Revalidation of Course Work Policy

Alabama State University and the Educational Leadership, Policy, and Law Doctoral program have set time limits on students to ensure that they have reasonably current knowledge in those courses that comprise the ELPL doctoral program. When coursework taken or applied toward graduation in the doctoral program has aged beyond the 8-year time constraint for dissertation completion, The Murphy Graduate School and the ELPL faculty may consider a student’s application to validate relevant coursework. Only students who: (a) have reached dissertation candidacy, (b) are in good standing with the ELPL Doctoral program, and (c) have a practical expectation that they will complete the dissertation within a semester after application for course validation, are eligible to apply for course validation in an acceptable format established by the ELPL faculty and under the following conditions. To validate coursework, a student must submit a petition in writing to the Dean of The Murphy Graduate School to take an examination which must be passed with a grade of “B” or better. The department chair and the student’s major advisor will be consulted for recommendations on the petition. Appeals of decisions by the graduate dean may be made to the Graduate Council. Once the petition has been approved, the student must enroll in the courses to be revalidated and proceed to take the special written examination provided by the department.

• No more than a maximum of nine hours of coursework may be revalidated.
• No coursework older than ten years may be revalidated.
• Only didactic courses, not field experiences or electives are eligible for revalidation.
• Only courses taken in the ELPL doctoral program are eligible for revalidation; credits transferred to the program must be within the eight-year (time) limit.
• A student may apply for course revalidation only once.
• If a student is unsuccessful at revalidation, he/she will be terminated from the program.