Academic and Cultural Events Series (ACES) Credit Requirements

Freshman students: A minimum of 2.0 credits must be earned in the first four semesters of attendance.

Credit Calculations for Transfer Students: The amount of credit required to graduate depends on transferred credit hours accepted by the Registrar's office based on the chart below. Transfer students must earn ACES credits in consecutive semesters beginning with the first semester.

Earning ACES Credit

A student earns 0.5 credits in a semester by attending eight ACES events with the following event distribution:
•    2 Cultural Events
•    3 Academic Events sponsored by three different schools
•    3 Elective Events (Cultural or Academic)

Cultural events include professional performance groups visiting Buena Vista University. Events are free, but do require a ticket for admittance. Tickets are available several days prior to an event at the information desk in the Harold Walter Siebens Forum.

Academic Events are lectures, demonstrations, or participatory events on specific topics or themes.

BVU has five schools within the university: Business, Education, Science, Social Science, and Communication and Arts. Each Academic ACES will be sponsored by a school. An event will at least be sponsored by at least one school. You must make sure that you are attending a variety of school sponsored events by attending events that are not all sponsored by one school.

Attendance Guidelines

•    Doors are closed at the scheduled starting times. Late arrivals or early departures will not be given attendance credit.
•    Should the location room fill to capacity, the doors will be closed. Be prepared and come early if you must attend a certain event.
•    Credit for ACES events is subject to appropriate, respectful behavior during events.
•    Laptop computers are prohibited.
•    All tobacco products are prohibited.
•    Food is prohibited. Beverages are prohibited in Anderson Auditorium and Schaller Chapel.
•    You should consider their attire prior to attending an ACES event.
•    Specifically, at an Academic event, if dressed appropriately, you might have an opportunity to pursue a future internship or employment opportunity with the help of a guest lecturer.
•    At Cultural events, the standard is dress casual. We strongly suggest that you "make a night of it" and get dressed up.
•    We do not allow baseball caps or other casual headgear, nor do we allow any type of work-out attire.