Admissions and Records

Admissions Contact Information

Academic Placement

It is essential that students be able to meet basic academic standards before they attempt certain College-credit courses. In an effort to meet the expanded mission of EMCC, certain areas of developmental studies are required.

A student should be placed in English/Reading and Math courses based on ACT scores, or Accuplacer scores and/or professional advice. No developmental courses may be counted toward graduation. Successful completion of the appropriate developmental prerequisite courses with a grade of “C” or better is required before moving to the next higher level course.

ACT (Residual)

The EMCC On-Campus ACT is a paper and pencil test that scores students in four areas: English, math, science, and reading. It is available only to students who have completed the application process at EMCC or are currently enrolled at EMCC, and the scores cannot be used for any purposes outside EMCC. The scores may be used for academic placement at EMCC as well as to meet entry requirements for allied health programs and other career-technical programs. A student must wait at least sixty days before repeating on On-Campus ACT. Scores are usually available to the testers within a day of the testing.

ACCUPLACER

Accuplacer is a computerized test that evaluates your skills and places you into appropriate level courses. For students who have not taken the ACT, Accuplacer will determine the proper placement level into core college classes such as reading, English, and math. Additionally, Career/Technical students will take the Accuplacer test for placement purposes into various programs. Students receive Accuplacer test results upon completion of testing. The most current table of scores can be seen below. Note: The COMPASS test has been discontinued, but the scores will remain valid.

Class Load

The average student’s class load is 15 to 18 semester hours. Twelve hours is necessary to be a full-time student at East Mississippi Community College. Students who wish to enroll in more than 19 hours or take courses through other institutions for transfer credit to EMCC must petition the appropriate instructional dean in advance. Credits taken at other institutions without prior written approval will not be accepted for EMCC credit.

Certain types of institutional financial aid require a minimum of 15 credit hours per semester to maintain eligibility.

It is highly recommended that students take a minimum of 15 semester hours of non-developmental course work each semester in order to stay on track to meet graduation requirements at the end of four semesters.

For summer sessions, the usual load is four classes for the entire summer. A student may take additional classes during the summer with approval from the appropriate instructional dean.

Student Classification

College students with fewer than 30 semester credit hours are classified as freshmen. Those with 30 or more semester credit hours are classified as sophomores.

Withdrawal From College

Students who wish to withdraw from College must complete a Student Initiated Withdrawal Form. The form can be obtained at the advising center, advising@eastms.edu or the registrar’s office. The required fee for withdrawing from a course or all courses is $10.00 per course. This fee is automatically charged to the student’s account when processed. Administration reserves the right to withdraw a student from a course or all courses as deemed necessary by the College.

Withdrawal From College-Active Military

Students who are currently enrolled and receive active duty orders must present to the Office of the Registrar the military orders with specific dates for the duty. The orders must be submitted during the semester of the duty or in the immediate following semester.

EMCC Forgiveness Policy

A student may formally request forgiveness for all coursework grades earned during one semester. The student may not choose which course grades are to be forgiven. If a formal request for forgiveness is submitted for a given semester and approved, all course grades for said semester will be forgiven, changed to “W” grades, and the forgiven credit hours will not be calculated in any GPA calculations.

A student may not be approved for forgiveness more than ONE time. The forgiveness request form, which can be obtained from an advisor in the Advising Center, Instructional Dean’s office, or the Registrar’s office. Once the form is completed the form must be sent to the Vice-President of Instruction. Please note all Financial Aid decisions at EMCC will be made using a cumulative GPA based on all hours attempted (including hours forgiven).

If a forgiveness request is approved, the student is still required to pay all charges incurred for said semester: ie account charges are not forgiven.

Forgiveness cannot be requested for a semester in progress or just concluded. Students on academic suspension must sit out at least one semester before seeking forgiveness.

