Skip to Content

Search: {{$root.lsaSearchQuery.q}}, Page {{$root.page}}

OS Academic Policies

Access to Courses
OS 100/200-level courses are open to all UM students. 

For upper-level OS courses, OS majors are guaranteed space in the Core and Senior Research courses(OS 305, OS 310, OS 410) each fall term. 

All other ORGSTUDY 300/400-level courses have caps on enrollments, and OS majors are not guaranteed a spot in any specific course. Some seats will be saved for OS students in these upper-level ORGSTUDY classes during the first few days of registration. After this preferential registration period, all remaining seats will be open to all UM students on a first-come, first-served basis. If not able to register, OS students should join the course waitlist, and will typically be given preferential treatment off the waitlist for ORGSTUDY courses. 

P/F Courses
Prerequisite courses (Intro Psych, Intro Soc, Microecon) may be elected P/F.

Courses counted toward the OS major may not be elected P/F.

Independent study or experiential courses offered only on a credit/no credit basis are unlikely to be approved, but may be submitted to the major advisor for review.

Required Attendance at Start of Term
In accordance with LSA policy, it is required that students attend the first two meetings of any OS class. The OS Program may drop the student from the course if they are not in attendance at each of the first two class meetings.

Transfer credit (including study abroad)
Equivalent transfer credit may be used to fulfill OS major requirements. Other types of transfer credit may be used upon approval of the program director.

A maximum of two courses taken off the AA campus may be counted to fulfill major requirements. 

Independent Study Credit
Independent Study credit (ORGSTUDY 499) is only counted toward the OS Major with approval of the faculty by petition.

Minimum acceptable grades and grade point averages
Students must receive a passing grade (D- or above) for a course to be counted toward their major.

Students must achieve an overall cumulative gpa of 2.0 to graduate from LSA.

Students must achieve a major gpa of 2.0 to graduate with a major in OS. The major gpa includes any course used to fulfill a major requirement, plus any course with the designation “ORGSTUDY”, even if not used for a major requirement. The major gpa does not include prerequisites.

To receive an honors designation after completion of an honors project, the student must have a cumulative and major gpa of 3.40 or above.

Residency in OS Program
The major in Organizational Studies is considered to be a two-year program. It may be possible to complete the program in three full terms (Fall-Winter-Fall), but it is not possible to complete the major in one academic year.

OS students must take the OS core courses (OS 305 and OS 310) in the fall term of their first year in the program (junior year), and must take Senior Research in their second fall term in the program (OS 410 or OS 497). These courses are not offered in Winter terms, and may not be taken concurrently, so there is no way to accelerate this course sequence.

Due to the sequence of the major curriculum, OS students must typically spend fall terms in the junior and senior year in residence on the Ann Arbor campus. Winter terms are available for study abroad or other off-campus domestic programs.