2023-2024 Cal Poly Humboldt Catalog 
    
    Dec 06, 2024  
2023-2024 Cal Poly Humboldt Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Catalog Policies, Course Numbering and Terminology



Catalog Rights and Continuous Attendance

A student’s catalog rights are based on when and where you begin college and how long you have been “continuously enrolled.” Undergraduate students who have been enrolled either at a California Community College or a CSU campus for at least one semester or two quarters of consecutive calendar years are considered to be “in continuous attendance.” A student in continuous attendance may choose to meet the requirements for graduation specified in the Cal Poly Humboldt catalog which was/is in effect:

  • When the student first enrolled in any CSU or California community college,
  • When the student first enrolled at Humboldt, or
  • When the student graduates.

Students changing their major or minor may be required to complete the major or minor requirements in effect at the time of the change.

Return to top.

Changes of Rules and Policies in the Catalog

Although every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information in this catalog, students and others who use this catalog should note that laws, rules, and policies change from time to time and that these changes may alter the information contained in this publication. Changes may come in the form of statutes enacted by the Legislature, rules and policies adopted by the Board of Trustees of the California State University, by the chancellor or designee of the California State University, or by the president or designee of the university. It is not possible in a publication of this size to include all of the rules, policies and other information that pertain to students, the institution, and the California State University. More current or complete information may be obtained from the appropriate department, school, or administrative office.

Nothing in this catalog shall be construed as, operate as, or have the effect of an abridgment or a limitation of any rights, powers, or privileges of the Board of Trustees of the California State University, the chancellor of the California State University, or the president of the university. The trustees, the chancellor, and the president are authorized by law to adopt, amend, or repeal rules and policies that apply to students. This catalog does not constitute a contract or the terms and conditions of a contract between the student and the university or the California State University. The relationship of students to the university and the California State University is one governed by statute, rules, and policy adopted by the legislature, the trustees, the chancellor, the presidents and their duly authorized designees.

Return to top.

Course Numbering System

General Numbering Scheme

001-099: Pre-Baccalaureate courses. Credit earned does not count toward unit requirements for major, general education or degree.

100-109: Courses satisfying lower division general education requirements in breadth areas A, B, C, D, E and F (Exception: Foreign language courses numbered 105.)

100-199: Courses typically taken as a first-year student while pursuing a baccalaureate degree. 

200-209: Courses satisfying lower division general education requirements in breadth areas A, B, C, D, E, and F.

200-­299: Courses typically taken as a sophomore while pursuing a baccalaureate degree. 

300-309: Upper division courses meeting general education requirements in breadth areas B, C, D and F.

300-­399: Courses typically taken as a junior while pursuing a baccalaureate degree. 

400-499: Courses typically taken as a senior while pursuing a baccalaureate degree. 

500-599: Graduate courses which may be taken with instructor’s approval by qualified seniors on an elective basis.

600-699: Graduate courses open only to graduate students.

700­-799: Credential/Licensure courses.

Reserved Numbers

180, 280, 380, 480, 580, 680, and 780 indicate special topics courses on current issues or specialized subjects offered on an as needed basis. Course descriptions are published in the class schedule.

Letter Suffixes

Letter suffixes are used to distinguish between courses assigned the same number and may also indicate a sequence, course attribute, or component. Courses lasting two or more terms have sequential numbers, not letter suffixes.

Letters B, C, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, N, O, P, Q, T, U and V are used to distinguish between courses assigned the same number. Courses may or may not be part of a sequence.

The letter S indicates that a course includes a service learning component.

The letter W indicates a course that satisfies the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR).

Letters X, Y and Z are used for a sequence of courses that meet a general education requirement. Limitations: the entire sequence must be completed before any units will count toward the requirement, and not all the units earned for the sequence will count toward the requirement, only the number specified (usually 3 units).

Return to top.

Terminology

College: an administrative division of the university that houses a number of academic departments. Cal Poly Humboldt has four colleges: the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; the College of Extended Education & Global Engagement; the College of Natural Resources & Sciences; and the College of Professional Studies.

