Program Policies

The NYU Master of Public Health program values both open inquiry and academic integrity. Student in the program are expected to follow standards of excellence set forth by New York University. Such standards include respect, honesty and responsibility. The program does not tolerate violations to academic integrity including:

• Plagiarism
• Cheating on an exam
• Submitting your own work toward requirements in more than one course without prior approval from the instructor
• Collaborating with other students for work expected to be completed individually
• Giving your work to another student to submit as his/her own
• Purchasing or using papers or work online or from a commercial firm and presenting it as your own work

Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the Program and University’s policy on academic integrity as they will be expected to adhere to such policies at all times – as a student and an alumni of New York University.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism, whether intended or not, is not tolerated in the NYU Master of Public Health program. Plagiarism involves presenting ideas and/or words without acknowledging the source and includes any of the following acts[1]:

• Using a phrase, sentence, or passage from another writer's work without using quotation marks 
• Paraphrasing a passage from another writer's work without attribution
• Presenting facts, ideas, or written text gathered or downloaded from the Internet as your own
• Submitting another student's work with your name on it
• Submitting your own work toward requirements in more than one course without prior approval from the instructor
• Purchasing a paper or "research" from a term paper mill.

Students in the NYU Master of Public Health program are responsible for understanding what constitutes plagiarism. All students are asked to sign a pledge of academic integrity during orientation. Students are encouraged to discuss specific questions with faculty instructors and to utilize the many resources available at New York University.

Disciplinary Sanctions

When a professor suspects cheating, plagiarism, and/or other forms of academic dishonesty, appropriate disciplinary action is as follows:

• The Professor will meet with the student to discuss, and present evidence for the particular violation, giving the student opportunity to refute or deny the charge(s).
• If the Professor confirms that violation(s), he/she, in consultation with the Program Director and may take any of the following actions:
• Allow the student to redo the assignment
• Lower the grade for the work in question
• Assign a grade of F for the work in question
• Assign a grade of F for the course
• Recommend dismissal

Once an action(s) is taken, the Professor will inform the Program Director and the Administrative Director, and inform the student in writing, instructing the student to schedule an appointment with the Executive Vice President for Health, as a final step. The student has the right to appeal the action taken in accordance with the program’s Student Complaint Procedure as outlined in the NYU Master of Public Health Bulletin.

1 Adapted from the Expository Writing Program, “Statement on Academic Integrity”, undated, www.nyu.edu/cas/ewp/. 

A cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 is required for graduation in the NYU Master of Public Health program. Students are expected to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 throughout their academic career. Students who fall below the required GPA during any semester are placed on academic probation and monitored closely for academic progress. Students who are on academic probation may be restricted in the number of courses taken during a given semester. A student whose GPA falls below the required minimum for 2 consecutive semesters may be asked to withdraw from the program. 

In general, auditing courses in the NYU Master of Public Health program is not permitted. Exceptions will be considered on rare occasion, with a written request. In all cases, instructor approval and program director approval must be granted. Audited courses incur the same tuition as the course taken for credit. Please note that no credit will be given or letter grade recorded, no withdrawals will be honored or refunds granted on courses so audited. Tuition remission may not be applied.  

All students in the NYU Master of Public Health program are admitted into one of three areas of concentration. Selection is made at the time of application and is included in University academic records. Approval to change concentration areas after matriculation will be made on a case by case basis. To be considered for a change in concentration, the student must be in good academic standing and meet all of the admissions requirements for that concentration. A Change of Concentration Application must be completed and returned to the program office for review.

Students who have received graduate-level training on the subject matter of a core course prior to enrolling in the NYU Master of Public Health program may discuss a waiver with the Program Director. Waivers do not reduce the credits toward degree requirement but do allow students to take more electives. Waivers much be approved prior to the start of the course to be waived. Waivers will not be granted for Integrative Seminar, Internship or Capstone. 

Community and International Heath and Public Health Nutrition concentrations: accepted applicants whose native language is not English are required to take a placement examination, for an additional fee, at New York University’s American Language Institute (ALI) on arrival. Based on the performance on this examination, a student may e required to take noncredit remedial English course work before or while taking regular academic course work.

