Academic Disqualification FAQ

Student who was already on Academic Probation will be disqualified in any of three circumstances:

1. overall GPA below 2.0 AND did not have a Successful Semester (Adherence to the Academic Success Plan is not applicable here) OR
2. overall GPA below 2.0 AND has a Successful Semester AND did NOT follow the stipulations of Academic Success Plan OR
3. overall GPA above 2.0 AND did not have a Successful Semester AND did NOT follow the stipulations of Academic Success Plan

If you believe one or more of your grades are in error you need to contact the instructor as soon as possible. The instructor can verify the grade based on their records. If there is an error, the instructor can submit a change of grade form. Grade changes can only occur based on a clerical error, so you cannot ask for additional work or a change to an incomplete grade.

If the grade change is approved, the Registrar will recompute your semester and cumulative GPA. You will be notified of the grade change and the change, if any, in your academic status.

If there is no grade change, then the disqualification remains. There are deadlines for appealing a disqualification and if you decide to pursue a grade change and no grade change is forthcoming and you haven't appealed your disqualification then you will not return to Oswego for the next semester. The moral is that you should appeal the disqualification while you pursue the grade change.

While it is true that a single grade change may change your status from "Disqualified" to "Academic Probation" or "Good Standing," the fact that a single grade change can have such an impact is evidence that your academic record is fragile and you should meet with your advisor in order to discuss ways of strengthening that record.

The Incomplete grade is not included in the computation of your GPA. Your academic standing is based upon the completed coursework and if those grades were poor, you may have disqualified. Once you have disqualified, you must apply for reinstatement. Your letter of appeal should focus on the reasons behind those poor grades. The status of the Incomplete should be discussed in your letter of appeal but you need to be aware that the reason for your disqualification is the poor grades you have and not the Incomplete. The promise of a good grade to replace the Incomplete is not sufficient for reinstatement.

No. If you are a academically disqualified student you may not take any courses at SUNY Oswego.

There are two categories of disqualification. Students who have a severe academic deficit fall in the category of Mandatory Semester Off (MSO). Such a severe deficit cannot be resolved in a single semester, which is a normal expectation of all reinstated students. Consequently, students who are MSO are expected to spend their time away from Oswego reassessing why they are in college and addressing the difficulties that led to their poor performance. Sometimes these are financial issues, or health issues, or personal problems that must be successfully confronted.

In addition students need to demonstrate academic success by taking coursework elsewhere. This coursework should include repeating courses in which there are poor grades at Oswego, in order to reduce the size of the academic deficit. The coursework should also demonstrate an ability to succeed in the desired major. This will not guarantee that an appeal of disqualification will succeed, but without such positive evidence of academic success all appeals will be denied.

There are two types of students who might appeal a disqualification: students who have just disqualified and wish to return for the next semester, and students who previously disqualified and who have been away from Oswego for at least a semester.

If you are a current student who has just completed a semester and have been academically disqualified send a letter to the Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, 601 Culkin Hall, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126. See below for a description of the letter. The deadline for receipt of a letter of appeal is generally 2-3 weeks after grades are posted.  Disqualified students will receive complete details by email from the Dean's office at the appropriate time.  

If you are a former student who has been away from the College for at least one semester and were in good academic standing at the time of your departure, please submit the online form requesting readmission, available through the Registrar’s web site. The Dean’s office will contact you about your next steps as soon as the form is received.

If you are a former student who has been away from the College for at least one semester after having disqualified, you will need to appeal for readmission. Submit the online form requesting readmission, available through the Registrar’s web site. Official transcripts of academic work done while away from Oswego will need to be sent to the Dean’s office for your appeal to be considered. Also, send a letter to the Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, 601 Culkin Hall, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126. See below for a description of the letter. The deadline for completion of these is June 1 (for fall readmission) and December 1 (for spring readmission).

In preparing your appeal letter, you should make sure that your statements are clear and speak to your reasons for disqualification and your anticipated plan for academic success. Since this is your opportunity to provide all relevant information, please take the time to edit your own statements for accuracy and completeness. Your written appeal should clearly indicate

1. The cause(s) of your disqualification
2. Your current major interest
3. Your reason(s) for seeking reinstatement at this time 
4. Your plan for academic success

For students who have been away from the college, the letter should also include

1. Your current activities
2. What you have done since leaving Oswego, including coursework

You should realize that reinstatement, particularly for those who were under Academic Probation, is only granted in extraordinary circumstances. It is in your best interest to consider alternative educational and/or career plans in case you are not reinstated. We encourage all students seeking reinstatement to apply to other colleges, since your appeal may very well be denied.

