Academic Standards

School of Education Policy

Probation, Withdrawal, Satisfactory Progress

The following policy on academic standards for School of Education graduate and undergraduate students was adopted by the School of Education faculty in 1980 and updated in February 2011.

GRADUATE ACADEMIC POLICY

No student may enter the practicum or clinical experience until all courses required to reach that level in the professional sequence have been completed with a minimum 3.0 grade point average (GPA). When a student fails to meet this criterion, the student has the option of repeating the course(s). (For the purposes of these internal grade calculations, only the second grade will be used. However, the first grade will remain on the transcript and will be calculated into the official Boston University GPA.)

The Faculty Assembly’s Academic Instruction and Standards Committee has empowered the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services to review the records of all graduate students enrolled in School of Education degree/licensure programs at the close of each semester. Using the criteria outlined below, the School shall warn a student of failure to make satisfactory progress, or place a student on probation, or may require a student to withdraw.

Probation

A graduate student shall be placed on probation when the student’s GPA.* for a semester falls below 3.0. The student will receive written notification of probationary status.

Removal from Probation

To be removed from probation, a graduate student must achieve a GPA of 3.0 or above by the close of the next semester in which the student is registered. Graduate students who do not achieve a 3.0 GPA by the close of the semester, but whose GPA does not fall in the range for withdrawal, may not register without permission from the advisor and department chairman on behalf of the faculty.

Required to Withdraw

A graduate student may be required to withdraw if the student has completed a total of 16 or more semester credits of Boston University graduate work with less than 2.8 GPA.

The decision to require a student to withdraw is made by a quorum of the Academic Instruction and Standards Committee following consultation with the student’s advisor. The action is reported to the Office of the Associate Dean.

*See definitions below.

UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC POLICY

The Faculty Assembly’s Academic Instruction and Standards Committee has empowered the Office of the Associate Dean to review the records of all undergraduate students in the School of Education at the close of each semester. Using the criteria outlined below, the School may warn a student of failure to make satisfactory progress, may place a student on probation, or may require a student to withdraw.

Satisfactory Progress

Undergraduate students are expected to be enrolled for a minimum of 12 semester credits each semester and to complete a minimum of 24 semester credits per academic year. Students matriculating in the School of Education and those transferring into SED after July 1, 2011, must earn a grade of B- or better in both of two required courses: SED 100 (Introduction to Education) and one of SED SE 250, SED SE 251, or SED SE 510 (Special Education), in order to continue in one of SED’s licensure programs.

Warning of Failure to Make Satisfactory Progress

A student who fails to complete 24 semester credits in an academic year, accumulates five or more of the following grades, or a combination thereof, will receive a Warning of Failure to Make Satisfactory Progress.

• “D” grades
• “I” – Incomplete: no degree credit given unless course is made up by the end of the following semester or through specific arrangements with the instructor
• “W” – Withdrawal after five weeks: no degree credit given

Removal of Warning of Failure to Make Satisfactory Progress

Students who receive a Warning of Failure to Make Satisfactory Progress must achieve a minimum grade point index (GPI) of 2.0 in the following semester, based upon a minimum of 12 semester credits. Students who fail to achieve a GPI of 2.0 or who accumulate additional grades of “D”, “I”, or “W” may not register officially for the following semester permission from the advisor and department chairman. If a student is unable to meet a GPI of 2.0 by the close of the second academic semester following the warning the case may be referred to the Academic Instruction and Standards Committee for review.

Entrance into the Student Teaching Practicum

No student may enter the student teaching practicum until all courses required to reach that level in the professional sequence have been completed with a minimum GPA of 2.5. When a student fails to meet this criterion, the student has the option of repeating the courses. (For the purposes of these internal grade calculations, only the second grade will be used. However, the first grade will remain on the transcript and will be calculated into the official Boston University GPA. In addition, students in secondary licensure programs must have a 3.0 GPA in six semester courses of their major discipline, or written approval from their major advisor and the department chairman, in order to enter the practicum. Students on sanction for academic or professional misconduct cannot enter the student teaching practicum during the semester(s) on sanction. In all cases, the faculty reserve the right to be selective in admitting students and permitting them to continue in the professional programs and practicum experiences.

Warning of Failure to Make Satisfactory in a Professional Program Sequence

An undergraduate student will receive a Warning of Failure to Make Satisfactory Progress in a Professional Program Sequence when the GPA in required professional studies drops below 2.5, or when he or she fails to meet the program standards which may require a higher GPA.

Removal of Warning of Failure to Make Satisfactory Progress in a Professional Program Sequence

Students must meet the minimum program standards as indicated above in order to have the warning status removed from their records. Students who received a warning and who fail to meet the minimum program standards will be denied admission to the professional courses for the following semester until specific action is taken by the advisor and department chairman on behalf of the faculty.

Probation

An undergraduate student may be placed on probation when the student’s GPA for any academic year falls below 1.7.

Removal from Probation

To be removed from probation, an undergraduate student must achieve a GPI of 2.0 or above for the next semester in which the student is registered, based upon a minimum of 12 semester credits. Undergraduate students who fail to achieve a 2.0 GPI for that semester, but whose GPA does not fall in the range for withdrawal, may not register without specific action being taken by the advisor and department chairman on behalf of the faculty.

Required to Withdraw

An undergraduate student may be withdrawn if the student has:

• Completed 24 or more Boston University semester credits toward graduation and receives less than a 1.5 GPA OR
• Completed 64 or more Boston University semester credits toward graduation and receives less than a 1.8 GPA

The decision to require a student to withdraw is made by a quorum of the Academic Instruction and Standards Committee following consultation with the student’s advisor. The action is reported to the Office of the Associate Dean.

Undergraduate students who are required to withdraw may not apply for reinstatement until one calendar year has passed. A student who seeks reinstatement must complete a Petition for Reinstatement. The student must present a minimum of 15 semester credits of approved work, taken outside the School of Education that has been completed in a twelve-month period.

CALCULATION OF G.P.I. AND G.P.A. FOR ACADEMIC STANDARDS,
DEAN’S LIST AND GRADUATION PURPOSES

All coursework taken at Boston University, or through the Boston University Consortium, with the intent of completing a program, will be averaged to determine the G.P.A.

DEFINITIONS

Grade point index (GPI)

Total honor points divided by total semester credits for any one academic semester.

Grade point average (GPA)

Total honor points divided by total semester credits. In computing grade point average for academic status (i.e. Probation, Warning of Failure to Make Satisfactory Progress, and Required to Withdraw), graduation, and academic honors (i.e. Dean’s List, Graduation with Honors), only courses completed at Boston University will be included.

Honor

Honor Points will be computed following the Boston University four point system, i.e., one semester credit of an “A” grade equals 4 honor points, one semester credit of an “A-” grade equals 3.7 honor points, etc.

Academic Semester

An academic semester consists of either Semester I or II of the official academic year, which runs from September through May of each year. Boston University Summer Terms will also be defined as an academic semester if a total of eight or more semester credits are taken during the first and/or second summer term(s). (Ed.D. candidates must register for a total of twelve semester credits—four semester credits in one summer term and eight in the other—if they intend to use a summer term in conjunction with a regular academic semester to meet residency requirements.)

Academic Instruction and Standards Committee

A Faculty Assembly committee elected by departments to act on behalf of the Faculty Assembly in academic standards matters.