Achieving Your Goals at John A. Logan College

Graduation

General Program and Residency Requirements for Graduation

Minimum enrollment residency requirements as outlined in Board Policy 8244 must be satisfied for graduation from John A. Logan College.

Awarding of Degrees

JALC awards degrees at the end of each academic term (fall, spring, and summer). Graduation ceremonies are held once a year at the end of the spring semester. Students meeting graduation requirements during the fall, spring, or summer semesters who plan to participate in graduation ceremonies must apply by the posted graduation deadline. Students who meet graduation requirements but who do not wish to participate in graduation ceremonies must still apply for graduation. Graduation application forms are available online. The cost of graduation regalia may be purchased through the Campus Bookstore.

In addition to completing the graduate survey and applying for graduation, students are responsible for determining whether they have met all graduation requirements and have no outstanding financial obligations to the College. Students should meet regularly with their academic advisor to ensure that progress is being made toward their degree objectives. The advising of individual students as to their degree progress is a service provided and does not relieve students of their responsibility to make certain they are meeting all degree requirements.

Graduating students who have outstanding financial obligations or delinquent College accounts will not receive diplomas until accounts are paid in full.

Transfer Education

To begin planning for transferring to the next stage of your educational journey, please visit the Transfer Planning website. You will find important definitions and resources and lists of transfer pathways by program and institution.

The College offers associate degree programs in the arts (AA), science (AS), fine arts (AFA), and engineering science (AES). Students can complete the freshman and sophomore requirements for a specific major by following the appropriate curriculum guide.

Certain Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degrees may transfer to a four-year institution. Articulation Agreements, Two plus Two Agreements, and Capstone Options offer students the opportunity for the AAS degree to a four-year bachelor’s degree program.

Each degree program has specific requirements articulated in the curriculum guide. Students should carefully select courses to ensure degree progress. The Academic Advisement Office and faculty advisors are available to help guide students, however, it is each student’s responsibility to meet all degree requirements for graduation. Additionally, students are responsible for knowing all information provided in the College Catalog concerning regulations and requirements of the College and the specific program of study. Students planning to pursue a bachelor’s degree should be familiar with any special requirements for the selected transfer institution. For instance, certain universities and even programs may require a grade of “C” or higher for certain courses to accept them for credit.

Students desiring to pursue pre-medicine, pre-law, pre-veterinary, pre-chiropractic, or other pre-professions career paths should consult with their academic advisor to select the appropriate courses for the field of study and anticipated transfer institution. The student’s preference of senior institution may impact the courses and/or grades required for transfer coursework and admission to the professional program of study.

Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI)

John A. Logan College is a participant in the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide agreement that allows transfer of the completed Illinois General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) between participating institutions in Illinois. Completion of the transferable General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) at any participating college or university in Illinois assures transferring students that lower division general education requirements for an associate or bachelor’s degree have been satisfied. This agreement is in effect for students who entered an associate- or baccalaureate-degree-granting institution in Illinois as first-time freshmen in the summer of 1998 (and thereafter).

The minimum requirements established for the Illinois Transferable General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) are as follows:

• Communications. 3 courses (9 semester credits). The three courses should include a two-course (6 semester credits) sequence in writing and one course (3 semester credits) in oral communications. A grade of “C” or better is required in the two-course writing sequence.
• Mathematics. 1 course (3 to 5 semester credits).
• Physical and Life Sciences. 2 courses (7 or 8 semester credits). One course must be from the Physical Sciences, one must be from the Life Sciences, and one of these must be a laboratory course.
• Humanities and Fine Arts. 3 courses (9 semester credits). One course must be selected from the Humanities, one from the Fine Arts, and one from either the Humanities or Fine Arts.
• Social and Behavioral Sciences. 3 courses (9 semester credits). Courses must be selected from at least two different disciplines.

Credit Hour Requirements for Associate in Arts Degree

The Associate in Arts General Degree Requirements Worksheet can be viewed at the Program Guide website under Associate in Arts.

See your specific curriculum guide for courses recommended for your area of study.

Credit Hour Requirements for Associate in Science Degree

The Associate in Science General Degree Requirements Worksheet can be viewed at the Program Guide website under Associate in Science.

See your specific curriculum guide for courses recommended for your area of study.

This revised Associate in Science degree model is effective with the fall 2016 term for those who have officially graduated from high school and who has not yet taken a college-level course before the start of the fall 2016 semester. This revised model does not change the credits needed to fulfill the IAI GECC package. Credit hours taken from the Humanities and Fine Arts area and the Social Behavioral Sciences are moved to support the “Additional A.S. degree requirement” posting of a course in Mathematics and a course in Physical or Life Science that directly supports your intended major after transfer to a four-year IAI participating institution in Illinois. To fulfill the IAI GECC package in this revised model, you will need to complete an additional three-credit course approved as an IAI Humanities or Fine Arts course and a three-credit course approved as an IAI Social and Behavioral Sciences course. These courses most likely will be completed after transfer but “may” be included in your JALC curriculum Guide document under the Major and General Electives section. If these two courses are completed after transfer, you should send an official transcript back to John A. Logan College and request a review of the IAI GECC requirements and if appropriate, request a posting on your official transcript that the IAI GECC package is complete.

IAI GECC Completion

John A. Logan College students who complete the core curriculum with approved IAI courses will have the designation noted on their transcript. Students who have completed the IAI General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) and transfer to another IAI participating institution will have completed that institution’s lower division general education requirements required for general graduation purposes. Students who do not complete the IAI GECC requirements prior to transfer should expect to fulfill the general education requirements established by the transfer institution. However, some IAI participating institutions are now allowing students who transfer with at least 30 semester credits the option of completing the remaining IAI GECC after transfer.

