New Academic Progress Policy:
Part II
This edition of the Advising Essentials provides a case study applying the updated Academic Difficulty and Recovery Policy procedures and best practices for working with students in this situation. The previous edition of the Advising Essentials detailed the logistics of the policy; it can be viewed in the archives .
The Context
The Academic Progress Policy is best explained by a case study of a student. Let's take a look at Taylor, a fictitious student at Behrend. Taylor is currently in his third semester and is exploring majors such as Biology and Electrical Engineering; he is in the DUS pre-major. Last spring, he struggled with balancing his coursework with his extracurricular responsibilities. Before the spring semester, his cumulative GPA was a 2.26. He earned a 0.92 GPA for the spring semester, bringing his cumulative GPA down to a 1.85. He has 12 credits on his schedule for this fall semester.

The Student's Academic Standing
Because Taylor's cumulative GPA dipped below a 2.0 after the spring semester, he is now in Academic Warning status. An Academic Warning registration hold was put on his LionPATH account and he received communications from Behrend regarding his academic standing. This registration hold prevents him from adding or dropping classes on his schedule. The hold will remain on his account until he meets with his academic adviser.

Taylor needs to earn a semester GPA of at least a 2.0 this fall in order to continue taking classes at Penn State in the spring. If he does not earn the 2.0 GPA this semester, he will face Academic Suspension.

Possible Interventions
Because Taylor is in the DUS pre-major, his adviser is a DUS adviser in the Academic and Career Planning Center. The ACPC requires that students on Academic Warning meet with their adviser twice before having the registration hold removed from the student's LionPATH account.

During the first meeting, Taylor and his adviser review the Academic Progress Policy so he understands the possible consequences if he does not earn a 2.0 this semester.

Prior to the first meeting, the adviser instructs Taylor to complete the Self-Reflection Checklist activity. Taylor's responses to this activity guide the conversation during the first meeting. Through the conversation, Taylor's adviser learns that he struggles with time management and feeling depressed, both of which affected his academic performance last semester. At this point, the adviser makes referrals to help address Taylor's struggles, which in this case would be to Personal Counseling and Student Success, among others.

During the second meeting, Taylor's adviser helps him develop an academic action plan . He creates two goals that will help address his struggles and work toward improvement in those areas this semester. Taylor and his adviser discuss strategies and resources he can use to help him meet his goals.

Though Taylor is only required to meet with his adviser twice, his adviser encourages him to check in throughout the semester--even when things are going well. When it isn't going well, his adviser continues to make appropriate referrals and helps him learn ways to be successful.

Utilizing Recovery Points
To help Taylor understand his situation and how long it will take him to move back to good academic standing, his adviser utilizes the recovery points calculator. Using this online tool, the adviser inputs the number of credits Taylor has already completed (40.5) and his cumulative GPA (1.85). The calculator determines that Taylor has 6.07 recovery points. Rounding up to the nearest whole number, this means that Taylor will have to earn a B or better in 7 credits in order to boost his cumulative GPA to a 2.0.

Knowing this, Taylor understands that it is realistic for him to return to good academic standing in a timely manner--potentially after one semester if he does well in his classes. Conversely, students who have a high amount of recovery points will realize that they might not return to good standing right away.

What Happens Next
If Taylor earns a mix of B's and B-'s in his 12 credits this fall, he will have a semester GPA of a 2.8 and a cumulative GPA of a 2.04. His cumulative GPA is now above a 2.0, so he will start the spring semester in good academic standing.
If Taylor earns a 2.0 GPA for the semester by earning all C's in his classes, he will return to Behrend in the spring, still in Academic Warning status. He will once again have a registration hold placed on his account until he meets with his adviser.
If Taylor does not earn C's or better in his classes this semester and his semester GPA is below a 2.0, he will be academically suspended for two consecutive semesters--in this case, spring 2020 and summer 2020. With the new policy in place this year, Taylor has the ability to petition his suspension:

  • If he has been actively involved in a recovery plan and has 15 or fewer recovery points after all grades are reported for the current semester, he can petition to prevent his suspension and continue for the next semester. The deadline for this petition is the end of the business day after the last day of final exams.

  • If he does not meet the requirements for an immediate stay of Academic Suspension, he may be eligible to petition to shorter the length of his suspension from two semesters to one semester. The deadline for the reduction petition is the late drop deadline for a regular session course of their first semester of Academic Suspension.
Conclusion

This case study presents one scenario of how the new Academic Progress Policy could be applied to a student. The most notable changes from to the new policy include the Recovery Points and the options to petition suspension.

If you have questions about this policy or wish to have further training on the topic, please reach out to the DUS advisers by emailing askacpc@psu.edu.
Additional Readings

Thank you,