Student Rights and Responsibilities

Knowledge of Academic Policies

• Students are responsible for knowing about and following the academic policies and degree requirements of the university, their college and their major. This information is published in the University Catalog. The catalog is the official repository of all policy and degree requirements.
• The Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and the individual departments and programs of the college are responsible for enforcing these polices.
• The Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs reviews all requests for exceptions to policies.
• All policies regarding requests and the forms associated with those requests can be found on the web page Undergraduate Policies and Procedures.

Official George Mason E-mail Account

• Students are responsible for the content of university communications sent to their George Mason e-mail account and are required to activate and check it regularly.
• The Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs will only communicate with students using the student's official Mason e-mail account.

Advising and Course Registration

• Students are responsible for verifying the accuracy of their enrollment each semester through PatriotWeb.
• Students are responsible for knowing degree requirements and should run a degree audit at least once each semester to monitor their progress toward degree completion.
• Students are strongly encouraged to meet with their academic advisor on a regular basis, especially during the pre-registration period each semester. Students themselves are ultimately responsible for their course selection and academic progress. Contact information for all program directors can be found on the pages below.

Requests for Exceptions to Policies

Requests for exceptions to university, college and major academic policies are approved only under extraordinary circumstances.  To request an exception, students must complete the appropriate request form and submit all necessary documentation in a timely manner. Refer to the Undergrad Policies and Procedures webpage for more information.

The university Honor Code applies to all requests submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. Any violation of the honor code will be reported.

Appeals

Students have the right to appeal a decision in certain situations. See the Appeals page below for additional information.

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Due to federal privacy laws, our office will only speak to students themselves regarding requests. For more information see the FERPA page below.

Equal Opportunity and Non-discrimination

George Mason University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution. It is committed to the principle that access to study or employment opportunities afforded by the university, including all benefits and privileges, be accorded to each person - student, faculty, or staff member, or applicant for employment or admission - on the basis of individual merit without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, sex or age (except where sex or age is a bona fide occupational qualification).