In Arts & Sciences, the Associate Dean chairs an Appeal Committee composed of several faculty and staff. Included is a representative of the Admissions Office, the Office of Learning Services, the Athletic Department and faculty from across the college. When an appeal is considered the Committee has the student's permanent folder, current Oswego transcript, transcripts from other institutions (especially in the case of students who have been away for a semester or more), and the letter of appeal. While the transcripts are projected for the entire committee to view, the letter is read aloud and the full academic record discussed.

A decision is made to reinstate or deny reinstatement. Students to be reinstated will return under Academic Probation. If the decision is to deny reinstatement, the reasons for the denial will be made clear in a summary letter.

Students who have begun a Winter or Summer session course before the grade reports for the previous semester are created are allowed the complete the course they have begun prior to their disqualification. The outcome of the course(s) does not change their academic status and they must appeal their disqualification.

Academic Standing is only determined at end of the Fall or Spring terms; they do not change during Summer or Winter sessions.

Your cumulative GPA is based on attempted hours and quality points (see How do I calculate a GPA?). To repair your GPA and move it well above the 2.00 minimum needed for graduation (and to remain in Good Standing), you must make up any quality point deficit you may have.

Suppose you have an 8 quality point deficit (perhaps you have 62 hours and 116 quality points). If your schedule is based upon 15 new credit hours (no repeated courses), then you would need at least 38 quality points to clear your average (30 quality points for "C" grades in the courses plus the eight point deficit). That would be a semester Average of 2.53 or a semester with three "B-" grades and two "C+" grades.

If instead you repeat a "D" grade, your schedule would be 15 hours (12 new hours and 3 repeated hours). In order to clear your average, you would need a 2.33 semester average or a semester of five courses, all with "C+" grades.

These calculations assume you clear to exactly a 2.00 GPA and provide no cushion for any poor grade in the future.

So while you may not need a course that is stipulated to be repeated because your major has or will change, without repeating the course the task of clearing the cumulative GPA is that much more difficult. Generally the Committee stipulates specific courses to be repeated that are required for the (new) major or to satisfy general education requirements. The only time courses from an "old" major are stipulated is if no other reasonable options for clearing the cumulative GPA exist. 

The disqualification is based on cumulative GPA and not on the most recent semester's grades. That cumulative GPA is the result of a mixed pattern of success (or lack of success) in a variety of courses and no two students have the same academic history, as a result of the case-by-case personal review of each appeal, the decisions are unrelated and it may appear that one student was reinstated while a "similar" case was denied reinstatement. Such surface similarities, however, mask the underlying problems and potential for successfully returning to Good Standing. At all times, the Committee's decision is based on maximizing the chances of a returning student to achieve Good Standing and make progress towards the successful completion of a degree.

There have been, usually due to extraordinary circumstances, a few students who have been reinstated on several occasions. In most cases, once a student disqualifies a second time they are not reinstated. One exception to this would be a reinstatement under the Forgiveness Policy (see the college catalog for details) which is available to students who have been away from the college for more than two years. With the institution of the Academic Probation policy in spring 2016, there will be a far lesser likelihood of reinstatement after disqualification for any student than in previous years.

Yes. A Liberal Arts & Sciences student who wishes to be reinstated into a different division of the college (School of Business, School of Communication, Media and the Arts, or School of Education) should not appeal to the College of Arts & Sciences for reinstatement, but rather should appeal to the appropriate Dean. You should be aware, however, that some of these majors require very high GPA in order to access the programs and disqualified students by definition lack the requisite academic record. Without additional coursework taken at another institution while away from Oswego, you will not be reinstated directly into those majors. If business or education is truly what you desire, you should contact those offices to see what specific coursework you should take to strengthen your appeal.

Academic standing is based on the cumulative quality point index or grade point average (GPA), and it is determined by assigning a numerical value for each letter grade earned according to the following:

A: 4.00
A-: 3.67
B+: 3.33
B: 3.00
B-: 2.67
C+: 2.33
C: 2.00
C-: 1.67
D+: 1.33
D: 1.00
D-: 0.67
E: 0.00

No other grades carry quality point value. The following grades are not computed in the grade point average:

• S-Satisfactory
• U-Unsatisfactory
• P-Passing
• F-Failure
• H-High Honors
• Inc-Incomplete
• W-Withdrawal 

The quality point index (or GPA) for one semester is determined by dividing the number of quality points earned during the semester by the number of credit hours carried during the semester for all courses in which weighted grades were received. 

(Quality Points Earned) / (Semester Hours Carried) = overall GPA

The following example illustrates how the quality point index is determined for one semester.

In the example above, the total number of quality points earned (44.68) divided by the number of semester hours carried (16) yields a 2.793 GPA.

• 44.68/16 = 2.793

[taken from the College Catalog]