Southern California Health Institute Academic Information

Southern California Health Institute values the right to free speech as demonstrated in the instruction provided by its faculty members.

SOCHi assures academic freedom in the classroom, within the stated mission of the school and in compliance with the established academic policies and procedures.

In the classroom, faculty members may express their professional points of view and conclusions supported by relevant evidence.

Faculty members have the professional obligation to present the learning objectives in a manner that supports diverse learning styles in the classroom.

The quarter credit hour is the unit of measurement used by Southern California Health Institute to measure its Advanced Professional Massage Therapy and Physical Therapy Aide/Sports Rehab programs.

A minimum of 10 lecture hours of not less than 50 minutes each plus outside reading and/or preparation; 20 laboratory hours; or 30 externship hours; or an appropriate combination of all three constitutes one quarter credit hour.

The Personal Fitness Trainer/Health & Wellness Professional, Medical Billing and Coding Specialist, and Medical Assistant programs are measured in clock hours.

A student is considered full-time if he or she is enrolled in a minimum of 20 contact hours per week.

SOCHi may grant academic credit to students who have successfully completed the same, or substantially the same, course work as required in the curriculum at other institutions of postsecondary education that are accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the US Department of Education.

The granting of such transfer credit is totally at the discretion of SOCHi. Students’ transfer credit evaluations will be conducted using the following guidelines:

• An official transcript of the student’s course work must be furnished directly by the institution where the course work was completed before any application for transfer credits can be evaluated.
• 2. A copy of the catalog or course syllabi from the institution at which the course work was completed by the student must be furnished before any application for transfer credits can be evaluated.
• 3. A minimum grade of “C” or “2.0” must have been awarded for each course completed to be eligible for transfer. Only courses in which grades were assigned will be considered. No credits earned as a result of a “pass/fail” option are eligible for transfer.
• 4. No more than 55 percent of the credits necessary to earn a certificate from SOCHi will be accepted for transfer from another institution.
• 5. Coursework completed more that five years ago may only be transferred with the Dean or School President’s approval.
• 6. Transfer of credit must be completed prior to enrollment through a written request to the Academic Department with supporting documentation such as an official transcript, school catalog, or course syllabus. Securing an official transcript in a timely manner is the sole responsibility of the student.
• 7. Tuition adjustments will be made based on clock hour or credit hour charges for any course accepted.
• 8. Transfer of Credit may have an impact on the amount of Title IV financial aid available to students.
• 9. The School President shall make final determination on the acceptability of transfer credits. The above guidelines shall be used in evaluating all applications for transfer of credit; however, the institution reserves the right to accept or reject any or all transfer credits at its discretion.
• 10. An appeal to a negative decision regarding acceptance for transfer of credit must be made in writing to the School President within five days of the decision. The School President will make a final determination within five days of the dated written appeal. All decisions made by the School President are final.
• 11. SOCHi will accept 100% of applicable credits/clock hours taken at SOCHi by prior SOCHi students upon re-enrollment. Additionally, SOCHi will accept all credits/clock hours for applicable courses completed with a grade of C or better by students transferring from one SOCHi program to another SOCHI program.
• 12. Credit that has been transferred into Southern California Health Institute from previous completed courses are used in calculating percentage of completion for maintaining SAP, but does not have any effect on the grade point average requirement for sap. Transfer credit is also considered when computing the maximum timeframe allowed for a program ofstudy.

Credits earned at this institution are not guaranteed to be accepted by another institution. The decision to accept SOCHi credits is solely up to the receiving institution. However, upon notification that a current or former student wishes to transfer credits/clock hours into another institution, SOCHi will provide transcripts and other appropriate documentation to assist the student upon request.

SOCHi does not allow for challenge examinations or achievement tests in order to receive proficiency credit for required courses.

SOCHi does not accept ability to benefit students.