In this case, it is recommended that the student send an official transcript back to John A. Logan College and request a review of the IAI GECC package. If it is now complete, the designation will be posted to the official JALC transcript. Students should also be aware that the recommended IAI Associate in Science (AS), Associate in Engineering Science (AES), and Associate in Fine Arts (AFA) curricula are designed to keep them on schedule with the native students in these disciplines at the participating four-year institution, but they do not fulfill the transferable General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) requirements.

IAI Major Recommendations

The Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) also includes recommended freshmen- and sophomore-level courses for specific majors in the IAI Baccalaureate Majors Curricula. The majors’ course recommendations build on the transferable General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) by identifying major and prerequisite courses that students need to complete to transfer as a junior (that is, with an associate degree into a specific major). Each major panel recommendation explicitly encourages community college students to complete an associate degree before transfer.

In the course description section of this Catalog, the following codes identify qualifying general education courses: The IAI General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) courses:

IAI C Communications
IAI H, HF Humanities
IAI F, HF Fine Arts
IAI M Mathematics
IAI L, LP Life Sciences
IAI P, LP Physical Sciences
IAI S Social/Behavioral Sciences

The following codes identify qualifying major courses:

IAI AG Agriculture
IAI ART Art
IAI BIO Biological Sciences
IAI BUS Business
IAI CHM Chemistry
IAI CRJ Criminal Justice
IAI CS Computer Sciences
IAI ECE Early Childhood Education
IAI EGR Engineering
IAI EGL English
IAI HST History
IAI MTH Mathematics
IAI MC Media and Communication Arts
IAI PHY Physics
IAI PLS Political Science
IAI PSY Psychology
IAI SOC Sociology
IAI TA Theater Arts

A database is maintained that contains all of the statewide IAI articulated courses at each participating institution. Students who plan to transfer at some point during their college career should access this IAI information on the IAI website at http://www.itransfer.org. The IAI Major Advisory Committees are undergoing a review of the core curriculum for each major. Changes to the current major core course recommendations may be altered. It is advisable for all students thinking about transferring to another institution to meet with an academic advisor to discuss the applicability of courses to a specific major or degree program of that other institution. The following listing represents the John A. Logan College courses that are approved as matches to IAI courses as of the printing of this Catalog edition. All credits shown in the table below are semester credits.

Career Education

Career Education curricula prepare students for careers in occupations related to business, education, health, industry, office technology, or public service. The curricula are developed with the assistance of advisory committees representing business and industry and based on survey information identifying area personnel needs. Both certificate and degree programs are offered. Most certificate programs require one year of study; degree programs require two. Note: Due to their specialized technical nature, some courses are offered each semester and some are not; students beginning in the spring semester may not be able to carry a full load of courses.

The overall objective of career-oriented education is to contribute to the scientific, technical, industrial, business, and economic welfare of southern Illinois through the provision of low-cost, current, college-level technical training geared to the citizens of the College district.

The career curricula are technical in nature and lie in the post-high school area. They differ in content and purpose not only from those of the trade school but also from those of the engineering college. All have in common the following purposes and characteristics:

The purpose is to prepare students for employment in high-skill career fields.

1. There are hands-on learning experiences provided for the student to gain perspective about their future occupation.
2. Methods of instruction are relatively direct with a strong emphasis on learning specific skills. Ordinarily, a high proportion of the work is done during the hours of instruction. Individualized instructional materials provide opportunities for home study and independent progress. Many curricula articulate to baccalaureate degree-granting institutions, and many individual courses are transferable. A majority of curricula have programs of study with well-defined entry and exit points.

CAREER Agreement

Career Agreement
Want to study in a career program that isn’t offered by your home community college? The Illinois Community College CAREER Agreement makes that possible! Under the state of Illinois’ Comprehensive Agreement Regarding the Expansion of Educational Resources (CAREER Agreement), students from anywhere in Illinois are eligible for John A. Logan College’s in-district tuition rate if their home community college does not offer the same Associate in Applied Science degree or certificate career program. The CAREER Agreement does not cover single courses, developmental courses, non-credit courses, and Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degrees. 

Incoming Cooperative Agreements
Out-of-District residents who want to enroll in an Associate in Applied Science or certificate program at John A. Logan College must provide a Career Agreement authorization form obtained from their home district college to the Provost’s Office. The forms may be submitted electronically to provost@jalc.edu or in person at office A10.

Outgoing Cooperative Agreements
John A. Logan College in-district residents who want to enroll in an Associate in Applied Science or certificate program at a community college outside of the John A. Logan College district should complete the Notification of Intent form and gain official approval from the Provost’s Office. Completed forms should be submitted electronically to provost@jalc.edu or in person at office A10.

Contact Information
Office of the Provost
Building A, Room 10
John A. Logan College
Phone: (618) 985-2828, Ext. 8635
Email: provost@jalc.edu

Career Education Advisory Committees

Training people for employment in career and technical education fields is a task that should be shared by the College and the community. To provide quality programs and competent graduates, the College must understand the needs of area businesses and industries. A two-way system of communication between the College and the community should be maintained to meet the educational and training needs of the College district.

Local advisory committees perform a significant function because they represent not only secondary education but also industries and businesses that are respected and recognized within the area served by the College. The feedback from advisory committees enables the College to develop or modify programs of career education to reflect the current needs of the community. Each committee assists the College in determining industry needs, developing curricula, establishing work experiences, identifying equipment and facility needs, and assessing program objectives and content. College staff carefully consider all committee recommendations because they guide program enhancement to ensure graduates are ready to enter a skilled workforce.

The public can have confidence in these programs because the experiences and counsel of responsible citizens are solicited and acted upon by the College. These committees are comprised of community and business representatives plus the chairperson of each program’s advisory committee.