Graduation Requirements

Students who are nearing complete of their major/program, should seek counsel from their advisor to have an evaluation of their coursework completed. If it is determined the student is on track to graduate within the spring, fall or summer semester, the student is encouraged to apply for graduation during the semester of his expected graduation. The Advisor/Counselor would submit the approved, signed, dated evaluation to the Registrar’s Office.

Students may apply for graduation through their LEO account to complete the online application. It is the student’s responsibility to apply for graduation prior to the deadline of the expected semester of graduation. Students who do not apply before the deadline will be required to apply at the next opportunity. No late applications will be accepted.

Each student must meet the following requirements for graduation:

1. A student in an academic field must have successfully completed sixty (60) semester hours which must include six (6) semester hours of English Composition, three (3) semester hours of Public Speaking (SPT 1113 ), three (3) semester hours of College Algebra (or above), six to eight (6-8) semester hours of a laboratory science, six (6) semester hours of social/behavioral science, three (3) semester hours of fine arts, and six (6) semester hours of humanities. Students also must complete a graduation exit survey.
2. A student in a technical field must have successfully completed the prescribed program of study as set by the College which may include general education coursework. To be eligible for graduation in any technical field, the student must have successfully completed all program requirements including any occupation specific skills assessment. Student must also complete a battery of assessments as part of the graduation exit exam.
3. A student in a Career program must have successfully completed the prescribed program of study as set by the College, including a college predetermined score on the Accuplacer test, and any occupation specific skills assessment. Students also must complete a battery of assessments as part of the graduation exit exam.
4. The prospective graduate must have a 2.0 or above on the final overall Grade Point Average.
5. For a student to be eligible for graduation, at least 25% of the credit semester hours required must be completed through instruction offered at EMCC.

Degrees and Certificates

The Associate of Arts degree is awarded to an academic student upon successful completion of all requirements.

The Associate of Applied Science degree is awarded to a technical student upon successful completion of all requirements.

The Technical Certificate of Proficiency is awarded to a career student upon successful completion of all requirements.

The Vocational Certificate of Proficiency is awarded to a career student upon successful completion of all requirements.

Graduation With Honors

Students, who meet graduation requirements at EMCC and have a cumulative GPA of the following, will graduate with the following distinctions:

• 3.20 - 3.59 will graduate cum laude (with honor)
• 3.60 - 3.89 will graduate with magna cum laude (with great honor)
• 3.90 - 4.00 will graduate with summa cum laude (with highest honor)

Additionally, members of the Honors Program who have met program requirements will be designated as an Honors Scholar.

Transcript of Credits

Official transcripts are issued by the Office of the Registrar. Once graduation is conferred, diplomas will be mailed to each graduate. However, if the student has not cleared all outstanding obligations, an official transcript will not be issued.

Ordering Transcripts Online:

The National Student Clearinghouse getmytranscript.com has been authorized by East Mississippi Community College (EMCC) to provide our transcript ordering service via the internet. Current and former students can order transcripts online using a major credit card (VISA, MASTERCARD, or DISCOVER only) at any time of the day or week. Your credit card will only be charged $10.00 after your order has been completed. Transcripts are not released for students who have not settled all College accounts (financial or otherwise). Online transcript requests for transcript to be mailed that are submitted while EMCC is closed for the weekend or holidays will be processed in the order that they were received when offices reopen.

Walk in Requests:

Current or former students may request a transcript to take with them at the Office of the Registrar or Lion Central Offices. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM CST on the days that the College is open. If you are coming in person, you will need to provide a picture ID. Payment must be made upon receipt of the transcript. Transcripts are not released for students who have not settled all College accounts (financial or otherwise).

Transcripts submitted to EMCC:

Transcripts submitted to EMCC in regards to student admissions will not be released by EMCC, but they may be viewed in the Registrar’s Office. For official copies of those documents, the student will need to contact the original institution which issued the transcript.

Privacy of Records

No personally identifiable information from a student’s educational record may be revealed to third parties without the prior written consent of the student. Further information regarding the privacy of student and staff records as outlined by the Buckley Amendment may be obtained through the Office of the Registrar.