- The Rushmore Capstone Paper
- Paper Submission
- Journal
- Student e-manual
Since 1995, Rushmore has delivered a strong learning and delivery program to hundreds of students. Many of the texts that we stipulate for completion of courses are the same textbooks used in leading-edge business schools throughout the world.
One requirement for graduation from Rushmore is that the student completes a Capstone Paper, conveying one credit hour, at the end of his/her program. This Capstone Paper requirement was designed to allow the student to recap the program chosen, and make reference to issues that may have occurred during the learning process. We read each Capstone Paper thoroughly to determine several facts:
- Submission of this Paper allows us to review the attitude(s) of the learner and determine if the expectations have been met.
- Submission of the Paper allows us to recognize Rushmore Faculty members or Administrators who have done an outstanding job in working with a specific student.
- Submission of the Paper helps Rushmore to learn more about our students, their use of their degrees, and their anticipated enhancements to personal or professional career changes and activity.
Submission
- Course Number and Name: (Instructions or examples are in parentheses – 2003 Crosby on Quality Management)
- Program/Major: (Example MBA / Management)
- Submission Date: (Example: May 1, 2007)
- Date Course was Started: (February 10, 2007)
- Date Program was Started: (January 2, 2003)
- Type of Course: (Practical, Short Success/Leadership, or Research?)
- Practical Problem: (Quality Control Problems in Shipping Department)
- Number of Words in the Body of the Course Paper: (includes the Title Page and Executive Summary but not the Appendices)
- Graphics in Your Paper: (If you have a number of graphic images or photographs, please convert them to the jpeg format to reduce the size of your file.)
- Number of Hours Spent on this Course:
Advisor
- Date of Last Edit / Editor:) (All course papers must be edited by a Rushmore Editor. Exceptions to this policy can only be made by the a Rushmore Editor or the Dean of Graduate Students)
- English Spelling Used: UK (Indicate if you used US or UK spelling, no others may be used.) Make sure your Word Spelling Checker is set up for the version of English you are using.
- Permission to Publish on the Rushmore Website: Yes (Please indicate yes or no to this question. If you say yes and change your mind later, we will remove your paper from our website on request.)
- Your Website Address: (Not required. If you do not have one, consider doing Course 1111.)
- Resources: (The Absolutes of Leadership by Philip B. Crosby) Quality Without Tears: The Art of Hassle-Free Management by Philip B. Crosby)
- Reasons for taking this course:
Executive Summary
Begin with a short overview of the book(s) or other materials you studied, including information about the authors and why you chose these books. You do not need to summarize the contents of the books. If you choose to do so, please place your summaries in an appendix at the end of your paper. This section should not have more than 30% of the words that are in the main body of your paper (excluding the Appendix and the Bibliography).
Problems and Proposed Solutions
Discuss the practical problem(s) you are trying to solve and why you selected this problem, the solutions that you propose to resolve the problem and how you implemented your solutions if you have implemented them. Report the results of implementing those ideas. Explain why others should consider using your solutions. This section and the section below should contain at least 70% of the words that are in the main body of your paper, which excludes the Appendix and the Bibliography.
Results
Describe the results that you achieved and, if you have not applied the solutions, describe your plan for the implementation of these solutions. Include materials that demonstrate the application of the ideas you put into action. These materials could include a website, a marketing plan, a business plan, a strategic plan or anything else that you developed as a result of your studies.
Appendix
Include supporting materials in this section only if they are relevant. This section and the following do not count in calculating the length of your paper.
Bibliography
List here in a proper format all the source materials that you employed to write this paper. All good research papers rely on information and analysis compiled or done by others. If you do rely on the work of other people and you do not cite them, you have failed in your responsibilities. A research paper must cite the works of others. There are two reasons that citations are mandatory. The first is to allow the reader to explore the subject further by consulting the works that the writer has utilized. Without regular and complete citations, such further exploration by the reader is difficult or impossible. Second, intellectual honesty requires citations. Failure to use them is plagiarism, which is unacceptable in any form. Plagiarism is the theft of the thoughts, facts or knowledge of others by not giving them proper credit.