Grade reports are issued to students at the completion of each module. Grades are based on the quality of work as shown by written tests, laboratory work, practical assessment, out of class work and projects as indicated on the course syllabus

Grading is used to assess a student’s academic progress. Grades are issued at a maximum of five (5) days from the last day of completion of a course. A grade of an “A”, “B”, “C” are passing grades as a further breakdown, an “A’ indicates an excellent level of achievement, a “B” indicates a good level of achievement, and a “C” indicates an average level of achievement. A “D” is considered unsatisfactory and any student who earns a “D” grade in a course must repeat and successfully complete the course with a “C” or higher prior to graduation. Failing is designated with a “F’ grade. Any student earning a grade of “F” in a course must repeat and successfully complete the course with a “C” or higher prior to graduation. An “R” indicates that a student has repeated a course. The grade is issued to replace a prior failing grade only after the student successfully completes the repeated course. For all courses the first retake is free if the student successfully graduates from the program. Additional retakes will be charged to the student’s account. A “W” indicates a withdrawal, meaning that the student either withdrew from the course voluntarily or administratively. “WE” indicates withdrawal with extenuating circumstance and has no effect either quantitative or qualitative on the students CGPA. “TC” indicates transfer credits. Transfer credits are not considered when calculating cumulative grade point average. A “P” indicates a passing grade. The “P” also indicates that the course is designed as a pass-fail course. “SC” indicates a section change and has no effect either quantitative or qualitative on the students CGPA.

Regular attendance and punctuality will help students develop good habits necessary for successful careers. Students are encouraged to schedule medical or dental appointments after class hours and should notify the instructor or Program Director if they plan to be absent and make alternative arrangements to get the class information that was missed. Students who miss class time due to extenuating circumstances should provide documentation of medical or other issues contributing to their absence. Attendance will be considered a factor when an instructor issues grades for a course. Student attendance is taken daily and the minimum attendance required is 80% across all programs. SOCHi expects that students will be on time for each class. The time is documented on the attendance rosters for late arrivals and early departures and those times frames are deducted from the daily attendance hours when entered into the student management system, which affects the overall attendance percentage for the program. Excessive or chronic tardiness may be addressed by academic administration. Faculty will not repeat class materials to accommodate tardy students. Each student is responsible for any content missed due to tardiness or early departure. Southern California Health Institute’s attendance and absence policy is as follows:

• 1. Any student not in attendance for more than fourteen (14) consecutive calendar days, including holidays and scheduled or emergency closures less than 5 days, will be terminated from the program and issued a grade of “W” (withdrawn) for the current course(s) attempted. Students can appeal this decision by submitting a written statement explaining the circumstances that led to the excessive number of absences. The statement must be submitted to the Campus President within two (2) class days from the date of which the student was withdrawn. All appeals will be responded to within ten (10) business days of receipt by the school. The decision of the Campus President regarding whether to allow the student to remain enrolled is final. If the student is allowed to remain then the academic department and registrar will determine the schedule for proceeding with the courses in their respective program.
• 2. Students who are withdrawn from the institution are subject to the school’s refund policy in effect at that time. Please see the VA addendum for students receiving VA benefits.

All occasions of missed tests, exams or assessments will result in the deduction to a student’s grade. The maximum grade earned for any makeup test, exam or assessment will be 70%.

This section only pertains to students enrolled in the Advanced Professional Massage Therapy and Physical Therapy Aide/Sports Rehab programs. Students will be assigned an equivalent of five (5) hours of out of class work for every twenty (20) hours of in class participation. The assignments will be in the form of projects, journals, essays, research papers, and reading requirements with assessments to measure their understanding of the material. This is not distance education or correspondence education. These assignments will be factored into the final grade for each course. If, the out of class work is not submitted on time, or the student has elected to not submit the work at all, his/her grade will be adversely affected. Out of class work accounts for twenty percent (20%) of the student’s overall grade in any given course. Should a student fail to turn in the scheduled out of class work, they will receive zero points for that assignment. Students have a maximum of five (5) days past the end of the course completion date to turn in the missed out of class work to receive a maximum of seventy percent (70%) for that assignment. Should he/she fail to turn the work in at that point, no credit will be given for that assignment.