Co-listed: courses are identical in content with undergraduate and graduate students meeting together in one classroom with the same instructor. However, the course requirements will be different for the undergraduate and graduate students. The courses are offered by the same department. Both courses have the same prefix, with a 400-level course number for the undergraduate course and a 500-level course number for the graduate course. If one of a co-listed pair is taken for credit, the other may not be taken for credit at a later time. 

Concentration: a significant subdivision of a major that appears on a student’s transcript, but not on the diploma.

Corequisites: A corequisite course must either be taken during the same semester as the specified course or have been completed prior to enrollment in a specified course.

Cross-listed: two or more identical courses offered with different prefixes. The course number, title, units, component(s) and description are the same. Cross-listed courses may be offered by the same department or different departments. 

Department: an organizational division that offers and administers academic programs. The name of the department usually matches the program it administers, but not always. For example, the Political Science major is offered by the Department of Politics.

Discipline: a conventional academic perspective or area of study. Chemistry, psychology, and biology, for example, are disciplines at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Electives: Courses that are not used to meet specific major, general education, or graduation requirements, but can be used to complete the total units required for a degree.

Emphasis: a subdivision of a concentration or major that does not appear on a student’s transcript or diploma.

Freshmen: Refers to the first year of study for bachelor’s degree. Students who have completed less than 30 semester units are classified as freshmen.

Instructor Approval: See Permission Numbers

Juniors: Refers to the third year of study for a bachelor’s degree. Students who have completed 60-89.9 semester units are considered juniors.

Major: a primary area of study.

Minor: a secondary area of study that may or may not be related to a major.

Permission numbers are used in place of instructor approval signatures to register for courses requiring special permission or to add any course during the second week of instruction. Permission numbers may also be used to override course prerequisites if in the opinion of the instructor a student is adequately prepared for the course. Permission numbers are provided solely at the discretion of the instructor and are specific to a particular class number and student. Permission numbers do not override holds, course repeat limits, a student’s maximum unit load, or course time conflicts.

Prerequisites: A prerequisite is a course/condition that must be completed/met prior to enrollment in another course. Conditions may include minimum placement test scores, declared major and/or class standing, such as junior and senior. An unmet or non-completed prerequisite course/condition will block a student’s enrollment in a course. Prerequisites may be waived at the discretion of the course instructor. See Permission Numbers

Prerequisites are automatically checked by the registration system.  If a prerequisite course or condition is unmet, the student will receive an error message during registration for the associated course.  In most cases the system will recognize courses that are equivalent to the prerequisite course and allow the student to enroll. If a student believes they have completed the appropriate prerequisite but receives a prerequisite error message, they should contact the Office of the Registrar.

Program: a set of requirements met by certain courses. Programs may be associated with one or more academic departments.

Seniors: Refers to the final year of study for a baccalaureate (bachelor’s) degree. Students who have completed 90 or more semester units are considered seniors.

Sophomores: Refers to the second year of study for a bachelor’s degree. Students who have completed 30-59.9 semester units are classified as sophomores.

Sustainability is the recognition that humanity is a part of the natural world, not separate from it, and that healthy social and economic systems depend on the resilience of ecological systems. Details about how courses are designated as sustainability-focused or sustainability-related is available on Facilities Management: Sustainability webpage.

Units: The number of units indicate how much time a course will meet and the minimum out-of-class student work required. The minimum amount of time students should spend per 1 unit of credit is 45 hours. The proportion of time spent with the instructor (in class) varies with instruction mode. Some examples are: 1 unit of lecture equals 50 minutes in class and requires a minimum of 2 hours out-of-class student work each week for approximately 15 weeks; 1 unit of laboratory equals 150 minutes in class each week for approximately 15 weeks, with most work done in the lab. See Credit Hour  for additional details. 

Return to top.

Return to Academic Regulations & Enrollment