When to Cite
Follow these guidelines to protect yourself:
Anytime you quote or paraphrase the thoughts or works of others, cite the source. It is incorrect to believe that only quotations require citations. You should also cite whenever you are relying on someone else’s thoughts or research, even if you are only paraphrasing (putting it in your own words).
Simple, commonly known facts need not be footnoted. A rule of thumb is that, if you did not know the information before you started the paper, then you should use a citation to show where you found the information. Also, even if you know something when you start, you should cite any information that is controversial.
When in doubt, cite the source. Plagiarism is unethical. Err on the side of safety. One citation too many is far better than one citation too few.
How to cite
The use of correct format for citations used in endnotes or footnotes and in a bibliography often seems a bit complex; however, using the correct format has two good features. Those features are completeness and consistency. Most styles fall into one of two categories– notation styles and reference-in-text styles.
Notation style involves the use of numbers (footnotes) to indicate each citation. Each number’s corresponding note may be at the bottom of the page as a footnote or at the end of the paper as an endnote. In either case, you should provide comprehensive information on each source the first time it appears as a footnote or as an endnote, with shortened versions appearing in later footnotes or endnotes. At the end of the paper, a bibliography repeats the full documentation of these sources, listing them alphabetically by author. Bibliographies have their own formatting styles. A number of works demonstrate both citation and bibliography format styles, including A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian, 1980) and The Chicago Manual of Style (1993).
A reference-in-text style uses the author’s name and the year of publication of the work, which is placed in parentheses and inserted at the appropriate place in the text. A page number is also included for direct quotes. At the end of the paper or book, there is a “References” or “Works Cited” section that contains full documentation for all the sources cited throughout the body of the work. Such sources are listed alphabetically by the author. Whatever citation style you choose, use it correctly and be consistent.
Student name / Student ID
- Submission Date: (MM/DD/YR)
- Date Course was Started: (MM/DD/YR)
- Program
- Major/Concentration
- Type of Course: Practical
- Number of Hours Spent on the Course
- Advisor
- Permission to Publish on the Rushmore Website
- Resources
- Reasons for taking this course
1. Date and Number of Hours Invested
In your own words, define the date, and the number of hours that you have invested in reading, research, analysis, writing, editing and posting. Explain the books ordered or the reasons that primary source material was chosen, and the ultimate objectives sought by taking the course. Tell why the topic you have chosen for this paper is relevant to your studies.
Be sure to include references to any correspondence with your Professor, or with anyone from Rushmore University Administration.
By this time, you should be deeply involved in reading and assessing the author’s input on your topic.
If you have taken a hiatus in your studies, explain those breaks in your study patterns and what you are doing to get back “on track.”
Note: Be sure to include information and feedback furnished to you by the Editor.
It is important that feedback furnished by the Editor on any initial submissions, any initial rough draft work, etc., or the work submitted to the Professor for initial review be summarized, and their input be considered as a part of the Journal.
The Journal you will submit with your paper is not edited prior to submission, so please review it and be sure it is legible and will be easily understood by your Professor. It is sent along with the final copy of the paper submitted to the Professor for grading.
Be sure not to submit your paper for grading until all errors have been corrected and all Editors’ marks have been removed from the face of the paper. Note: You are under no obligation to use every suggested correction/alternative verbiage as suggested by the Editor. Most students find that implementation of the Editor’s suggestions will to better communication and presentation of a concise and tightly-written paper.
Keep in mind that the length of your paper does not necessarily indicate the strength of your paper. A large part of the objective of the Rushmore program is to demonstrate how to communicate the strength of ideas in a concise and well-written format.
Rushmore University Student Handbook
2020-2021
Student E-Manual download PDF >>
SECTION 1
Rushmore University Policy and Regulations
Rushmore University reserves the right to revise, modify, or repeal any of its policies and procedures at any time. Additions may be made to this Student Handbook at any time, subject to the approval of the Board of Governors, and students are advised that any significant changes will be announced online. They should then download the new version for access to current policies and procedures.
