Office of the Registrar

Academic Standing Committee: Guideline 7

The Committee on Academic Standing will consider requests for exceptions to the Reinstatement Rules only in those rare situations in which all four of the following conditions are met:

1. The poor academic performance was the result of extraordinary circumstances that have been demonstrably corrected or substantially addressed, and should no longer adversely influence the student's academic performance. Documentation of these circumstances should be provided (i.e. medical records, obituaries or death certificates, etc.)
2. The head advisor of the student's college, or the student's academic advisor, in consultation with the head advisor, is willing and able to argue convincingly that the student has a strong probability of completing the degree program to which the student would be reinstated.
3. In addition to the poor academic performance, there is also evidence in the academic record of an ability to succeed academically and make timely progress toward completion of a degree program.
4. The student provides a proposed schedule for the next three terms and a detailed plan to foster academic improvement, which have been reviewed and endorsed by the head advisor, or academic advisor, in consultation with the head advisor. Required Learning Contract.

The committee recognizes that there may be cases which require review and merit exception. Exceptions are imaginable where the term or terms of poor performance are somewhat isolated, and clearly linked to an extraordinary occurrence (such as a health problem) that has been ameliorated, or to unusually challenging circumstances whose impact on the student has been substantially relieved. It must be made clear, however, that exceptions will be granted only rarely. To warrant exception, the academic record should contain evidence that, in the absence of the problem asserted by the student as responsible for the poor performance, the student can succeed; more simply, there should be on record at least one term in which the student performed successfully in courses that contribute to progress toward a degree. Furthermore, the student must present a clear plan of action, endorsed by the head advisor, which includes a program of contact with recognized academic support staff. Finally, advocacy, and not mere "approval," by a head advisor, or by an academic advisor in consultation with the head advisor, is a crucial necessary condition for an exception. Students also may submit evidence of support from other representatives of recognized university support services in addition to, but not in lieu of, letters from departmental and college advisors.

Sept. 26, 2003