for a course, students and faculty are to follow the procedures below for resolving the dispute. No formal grade dispute procedure will be invoked when the magnitude of disagreement is less than one full letter grade. A student who wishes to file a grade dispute must contact their provider as soon as possible and by no means later than six months after the end of the session. Students should never contact, for matters of grade disputes, the professors directly. The request must be in writing and must identify the course, session, grade received and the reason for the appeal. The students shall assemble all relevant class material (syllabus, returned assignments, tests, papers) distributed or returned by the instructor to the student. These materials must be provided within two weeks of the date of the written appeal. If the student cannot produce all such documents, the grade dispute ends at this stage with no grade change.
Concurrently, the instructor will assemble all relevant material retained for the student (final exam) within two weeks of the date of the written appeal. A copy of these documents along with the syllabus, grade report, and the instructor’s written response to the student appeal, are to be forwarded by the instructor to the Academic Affairs Office for evaluation and the final decision of grade assignment.

The decision is not subject to appeal. Academic Affairs will notify all involved parties and, in the case of a grade change, the Registrar's Office.

ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS
AA is committed to providing all students with a comfortable, productive and non-discriminatory academic environment. Assistance is offered to students who have demonstrable and/or documented learning accommodation needs upon request submitted before arrival in Armenia.
Students should note that they may not have the same level of services and facilities available to them at their home institution. AA offers accommodations such as separate and distraction-reduced exam locations, extra time for exams, computer use for written exams, rest breaks, permission to record class sessions, note-taking support, and deadline flexibility. All other accommodations must be negotiated on a case-by-case basis prior to student arrival in Armenia and may require additional fees.
Students must notify the Admissions and Academic Affairs Offices prior to the start of the session of any requested accommodation. Notification or documentation of a learning or physical disability may not be submitted once the term has started. AA will process the request and inform the student of accommodations if authorized. Every effort will be made to accommodate students with physical disabilities. Students with mobility difficulties may find the city of Dilijan to be an uncomfortable environment with its ancient, cobblestone streets, narrow and uneven pavements, steep steps, and lack of elevators.

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY
Institutional policy prohibits discrimination against current or prospective students and employees on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or any other legally protected category. Furthermore, anti-discrimination policy is upheld for all institutional employees in compliance with Armenian labor law as stated in the Staff Manual.

STUDENT RECORD POLICY
Student records and personal data are maintained and processed in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Armenia on the Protection of Personal Data (HO-49-N) (adopted on 18 May 2015).
The Institution takes all necessary legal, organizational, and technical measures to ensure the lawful, fair, and secure processing of personal data, maintain the confidentiality of student records, and protect students' personal information in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.