The Student Handbook is compiled and produced by the Board of Governors of Rushmore University, the Director of Admissions and Records, the Director of Editing, and the Dean of Graduate Studies.
Rushmore University Objectives
Rushmore University has the following stated objectives:
- Maintenance of a noteworthy worldwide virtual school that delivers the highest level of education possible to students who request its services, regardless of the student’s location in the world, at a competitive price to other online schools.
- Expansion of the University on an ongoing basis to offer additional classes within multiple disciplines, and to offer both Accredited and non-Accredited degree programmes at the undergraduate and graduate levels utilising world-class advisors, editors, administrators, and professors.
- Maintenance of resources that are capable of supporting students’ and faculty members’ research, academic excellence, and creative endeavours.
- Maintenance of a faculty of sufficient size to allow and encourage one on one work with each student enrolled, utilising the modified Oxford Tutorial Method of instruction.
- Creation of an environment for writing and critical discussion of topics where students are challenged, advisors and professors are engaged, and where students learn correct writing techniques through the auspices of the Rushmore Editing Department.
- Maintenance of Accreditation standards through agencies of worldwide recognition so as to make the value of a Rushmore accredited degree significant to the student and worthwhile to professional rating organisations.
The Goals of Rushmore University
Rushmore University will maintain the highest level of services to students and faculty as is possible. Any requests or questions will be answered within three working days.
Rushmore University will stress diversity within its student body as well as within its faculty and administration. No one will be denied the application, entrance, acceptance or graduation based upon race, colour, creed, religion, or political affiliation. The diversity of student learners and faculty and staff benefits the educational process of preparing students as world-class learners and performers.
Rushmore University will attempt, at all times and in all ways, to identify student needs and develop programmes and plans to meet those needs, creating new and innovative programmes as demand occurs. We will work with our accrediting partners to ensure that the standards implemented meet or exceed the minimum requirements at all points in preparation, delivery, and assessment.
Rushmore University will regularly update all online learning resources and will seek input from as many diverse sources as possible.
Mission
The Mission of Rushmore University is stated within our Corporate Objective.
Rushmore’s Corporate Objective: To furnish the highest quality education to our student learners, offered by world-class faculty who challenge our students to find a higher pathway for the development of both their lives and careers, and to share with these learners a format for self-learning, self-empowerment, and self-improvement.
Scholarly Misconduct Policies and Procedures
Rushmore University is fully committed to integrity in scholastic activities. These guidelines and policies apply to all programmes offered at the University. This Worldwide Code of Academic Integrity exists for the benefit of students, the faculty, and administrators.
Rushmore University is committed to a policy of Academic Integrity. All members of the University community are pledged to academic honesty. Any form of dishonesty is considered to be an affront to the University community as a whole and is punishable by suspension or expulsion.
Cheating will never be condoned. All papers and projects submitted must be the students’ own work or summarize the work completed for the specific work project as defined.
- A student may not copy any papers written by others and submit them as their own.
- A student will not steal another’s work (plagiarise).
- A student will not aid or abet any form of academic dishonesty and will be punished for any academic dishonesty. Further, if the student has been found to aid others in academic dishonesty, he or she will be punished as if he or she were the primary offender against the rule or guideline.
Enforcement of these guidelines will be at the direction of the Dean of Graduate Studies, serving at the pleasure of the Board of Directors. Upon proof of any type of cheating or plagiarism, a student will be removed from the Rushmore Program. The extent, and circumstances in which the cheating or plagiarism is proved to have occurred, will be considered when deciding to suspend the student for a set period of time, or expel the student. If the student is expelled from the University, the University is under no obligation to return any funds which have been pre-paid by the student. If the student is suspended for cause, the cause will be considered when deciding how much, if any, of the prepaid funds will be returned.
Rushmore Code of IT Practice
Computing resources figure prominently in the operation of Rushmore University. Students are connected worldwide via the Internet, and technology is a valuable asset without which the University would find it difficult to operate effectively.
Individuals who are granted password access to the Rushmore University site accept the responsibilities that accompany this access. The individuals who are granted password access to the website accept that this access is limited to accounts and resources granted for educational or administrative purposes and, except as provided for within this code, activities unrelated to these purposes are prohibited.
