Academic Probation

[vaspas2019]

So my school is making changes to what puts students on academic probation and a lot of the policies for students on academic probation.  The new changes seem pretty strict, so it made me curious about what other programs' policies are because I know people in med school and vet school who have policies that are geared toward making sure you make it through school, such as chances to remediate multiple failed classes and chances to recycle (start the program over).  My program used to only have recycling as an option and now they're debating replacing it with one chance at remediation for the entire length of the program (and we have a longer program).  I am feeling stressed because I've been struggling, but up until now I always had the thought in the back of my head that "hey, you can always recycle".  Recycling is not my goal and I have been working my butt off to avoid it, but it was a comforting thought when I felt completely discouraged.  And now that option might not be an option.  Which is ratcheting my stress way up and making it really hard for me to not feel discouraged.  So what are policies at other schools?  What puts a student on probation?  What gets them off probation?  What gets a student kicked out?  Recycling an option?  Remediation an option?  Thanks for any feedback.

[UGoLong]

To begin with, what changes I've seen were instituted at the start of a new class so I wouldn't obsess over it. Our students remediate (doesn't change the grade on the exam -- they just have a chance to prove they know their stuff to continue in the course). They go on probation based on end of term grades.

[pastudentw]

My program deals with remediation similar to what UGoLong said.

Our standards are 3.0 cumulative GPA and passing a course must be a C or greater. 

The class above us used to have exam remediation where if they got below a 70% on an exam, they had to remediate it but with the 2019 cohort that I'm in they changed that to just passing the course as a whole so you could get below 70% on an individual exam but your overall grade had to average out to a C. If you have to do a remediation for a course, the highest you can get is a C.

These changes were implemented on a year/cohort basis. That means the class above us still has their academic standards that differs from the cohorts going forward, they didn't just change the rules on them in the middle of it all.

After that if you still don't pass, it just escalates up the faculty ladder. Our student manual have a step wise policy written out but I'm sure they also take some consideration of individual circumstances based on what the issue was. They can offer things like deceleration where you are rolled back to the next cohort and start over basically or eventually dismissal.

It is really important to meet with faculty when you see a downward slope ever happening rather than when everything is become unmanageable. 

[vaspas2019]

On 6/25/2017 at 11:59 AM, UGoLong said:

To begin with, what changes I've seen were instituted at the start of a new class so I wouldn't obsess over it. Our students remediate (doesn't change the grade on the exam -- they just have a chance to prove they know their stuff to continue in the course). They go on probation based on end of term grades.

So what happens when they're on probation?  What determines if they stay or get kicked out of the program?  What gets them off probation?  Thanks for the feedback.

Also, they told us some changes were for next years cohort, but they were offering them to us as well as a second option in addition to our starting policy, whichever works best for us, but then other parts they wasn't super clear on, but they were major changes, like not being able to recycle, and it was very unclear whether that was for them or us and when we asked questions, we never got straight answers.  Hence, my apprehension.  

[vaspas2019]

On 6/25/2017 at 2:57 PM, pastudentw said:

My program deals with remediation similar to what UGoLong said.

Our standards are 3.0 cumulative GPA and passing a course must be a C or greater. 

The class above us used to have exam remediation where if they got below a 70% on an exam, they had to remediate it but with the 2019 cohort that I'm in they changed that to just passing the course as a whole so you could get below 70% on an individual exam but your overall grade had to average out to a C. If you have to do a remediation for a course, the highest you can get is a C.

These changes were implemented on a year/cohort basis. That means the class above us still has their academic standards that differs from the cohorts going forward, they didn't just change the rules on them in the middle of it all.

After that if you still don't pass, it just escalates up the faculty ladder. Our student manual have a step wise policy written out but I'm sure they also take some consideration of individual circumstances based on what the issue was. They can offer things like deceleration where you are rolled back to the next cohort and start over basically or eventually dismissal.

It is really important to meet with faculty when you see a downward slope ever happening rather than when everything is become unmanageable. 

How many chances at remediation do you get (for different classes, not for the same class)?  Unlimited? Certain limit? My program is talking about it being a one shot deal, which seems insane to me.

Right now we have just recycling (what you called rolled back), and no remediation.  They're talking about replacing it with 1 time remediation, so recycling will no longer be an option, and you only have 1 time to remediate, if you need to remediate anything else, you're out.  

I have been meeting with tutors and offices to help people and faculty, but one class just really killed me and it took all of my time and effort, and all my other classes suffered because I just had to pass that class.  It's put me in a place where it's going to be borderline impossible to get off of academic probation and I have no other options.  It just seemed harsh to me, and to the rest of the class even though they aren't in my position, so I was curious what other policies were out there.

Thanks for all the feedback.

[UGoLong]

At our school, you go on probation and have one term to get back to a cumulative 3.0. if you don't, you are done and can later petition to go into the next cohort. You'll have to see what your program's rule is.

If you are not presently on probation, I suggest you put your energy into day to day doing well and not focusing on a worst case scenario. Life is too short for that.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[kko0403]

On 6/25/2017 at 3:57 PM, pastudentw said:

My program deals with remediation similar to what UGoLong said.

Our standards are 3.0 cumulative GPA and passing a course must be a C or greater. 

The class above us used to have exam remediation where if they got below a 70% on an exam, they had to remediate it but with the 2019 cohort that I'm in they changed that to just passing the course as a whole so you could get below 70% on an individual exam but your overall grade had to average out to a C. If you have to do a remediation for a course, the highest you can get is a C.

These changes were implemented on a year/cohort basis. That means the class above us still has their academic standards that differs from the cohorts going forward, they didn't just change the rules on them in the middle of it all.

After that if you still don't pass, it just escalates up the faculty ladder. Our student manual have a step wise policy written out but I'm sure they also take some consideration of individual circumstances based on what the issue was. They can offer things like deceleration where you are rolled back to the next cohort and start over basically or eventually dismissal.

It is really important to meet with faculty when you see a downward slope ever happening rather than when everything is become unmanageable. 

My program is identical to this except that they do not allow deceleration if you fail. I’m worried because I’m on academic probation right now and I’m about to enter my second semester. 

[UGoLong]

1 hour ago, kko0403 said:

My program is identical to this except that they do not allow deceleration if you fail. I’m worried because I’m on academic probation right now and I’m about to enter my second semester. 

Easier to pull up grades with only one semester under your belt. You pretty much need to be as much about the target this semester as you were below it last semester. Just plan it out and work hard. And see what happens; you're still in the game.

Good luck!

[SHU-CH]

We have two routes to probation. If your GPA drops below 3.0 you have two semesters to get it back up above 3.0 or you are subject to dismissal. If you fail a course, you are placed on probation and required to repeat it with a B or better the next time it is offered. 

It does not sound like it on the student end, but programs really try to be humane in developing policies. We know everyone can slip up and we want to give these people a route to getting back in good standing. But it is also a big concern that students who will not be successful in PA school are identified and counseled as soon as possible. No one wants to see a student get further into debt if they have no realistic chance of success. 

Finally, regarding remediation - a program must have some remediation policies in place. They can be applied to courses, individual assessments, etc, but they must exist. Make sure you know what they are and you are taking full advantage of resources available to you.