Global Health Leadership concentration: all accepted applicants are expected to demonstrate English proficiency at the time of matriculation. Any student who shows deficiency in English at the start of the program will be provided with a variety of available resources and will be expected to use those resources on their own time and at their own expense as a means of making adequate academic progress in the program. 

Students in the NYU Master of Public Health program are expected to complete all course requirements on time.  Under extraordinary circumstances (such as a medical emergency), the temporary grade of IP (incomplete pass) or IF (incomplete fail) may be recorded for a student who is unable to complete course requirements. To receive an incomplete grade, the student should make a formal request using the Incomplete Grade Request form (available in the Office of the NYU Master of Public Health Program). The form must be signed by both the student and the course instructor. The request will include the reason for the incomplete, the work to be completed, and the final date the work is to be completed.

An incomplete grade must be removed within the time limit set by the instructor, which limit may not exceed six months after the close of the course. Students in the NYU Master of Public Health Program are allowed a maximum of 2 incomplete grades on their transcript at any one time. Students with 9 credits or more of IP, IF, or N on their transcripts at any one time will be considered as not making satisfactory progress in their program of study and will be subject to probation. Students who have three probationary terms or two consecutive probationary terms will be subject to dismissal.   

Approval of independent study will be granted in exceptional cases only. If a student desires independent study, he/she should obtain the necessary forms available from the Office of the NYU Master of Public Health program.

The request will address the following:

(1) rationale for the independent study including how the experience will fulfill his/her academic goals outside of the courses offered at NYU

(2) a brief proposal including learning objectives and activities

(3) the faculty member who has agreed to supervise the course of study

(4) the final outcome/deliverable of the course (paper, project, data analysis, etc) and

(5) the number of credits requested.

A signature of the faculty supervisor must be included before the request will be considered. It should be noted that independent study requires a minimum of 45 hours of work per point. A maximum of 3 credits of independent study is allowed and can be applied only after 24 credits have been earned. 

Students in good standing may request a temporary withdrawal from the program for one or more semesters for illness, national service, or extraordinary personal reasons. Requests must be made in writing and students are referred to the program Administrative Director, 240 Greene Street, 2nd Floor (212-992-6741) to complete an interview as part of the official procedure. Leaves of absence do not carry a fee, and students do not have access to University facilities during this period. 

Students who receive scholarship from the NYU Master of Public Health program relinquish the scholarship if a leave of absence is taken. They may reapply for program scholarship at the time of readmission.

To maintain matriculation, students must either (1) be registered for course work during the Fall and Spring semester for at least one credit-bearing course or (2) on approval of the Administrative Director, be registered for maintenance of matriculation. Maintenance of matriculation carries a fee, which allows the student access to all University facilities. No degree can be awarded to a student who is not matriculated. 

Note: students in the NYU Master of Public Health program must complete all degree requirements within 6 years of the initial date of matriculation. The time to complete degree requirements includes any semester(s) for which students took a leave of absence or paid maintenance of matriculation. Students who do not maintain matriculation must apply for readmission and will be reviewed against all new applicants for admission.

Matriculated students in the NYU Master of Public Health program do not have the option to take credits toward their degree on a pass/fail basis. The only exception to this policy is those courses that are designated as pass/fail.

Permission to transfer credit from an institution outside of New York University must be obtained from the Office of the NYU Master of Public Health program. Transfer credit may be accepted only from accredited colleges and universities. Course work must have been completed within the last 5 years with a grade of B or better and may not have been counted toward another degree. A maximum of 9 credits can be transferred into the program. Forms for approval of transfer credit are available in the Office of the NYU Master of Public Health program. All requests for transfer of credit must be accompanied by the official transcript showing evidence of the grade and credit received, as well as the syllabus for the course to be transferred. Decisions regarding transfer of credit will not be made prior to official matriculation into the program. Note: Transfer credit cannot be applied toward the Integrative Seminar, Internship or Capstone.