Rushmore University understands the connected new world in which learning now occurs. Officers and Directors of the University are committed to intellectual and academic freedom in connection with both the computing and network resources, including the ability of our students to access each other using University tools, as well as social media tools available at no cost to our students. Indeed, Rushmore itself operates a Linked In site for our students and graduates; it operates sites for those faculty and students who wish to follow Rushmore updates via home computer or mobile telephone connection. Such open access is a privilege not to be abused. It requires that all users act responsibly and all operations are legal and ethical, reflect academic honesty, and show restraint in the use and consumption of shared resources across the web. The use of these shared resources should demonstrate a healthy respect for intellectual property, ownership of data, system mechanisms, the right to personal privacy, and the right of individuals and stakeholders worldwide to freedom from intimidation and harassment.
It will be the responsibility of each Rushmore University student to be aware of his or her country’s own laws in connection with any work, study, or associated relationship or stakeholder interest. A relationship or stakeholder interest means anyone who is associated with the University, whether on a governing board, as a faculty member, as a student, or in any other relationship. If the laws in a stakeholder’s country conflict with US or UK law, then UK law will prevail. Although some laws available as protection may seem onerous, each Rushmore University stakeholder will take it upon him or herself to ensure that laws are followed — in both theory and practice.
All general University regulations and policies are applicable to the use of computing resources.
In the spirit of collegial learning and the sharing of information, Rushmore University elects not to block any learning material online from any country or region of the world. However, Rushmore University is aware that some pages of our website and some of the resources which are available online are blocked by some governmental agencies; notably, by the Government(s) of Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and in some locations within China.
Discrimination and Harassment
General Statement of Policy
It shall be a violation of this policy for any student, instructor, administrator, or other University personnel to discriminate against or to harass a student, administrator, or any other University personnel, through conduct or communication of a sexual nature or regarding age, disability, ethnicity, marital status, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.
The University will act to investigate all complaints, formal or informal, verbal or written, of discrimination or harassment based in whole or in part on any of these attributes, and will discipline and take punitive action against anyone who is found to have violated this policy.
Any reports will be fully investigated by the Board of Governors and a report issued in writing to meet the concerns of the targeted party. Parties being investigated will be so informed by the Board of Governors.
Rights, Privileges, and Responsibilities
Students have the following rights:
- Students have the right to expand their intellectual knowledge and learning by using the resources of the University.
- Students have the right to personal email access to advisors and editors for assistance with any projects undertaken.
Students have the following privileges:
- Students may exercise the privilege of access to University files open to student learners. They may contact other students via social networking tools and website contact.
- Students may use this learning experience as an opportunity to expand their roles in business, education, and/or any professional endeavours.
Students have the following responsibilities:
- Be self-motivated and self-disciplined.
- Be a good time manager.
- Approach each course chosen at Rushmore with a desire to learn.
- Assume a leadership role, and be a teacher when necessary. Voluntarily help other students, bearing in mind, however, that doing other people’s work for them is tantamount to cheating.
- Develop needed technology skills.
- Contribute to course discussions. Listen to their professors, and respond respectfully to their comments.
- Contribute to team activities, and respect the ideas of others.
- Comply with all course policies.
- Submit constructive suggestions for improving the course
Students have the right to expect that they will receive a response within three business days to any communication sent to a stakeholder in Rushmore University.
Students should only send communications to faculty or administration via standard Microsoft Word programs, and should not send encrypted emails. Faculty members and administrators have been advised not to open documents that appear to be of questionable validity or dubious provenance.
Intellectual Property Rights
Students and faculty members of Rushmore University have a right to expect that any work product submitted to the University for review, editing, or posting, will be protected from plagiarism or abusive and unfair claim by other stakeholders of Rushmore. Intellectual Property Rights are recognition of a property in an individual creation. Intellectual property rights may be associated with ideas or thoughts expressed in a paper, to creations of the mind, to proprietary formulas or ideas, to literary or artistic works. Legally presumptive categories include trademarks, patents, copyrights, or trade secrets. Additionally, application of even less tangible and defensible items may constitute a violation of the intellectual property rights of a student or faculty member.