If a student has an extenuating circumstance and needs additional time to turn in his/her out of class work, the student should work closely with his/her instructor to devise a plan for completing the missed assignment(s).

Make-up hours must be prearranged with the Instructor and must be completed outside of normally scheduled class hours. Only time spent on Instructor-approved activities that are comparable in content, time and delivery of the classes missed will count as make-up hours.

Should a student fail to complete a course successfully, he/she may retake the course when it becomes available. Retaking a course will push the graduation date to a later date. Students that have not successfully completed a course from the prerequisite module may not progress to any modules following. When retaking a course, the highest grade achieved for that course will be used in calculating the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). Course retakes are always added as a course attempted in calculating completion rate for evaluating Satisfactory Academic Progress. For all courses the first retake is free if the student successfully graduates from the program. Additional retakes will be charged to the student’s account.

Southern California Health Institute does not allow students to drop, add or substitute individual courses.

Credit Hour Programs:

Satisfactory Academic Progress for Credit Hour programs is measured in two ways:

• ● Qualitative Progress: The Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is reviewed to ensure that the student is meeting the minimum cGPA of a 2.0 (70%) at the conclusion of each evaluation period.
• ● Quantitative Progress: Qualitative Progress is defined as the credit hours achieved divided by the credit hours attempted. To be making Satisfactory Academic Progress a student must have successfully completes at least 67% of the credits attempted at each evaluation point.

Grades of F are counted as hours attempted but have a 0.0 value toward the GPA. Repeated courses are counted as hours attempted. The lowest grade is dropped, and highest grade used to calculate the GPA. Course work completed may adversely affect the student’s academic progress in terms of the maximum time frame, which is 150% of the published length of the program.

Student who withdraw from a course receive a grade of W, which has no impact on the GPA, but does count as hours attempted. A student must be meeting these standards to be considered as meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress and in Good Standing. Any student who has not achieved the minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 (70%) or who has not successfully completed at least 67% of the credit hours attempted at each required evaluation period is not considered to be in Good Standing and may not be eligible for Title IV assistance, if applicable.

Evaluation Periods for Academic Purposes

All students will be evaluated for academic progress at the end of each module. Consistent with SAP measurements, the evaluations will assess each student’s progress against the qualitative and quantitative standards mentioned above.

Evaluation Periods for Financial Aid Purposes

Students who are receiving financial aid will also be evaluated at the Mid-Point and End-point based on scheduled credit hours. Consistent with SAP measurements, the evaluations will assess each student’s progress against the qualitative and quantitative standards mentioned above and determine eligibility for continued financial aid.

Maximum Time Frame for Credit Hour Programs

Maximum Time Frame (MTF) is the maximum amount of time in which a student can successfully complete any of the programs offered at the school. The maximum time frame may not exceed 150% of the published length of the program as measured in quarter credit hours.

Clock Hour Programs:

Satisfactory Academic Progress for Clock Hour programs is measured in two ways:

• ● Qualitative Progress: The Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is reviewed to ensure that the student is meeting the minimum cGPA of 2.0 (70%) at the conclusion of each evaluation period.
• ● Quantitative Progress: The student must attend at least 80% of the scheduled clock hours cumulatively for each evaluation period.

A student must be meeting these standards to be considered as meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress and in Good Standing. Any student who has not achieved the minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 or who has not successfully achieved a cumulative rate of at least attendance of 80% at each required evaluation period is not considered to be in Good Standing and may not be eligible for Title IV assistance, if applicable.

Evaluation Periods for Academic Purposes:

All students will be evaluated for academic progress at the end of each module. Consistent with SAP measurements, the evaluations will assess each student’s progress against the qualitative and quantitative standards mentioned above.

