Proposal to change options for students who are academically disqualified
Our current system
Academic Disqualification became an academic standing in Fall 12 when we changed from the
previous set of standings to those we currently have. Because F12 was a "hold-harmless"
transition semester for academic standings, the first time students were disqualified was after
Spring 13.
A student becomes academically disqualified if she was on academic probation levels of 1P or
2P at the start of the semester and fails to earn a semester GPA of at least 2.00. Students who
begin a semester on 3P avoid disqualification only if they earn a semester GPA high enough to
raise the cum GPA to at least 2.00.
When we created the standing, we said there would be four ways an academically disqualified
student could be reinstated:
1. Successfully appeal the disqualification to Academic Standards Committee.
2. Raise the cumulative GPA above 2.00 by taking FLC classes as a non-degree seeking
student (unclassified, “Guest” student). Guest status must be reconfirmed each
semester and requires a minimum 2.00 semester GPA in order to be allowed to
continue. Grades of D, F, I, or CW in any course result in termination of Guest privileges.
3. Take classes at another school and meet these specified transfer standards: at least 15
credits with 2.40 GPA and no Ds or Fs; all 15 credits must be in academically rigorous,
college level courses.
4. Take at least three years off from any college or university work and then request
Academic Renewal when reapplying to Fort Lewis College.
How has the Readmitted on Appeal program worked?
As expected. Rate of disqualification is about 1.5%. Of those disqualified, about 30% appeal. Of
these 40-50% are readmitted.
How have the Guest and Transfer programs worked?
Not as well as we hoped.
1. Only a quarter to a third of students in the Guest program have successfully repaired their
cum GPAs. Most have had Guest status revoked after the first semester in the program because
their semester GPA was not at least 2.0. Most have had several grades of D & F.
2. Managing the Guest program has been more labor intensive than expected. Advising,
Admission and Registrar's Office all must talk with the student and/or make multiple changes to
the student's record to get him admitted, advised, and registered. This must be done in a
coordinated way. Once the student is registered into approved classes, he must be monitored
pre-census to make sure registration hasn't changed and grades must be checked at the end of
the term.
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3. Managing the Transfer program is particularly time consuming. These students have to be
identified from the pool of transfer applicants and their transcripts individually reviewed by
Admissions and by Academic Standing Committee to make the readmit decision. Because we
don't apply transfer course grades to the FLC GPA, these students are readmitted with GPA
deficiencies that often cannot be repaired in one semester which virtually assures they will
again be seen by Academic Standards Committee.
How has the Academic Renewal program worked?
So far, no disqualified student has used this option. Other students, however, have. The
program is well-established and works smoothly when students are identified at the time of reapplication to FLC.
Proposed Changes
Effective April 1, 2015*
1. Discontinue the Guest program.
2. Discontinue the Transfer program.
3. Change the Academic Renewal policy to shorten the time students must be away from FLC
without taking college-level classes from three years to two years.
Implications
Academically disqualified students would have only two options. Either successfully appeal
their disqualification to ASC or sit out for two years (no college course work at any school) and
have their FLC GPA wiped clean via the academic renewal process upon return.
Academic Standards Committee would be able to streamline appeal review & decisions with
only two options to consider. Some decisions might be able to be handled by a Registrar's
Office professional based on clear decision rules.
Readmission and monitoring processes would be considerably simplified.
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*The Guest and Transfer programs will not be available to students who are academically
disqualified Spring 2015 or later. Student currently on these programs would be allowed to
continue. All students who were disqualified when these programs were available will be
contacted to let them know their options.
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