In any case, where a violation of intellectual property rights is suspected, the aggrieved party should formally notify the Board of Governors, which will convene an immediate meeting to determine if, in fact, the stakeholder has an interest at risk. If it is determined that the stakeholder has an interest at risk, Rushmore will protect the intellectual property rights of the student or faculty member vigorously and to the full extent of the law in the domiciled country.
Student Privacy Policy
Students have a clear privacy policy as regards their work product, grades, and creative endeavours. Rushmore will not, except when cooperating with a legally sanctioned inquiry, release data about Rushmore students or faculty, including names, grades, home locations, work undertaken or completed, or results attained. Any release of information not approved by the student will be limited to only information sought by a court of competent jurisdiction.
SECTION 2
Your first assignment is your profile, which must be completed before you start your first course for credit. Please email to Editor for the Profile Template and Guidelines.
Developing Your Curriculum
Some students design their entire programme when they begin, others design their programme as they study. As many students find, as they study over a period of several months, that the direction they wish to take their programme changes we strongly suggest that − unless you are following a prescribed programme of study − you develop courses to be taken in groups of no more than six at a single time.
On the other hand, you can simply begin by selecting one or more courses you would like to take. There are no required courses for your unaccredited programme. Accredited programmes have specific guidelines and the courses to be taken will be augmented by electives. Here again, your Advisor can help you choose elective courses which will complement your prescribed course of study.
The Dean of Graduate Studies will appoint one of our professors to be your Program Advisor. He or she will help you plan and implement your programme, working closely with you through your initial courses.
Choosing a Short Course might be appropriate if you are not certain what courses you wish to take. These are also recommended for students who may have been out of the “habit of study” for some time. They can assist you in getting back into the requisite learning habits to make your studies productive. These courses also help you learn new skills in disciplines such as self-management, leadership, human relations, communications, creativity and personal achievement. Short Courses are numbered in the 1000 range. Some of the popular ones are:
- 1100 Foundations of Self-Directed Learning
- 1101 Hill on Personal Achievement
- 1111 Website or Blog Development
Short Courses are intended to help you develop your goals and plan your programme. They can generally be completed in 20 to 40 “clock” hours and earn one or two credits. The suggested length for a Short Course paper is 2000 words. It is possible to start 1100 by downloading files from the Internet, upon request to the Director of Admissions and Records so that you do not have to wait for your books.
Among our most popular courses are those based on books written by Rushmore Professors, offering the unique opportunity to work with the Professors who wrote the books. Our students overwhelmingly give glowing reviews after these courses.
Practical Courses are intended to help you solve an actual or hypothetical problem you have identified. You will read a book or collateral articles and write a paper about how you implemented the ideas you learned, solving an actual or hypothetical problem. You can identify problems that you have now in your professional or personal life or expect to have in the future in your current job.
For example, you may develop your entrepreneurial skills, identifying an idea for a new business and collecting data that will allow you to create, evaluate and start your own business. If you are interested in developing your consulting skills, you can find an organisation that will allow you to volunteer your help, collecting, organising and analysing the necessary data to solve problems the organisation might have. If you need help in identifying a problem, you can contact the Dean of Graduate Studies for assistance. The suggested length of a Practical Course paper is 3500 words.
In contrast to a Practical Course, a Research Course does not require you to implement a solution to a specific problem. In some cases, you might want to complete a Research Course and identify possible solutions to a problem before you apply your solutions to a practical situation. Like Practical Courses, Research Courses also involve the study of information from numerous articles or books and they may also entail collecting and analysing original data.
After completing a Research Course, you should consider doing a Practical Course in which you implement one or more of the solutions that you came across in your Research Course. The length of a Research Course paper must not exceed 5000 words without prior approval.