Evaluation Periods for Financial Aid Purposes:

Students who are receiving financial aid will also be evaluated at the Mid-Point and End-Point based on scheduled clock hours. Consistent with SAP measurements, the evaluations will assess each student’s progress against the qualitative and quantitative standards mentioned above and determine eligibility for continued financial aid.

Maximum Time Frame for Clock Hour Programs:

Maximum Time Frame (MTF) is the maximum amount of time in which a student can successfully complete any of the programs offered at the school. As students must maintain a cumulative attendance rate of 80%, the maximum time frame may not exceed 120% of the published length of the program as measured in clock hours.

Warning Period:

Whether in a credit hour or clock hour program, and whether or not a student is receiving financial aid, any student not meeting SAP requirements at any the end of any evaluation period will be issued a Warning Letter and placed on ‘Warning’ status through the next evaluation period. The ‘Warning’ period is a time of accelerated performance where affected students must remedy the cause of the warning while achieving the regular progress requirements for the warning period. As part of the ‘Warning’ status, students will be required to meet with the Associate Director of Education. During the meeting, the student and Associate Director of Education will create a plan for the student to achieve ‘Good Standing’ by the end of the ‘Warning’ period. During the Warning period, students are eligible for financial aid funds.

Probation Period:

If a student fails to meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress standards after the ‘Warning’ period, he or she will be terminated from the Institution, subject to an appeal. Student whose appeal is successful will be issued a Probation Letter and placed on ‘Probation’ status. The Probation Letter will be sent to students via mail or email. As part of the Probation status, students will be required to meet with the Associate Director of Education. During the meeting, the student and the Associate Director of Education will create a plan for the student to achieve ‘Good Standing’ by the end of the ‘Probation’ period.

Return to Good Standing:

If a student achieves Satisfactory Academic Progress by the end of the ‘Warning’ period, he or she will return to ‘Good Standing’ and title IV funding will continue. If the student fails to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress by the end of the ‘Probation’ period, he or she will be Academically Terminated from the program.

SAP Appeals

Students not meeting the Satisfactory Academic Progress standards are notified by means of a Letter or email from the Campus President. Students wishing to appeal the unsatisfactory academic progress determination must do so in writing, within ten (10) calendar days of receipt of the letter. Appeals should be directed to the Campus President. Reasons for which students may appeal a negative progress determination include death of a relative, an injury or illness of the student or special mitigating circumstance. Appropriate documentation should be included with the written appeal. Such documentation might include a physician’s statement, accident report, or other statements. The Campus President will notify the student of their decision within 10 days of receiving the student’s appeal. The decision is final. In cases where an appeal is accepted, that student is placed on ‘Probation’ status through the next evaluation period. The institution will provide the student an Academic Plan that, if followed, will ensure the student meets Satisfactory Academic Progress standards by a specified time, and can return to Good Standing.

Academic Termination

If a student fails to return to Good Standing at the end of a ‘Warning’ period and does not successfully appeal that determination, he or she will face Academic Termination. In the case of Academic Termination, the last day of attendance (LDA) will be used to calculate the student’s refund and/or balance due.

Credit that has been transferred into Southern California Health Institute from previous completed courses at Southern California Institute are used in calculating percentage of completion for maintaining SAP but does not have any effect on the grade point average requirement for sap.

Transfer credit is also considered when computing the maximum timeframe allowed for a program of study.

When a student elects to change a program at Southern California Health Institute the student’s earned credits and grades will be transferred into the new program as applicable, including transfer credit.

Credit hours earned at Southern California Health Institute in the original program of study will be used when computing grade point average, rate of progress and maximum time frame.

A student must wait at least one grading period before they are eligible for re-entry.

The decision regarding readmission will be based upon factors such as grades, attendance, student account balance, conduct, and the student’s commitment to complete the program.

Dismissed students may re-enter within 180 days from last date of attendance. Re-entering students will be eligible for Federal Financial Aid. After 180 days, returning students will need to re-apply to the institution.

There may be legitimate reasons such as extended illness, extended illness of close family members, or military service, in which a student needs an interruption in his/her training program. In such cases due to specified and approved reasons and with appropriate documentation, the student may request a leave of absence.

