Prerequisites
We have established L107 as a prerequisite for P261-P262 and for J200/J201.
Several times the question has come up as to what grade is acceptable in L107 to allow the student to go on to the other courses.
Since no policy exists, a D- or better is accepted. Since nursing requires a C in the other courses, we may wish to consider establishing a grade cut-off for L107 as well.
Approved: April 22, 1986
Students Not Meeting Prerequisite Requirements
In the past we have discussed the problem of students not meeting prerequisite requirements in science and mathematics courses. For several courses the School requires written authorization for students to enroll in courses with prerequisites in order for School faculty to have an opportunity to evaluate their having met the prerequisites.
The NSM School has developed a policy to implement waiver examinations for students who do not meet the prerequisites but who may be qualified for advanced work because of special circumstances. At the present time, we have waiver examinations for biology L107, chemistry C101, and the mathematics skills review test
The primary functions of the waiver examinations is to ensure that students enrolled in science and mathematics courses are prepared to be successful in these courses. For example: biology L107 is the prerequisite for most upper level biology courses including microbiology and immunology and anatomy and physiology.
The following groups of students would be candidates for taking the waiver examination for biology L107:
- students having completed the prerequisite (L107 or L105) more than eight years ago,
- students transferring credit for college biology courses taken elsewhere,
- students having successfully completed either an advanced level high school biology course or both high school biology and chemistry courses with the last three years.
All other students should successfully complete biology L107 prior to enrolling upper level courses. Successful completion of the waiver examination would make it possible for some qualified individuals to enroll in upper level biology courses without completing biology L107. The examination would ensure that these students who have not completed L107 are indeed prepared to be successful in the upper level courses in which they wish to enroll.
Similar examples could be listed for students interested in taking courses for which chemistry C101 is a prerequisite. And, we are in the process of developing a waiver examination for anatomy and physiology for students who complete some anatomy and physiology work on another campus and transfer to IU East. We can either offer these examinations upon request or on a regularly scheduled basis.
Approved: July 5, 1989