We suggest the following courses for help in writing your Research Course papers:
- 1201 Booth on Research I
- 1202 Booth on Research II
- 1203 Cooper and Schindler on Research I
- 1204 Cooper and Schindler on Research II
Custom Research and Custom Practical Courses involve defined problems of your choice. You name these courses yourself, design them and assign them numbers in the range of 5000 to 5999. You must complete courses 1201 and 1202 before carrying out a Custom Course unless you have a waiver from the Dean of Graduate Studies. The length of a Custom Course paper is generally no more than 5000 words.
Your final assignment before you graduate will be to write your Capstone Paper. In this assignment, you will discuss what you have learned in each of your previous courses, how each course has helped you and what has happened to you as a result of completing your Rushmore programme. Your Capstone Paper will be evaluated by the Dean of Graduate Studies.
In our Chartered Management Institute Certified Programme, you will adhere to published curricula as required by the Institute. You will choose Professors in the same manner, but only those specific Professors who have been certified by the Institute may teach courses within the Institute’s program.
If you are a Chartered Management Institute student, please contact the Dean for additional information on setting up an additional Moodle Account for real-time tracking of your work, and for communication with your Professor. The Dean can also forward the specifics of the Institute’s requirements upon request.
How to Obtain Books
Books are not included in your tuition fees. You should plan on spending ~$US400 for your MBA/Master’s program books and ~$US700 for your PhD/DBA program books.
Most students order their hardcover, paperback and audio books online and have them shipped to them. Two popular sources for new and used books are Barnes and Noble (http://www.bn.com/) and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/). Another popular source for used books is Alibris (http://www.alibris.com/). Students in the UK might prefer http://www.Amazon.co.UK, http://www.WHSmith.co.UK, or http://www.bookstore.co.uk. You may also download some books as e-books or audio books or read them online.
We recommend that you do not use standard shipping if you live outside the United States or Canada unless you are prepared to wait up to twelve weeks for delivery. If you need your books more quickly than that, use expedited two- to five-day International Priority Shipping.
You will need a credit card to purchase your books over the Internet. If you do not have a credit card, we can assist you in your purchase. Simply send us the required funds via wire transfer or check and, in return, we will purchase a gift certificate and send it to you. Upon receipt you can purchase your books online using the gift certificate. Note that we cannot purchase books for you, nor can we download e-books for you. You must order the books yourself.
Requesting an Advisor
After you have selected a course, the next step is to arrange for an advisor for the course. You may ask to work with any member of the Rushmore faculty. Some faculty members work only in certain areas or with certain study levels of students and only specific Professors are certified for course presentation within the Chartered Management Institute Certified Program.
If you select one of these faculty members for your work, the Dean will assign an alternative choice certified to work within the area of interest. Alternatively, you may ask the Dean of Graduate Studies to assign a professor who is available to work with you.
Please realise, however, that some of the professors whom you request may not be available to work with you at the specific time that you request them. For this reason, we ask that you list at least three professors with whom you would like to work on your course.
To request an advisor for a course, complete the Advisor Request Form. This form is transmitted directly to the Dean of Graduate Studies. If you wish to be assigned the first available professor, note that in the space for requesting professors.
The Dean of Graduate Studies will select an available professor to work with you as your advisor and will notify your advisor of his or her assignment. Subsequently, you will receive a letter of acknowledgement from your advisor via email with any relevant instructions that he or she may have for you.
Normally you will work with your advisor by exchanging email messages. Occasionally you may need to discuss something with him or her over the telephone if that is feasible. Your advisor’s mission is to assist you throughout your course by offering advice and asking and answering questions.
Some professors use personal email accounts to sort through the large amount of material they receive daily. Watch for the correct email address to your professor of choice in the confirmation email from the professor to you
Calculation of Credits
In the Rushmore Open Studies Program, it is required that you maintain a Journal of the time that you devote to each course. We ask that you prepare your Journal in accordance with our standard template, available online. Your Journal will detail the time that you devoted to reading books for the course, researching collateral references, writing your course paper and revising the paper in response to comments from the editor. You will submit your Journal to your advisor when you submit the paper or project required for his or her review. Typically, professors award one credit hour for each 20 clock hours that the student devotes to a course. However, this may vary based upon the quality of work submitted and the proof which is demonstrated that you understand the objectives and can implement them within the course. For example, if you spend 60 hours on a course, you will receive three credits for the course.