The leave of absence is considered a temporary break in a student’s attendance during which s/he is considered to be continuously enrolled. In order to attain a leave of absence, the following policy must be adhered to prior to approval of the leave:

• The leave-of-absence is limited to 180 calendar days in any 12-month period or one-half of the published program length, whichever is shorter. Multiple leaves of absence may be permitted provided the total of the leaves does not exceed this limit.
• The leave of absence must be requested in writing in advance of the beginning date of the leave unless circumstances prevent the student from doing so. If the student does not request a leave of absence within a timeframe consistent with the 14-day consecutive absence policy, the student will be withdrawn.
• The leave of absence request must be approved and signed by the campus president.
• SOCHi will not grant a leave of absence if it does not have a reasonable expectation that the student will return from the leave of absence.
• SOCHi will not assess the student any additional institutional charges as a result of the leave of absence.
• A student granted a leave of absence that meets these established criteria is not considered to have withdrawn. There will be no refund calculation required.
• A leave of absence has no effect on the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy.
• If student was deemed to be maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress prior to a leave of absence or withdrawal of training, upon his/her return, the student is deemed in good standing and may continue the program of study from the point of interruption.
• Failure to return from the approved leave of absence on the exact return date as shown on the leave of absence written request will result in termination from the program of study.
• The withdrawal date for students not returning from a leave of absence for purposes of refund calculation is the student’s last day of attendance.

Documentation of requests for leaves of absence will be maintained in the student file and monitored by the institution to ensure that the student returns by the scheduled end of the leave or terminated from the institution should the student not return on schedule.

Leave of Absence Impact on Title IV Funds

• While on a leave of absence, the student is not eligible for any additional Federal Student Aid.
• Total number of days allowed for a leave of absence may not exceed 180 days in a 12-month period.
• Students on approved leave of absence need to be aware that said leave of absence may affect financial aid. Therefore, before final consideration is given to grant the requested leave of absence, a Financial Aid Advisor will meet with the student and provide information regarding the following:
  • loan obligations
  • possible revisions in his/her aid package
  • deferment options
  • notification to lending institutions
  • deferments may be canceled
  • if veteran-benefits may be affected
  • grace periods exhausted
  • consequences of not returning to Sochi at the expiration of the leave of absence
• Students receiving Title IV funds must adhere to all policy guidelines. Failure to do will result in the student being terminated from the school.
• A student who has been granted a leave of absence will be considered withdrawn if he/she does not return to school at the end of the leave of absence. In said case, the student’s the last day of physical attendance is used for the purpose of calculating the Return of Title IV funds.
• Should withdrawal result, a student’s grace period for a Title IV loan program might be exhausted.

Deployed Military Leave of Absence Policy

A student required to take a leave of absence (LOA) due to military deployment will not have a loss of clock hours completed or application/registration fees paid when returning from deployed status. Under the 180- day LOA limitation (Subsection (a)(2)(B) of 484B, Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091b) the student shall not be treated as withdrawn unless the student fails to return upon the completion of the leave of absence.

PERMISSIBLE PHOTOCOPYING OF COPYRIGHTED WORKS

Teachers may reproduce copyrighted works for classroom use and for research without securing permission and without paying royalties when the circumstances amount to what the law calls "Fair Use." "Fair Use" - Current Law:

In determining whether the use is a "Fair Use" the law requires consideration of the following factors (17 U.S.C. sec. 107):

• The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purpose;
• The nature of the copyrighted work;
• The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
• The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The Guidelines in this report discuss the boundaries for Fair Use of photocopied material. Fair Use cannot always be expressed in numbers: either the number of pages copied or the numbers of copies distributed.

Therefore, you should weigh the various factors in the Act to determine whether the intended use of photocopied copyrighted material is within the spirit of the Fair Use doctrine. You should secure permission from the copyright owner unless the intended use is clearly permissible under Fair Use.