Maintaining Your Journal
Maintaining a personal journal is an integral part of your Rushmore experience.
There are no examinations at Rushmore. Your journal is your documented record of the time that you spend on each course. You are required to submit your Journal to your advisor each time that you submit a course paper. Please document your activity for each course. This serves several purposes. It informs your advisor when you worked, how long you worked and what you were doing. You should also include observations in your Journal about what you thought was important and what you learned during each session. These notes will assist you when you are writing your course paper and will be essential when you develop your Capstone Paper.
We ask you to prepare your journal in accordance with our standard template.
Submitting a Paper for Grading
Note: All requirements and guidelines for writing your course paper can be found in Section 3.
After your editor has completed the final edit of your paper, make all of the changes and comply with all of the editor’s comments. Remove any editorial comments, notations, track-changes mark-ups or highlights and submit a clean copy of your paper, with a copy of your journal, to your advisor. If you have not worked with your professor previously, you should also send him or her a copy of your profile to serve as an introduction.
Your advisor will review the paper, make comments, award an appropriate number of credits for the paper and evaluate your course work with a letter grade.
Posting of Grades
In the Rushmore Open Studies Program, the individual professor or advisor will advise the student of the grade assigned for the paper or project, along with comments or advice for change. These grades will be sent to the student from the professor electronically upon assignment of a letter grade to the paper.
In the Chartered Management Institute Program, your grades are tracked within your Moodle Account, and can be reviewed at any time.
Grading of Work Product and Responsibilities Related Thereto
The grading system in use at Rushmore University is based upon a 4.0 QPA (A+) expectation of all work submitted. The University standard is to accept only A or B grades on work, with the opportunity extended to any student who achieves a “C” on any of his or her work to raise the grade by up to one letter grade by resubmission of the paper or work product required.
The grading system at Rushmore University is based upon the following:
Letter Grade | QPA | Equivalency |
---|---|---|
A+ | 4.0 | Equivalent to 95-100 Points vs. 100 Pt. Total |
A | 3.7 | Equivalent to 90-94 Points vs. 100 Pt. Total |
B+ | 3.5 | Equivalent to 85-89 Points vs. 100 Pt. Total |
B | 3.0 | Equivalent to 80-84 Points vs. 100 Pt. Total |
C+ | 2.5 | Equivalent to 75-79 Points vs. 100 Pt. Total |
C | 2.0 | Equivalent to 70-74 Points vs. 100 Pt. Total |
Grades below C are not recorded, and results must be improved or students are not credited with the work attempted during the course. Grades of D and F are rarely if ever, assigned. They convey zero QPA points if assigned.
The Official University Grading Scale is printed on each Transcript furnished to a student or at the request of a student. Your advisor will tell you how to do that when he returns your capstone paper.
Keep Permanent Records of Assignments
Students are required to keep a copy of all graded work. In the event of a technology failure destroying an online grade book requiring grades to be recreated, it will be the student’s responsibility to provide a copy of those assignments grades.
Dropping Courses
A student may drop a course at any time during his or her course of study and may substitute other courses within the same curricular sequence. The University does not track either Withdrawals/Failing or Withdrawals/Passing, since the sequence of events leading up to the drop may not be principally focused on the content required of the course.
Final Exams
Since all courses require the writing of papers or project synopses, there are no written final exams.
Publication of Papers
We encourage you to publish your papers. Among prospective outlets for your papers are your personal website, professional or academic journals and other business publications. Some of our students have even consolidated their course papers into a book.
As a published author with a degree, you will have more status, recognition, appeal and credibility than graduates of traditional business schools who rely solely on their degrees.
If you wish your course paper to be made available for publication, please make your advisor aware that the paper is available by so indicating on the title page. Simply answer “Yes” to the question: “Permission to Publish on the Website?” Your Advisor will assess whether your paper is sufficiently meritorious to be published in the Rushmore Forum. If he believes that it is, he will recommend it to the Dean of Graduate Studies for publication. The Dean is solely responsible for the publication of content that carries the Rushmore logo and endorsement.
Steps for Initial Student Activity
Co-authored by Alan Guinn, Dean of Graduate Studies, Elizabeth Miller, Director of Editing Services, and Laurel Barley, former Chief Editor
Editor’s note: Some material in this section will be familiar to many students. The content and style have been purposely tailored to ensure all requirements are understood by undergraduates, students from countries with different educational systems, and students for whom English is not the primary language. However, even experienced graduates of UK and US universities should skim all the material for requirements specific to Rushmore University.
Unless you have been notified to the contrary, your Student ID is the initial of your first name followed by your last name, all in lower case font. For example, if your name is “John Smith,” your Student ID is “jsmith.”
Now that you have enrolled, you are ready to start your programme. To begin, we ask you to perform a few, simple, one-time tasks:
- Develop your online profile.
- Set up and maintain your journal.
- Develop your website. This is an optional task. If you decide to create your own personal site, you will receive credits for your effort.
The next step is to choose an area of study, develop your personal curriculum and submit it to the Dean of Graduate Studies for review and approval. We offer an extensive list of suggested courses that have been popular with our students, among them:
- Short Courses
- Courses Based on Books by Rushmore Professors
- Practical Courses
- Research Courses
Many students are not comfortable with establishing their entire curricula at the outset. This presents no problem. If you elect to defer your curriculum, we have some suggestions below for your first courses in the absence of a curriculum.
In Section 2 you will find information on how to obtain the books that you will need for your courses and how to request an Advisor for each course, both of which you must do prior to beginning any course.
Questions
If you have any questions whatsoever as you pursue your studies, please let us know. There are three routes to have your questions answered:
- If you are beginning your programme and have questions, pose them to the Director of Admissions ( ) You may contact him with your questions at any time during your programme.
- If you are working with a Rushmore editor, address your questions to him or her. If your editor is unable to assist you, you will be referred to the appropriate person.
- In the unlikely event neither of these routes yields results, feel free to contact the Dean of Graduate Studies ( )
Layout, Format, and Requirements of a Course Paper (excluding dissertations/theses)
Please note if you do not know how to perform any of the Word program functions required to format your paper correctly, there are many resources available to you: your Help Directory or the software manual that came with your program, work colleagues or friends, or community education classes will be available in most countries. Correct formatting is the student’s responsibility.
Lenght
For Chartered Management Institute courses, the length will be specified in the course requirements. For the Rushmore Open Coursework Program courses, the maximum number of words in a practical paper is 3,500 words, and for a research paper it is 5,000 words. This can be exceeded only with the authorisation of the Dean of Graduate Studies.
Title page
A template will be sent by the Editing Service when you have completed your profile.
Table of Contents
You do not have to include a table of contents. If you do include one, it should be generated by the Insert, Index & Tables command. Make sure that you use the Styles menu for formatting the headings and sub-headings.
Page set-up and formatting
Set your computer to A4 size, with top/bottom margins of at least 2.5 cm and left/right margins of 3.1 cm. Papers should be written in Times New Roman, font size of 12, with 14 for the headings.
Insert a header, giving your name and the course number. Your footer should have the page numbers in the format Page x of x.
Alignment
Paragraphs can be flush with the margin or indented, but all paragraphs must be formatted consistently. If indenting is used, indent the paragraphs with a tab stop, not spaces, and leave a blank line between paragraphs.
A very long quote of more than one paragraph should be indented.
Lists
Lists should be formatted with the Word Bullet and Numbering function.
- Make sure your columns are correctly aligned.
- Keep the same style of bullet points throughout the paper.
- Be consistent from the list to list with the formatting. If you write one list in sentence case, write them all in sentence case. (Sentence case is like a sentence – the first word starts with a capital letter.)
- Make sure every bullet point follows grammatically from your introduction to make a complete sentence.
Tables
- Use the Table function
- Use clear column headings
- Align numbers to the decimal point, or right align for whole numbers
Quotes & Footnotes
Rushmore requires citations to be given in footnotes, not endnotes.
See these sources for how to cite sources you relied on in your paper:
- A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabian: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0226816273/