Grades and Academic Progress
At the conclusion of each semester, grades and academic progress are reviewed by the Registrar’s Office.
- Academic standing is assessed at the end of each semester. Students are either in good standing, on Warning status, or on Probation.
- If a student doesn’t make SAP, they are placed on Warning. The Warning status lasts one semester. They must meet with the Academic Progress Coordinator to assess their goals, academic situation, and develop a support plan. This is known as an academic progress meeting.
- Students on Warning who do not take part in an academic progress meeting prior to the sixth week of the semester will have a registration hold placed on their account.
- If a student cannot restore their academic standing after one semester on Warning, they will be notified that they no longer have eligibility for federal financial aid. If they choose to continue their studies at Goodwin, they will need to find alternative funding. The only way to try to restore eligibility is to submit a letter of appeal.
- Students are advised to monitor their Goodwin.edu email accounts as well as mail from the U.S. Postal Service.
- If a student doesn’t make SAP after being on Warning for a semester, they must file and appeal to attempt to be placed on Probation. There is a very tight deadline for filing appeals. A student on Warning, who knows that they will not meet SAP benchmarks at the conclusion of the current semester, should turn in an appeal letter as soon as possible to the Academic Progress Coordinator’s Office. An appeal form is available from the Academic Progress Coordinator. The ultimate deadline to turn in an appeal for review prior to the next semester is at noon on the last Thursday prior to a new semester start.
- Once on Probation, the student must follow an individualized plan to work toward reinstatement of SAP.
Students who have successfully appealed are placed on Probation. The intent of Probation is to allow students the opportunity to meet gradual benchmarks that will lead them to make Satisfactory Academic Progress in a timely manner. Once the appeal is approved, a student on Probation should make an appointment with the Academic Progress Coordinator to review an individualized plan to restore their academic standing. Students on probation are responsible for meeting the terms of their Probation Plan even if they do not come in fro a review meeting.
The individualized plan provides a specific CGPA and pace to meet at the end of their next semester of enrollment. These benchmarks allow students to demonstrate improvement. If a benchmark is not met after any semester of probation, federal financial aid eligibility ends.
Good academic standing is restored after a student attains each of the required benchmarks for SAP. Once a student fully restores their standing, they are no longer on Probation.
At the point that the Academic Progress Coordinator determines that an undergraduate student cannot achieve the minimum 2.0 CGPA needed for graduation, the student will be dismissed from the University. At the point that it is determined that a student cannot complete the required credits needed for graduation, within the maximum time frame, the student will be dismissed unless:
- The student has submitted an appeal that is approved
- Is on Financial Aid/Academic Probation
- Is making progress towards graduation, according to their Academic Probation Plan.
Students who are dismissed will be notified in writing by the Provost and Dean of Faculty.
Eligibility for President’s List and Dean’s List is determined by the semester grade point average and not the cumulative grade point average.
President’s List: 4.0/at least 6 collegiate credits in a semester
Dean’s List: 3.5 or better/at least 6 collegiate credits in a semesterr
Student who have an incomplete or whose 6 collegiate credits include a ‘W’ (withdrawn course), ‘NS’ (no start), ‘NG’ (no grade) are not eligible for President’s List or Dean’s List.
Some scholarship money is available to students who meet specific academic standards. Please see Financial Aid to discuss eligibility.
Students who feel that a final grade in any course is incorrect or unjustified have one full semester to dispute the grade.
Process:
- Students dispute grades by approaching the appropriate instructor and requesting a grade review.
- If the problem remains unresolved, the student should then speak with the department chair who supervises the instructor involved.
- Students who wish to continue the process beyond the department chair level must follow the grievance policy.
Goodwin University’s grading system is provided in the University catalog. Grades are reported by the faculty at the end of each semester and eight-week session. Grades are posted on department bulletin boards in the Academic Building or on 403 Main Street and are also available on the student intranet. Grades are available one week after the conclusion of the final exam period.
Students may request an incomplete at the end of a semester if there is still a small amount of coursework left to complete.
Process:
- The incomplete may be granted at the discretion of the instructor involved.
- If an incomplete is granted, an incomplete form must be filled in and copies given to the department chair, the instructor, the student, and the Registrar’s Office.
- The incomplete form must specify the course name and code, the instructor, the date by which the incomplete must be resolved and a list of the required work.
- Incompletes that are not documented by an incomplete form will be changed to an “F” in the Registrar’s Office. All unresolved incompletes will also be changed to “F”’s.
Students who take incompletes in pre-requisite courses will not be allowed to move on the more advanced level.
Students are allowed to repeat a course one time without permission. Students who fail second attempts must secure the permission of the department chair to attempt the course for a third time and remain in the program.
No student may attempt a course four times.
Once a course has been repeated and a satisfactory grade has been earned, an “R” will be entered in front of the previously earned grade. The “R” will negate the previous grade’s impact on the student’s grade point average, but will show on the transcript.
In most cases, a D- or better is considered a passing grade; however, in some courses there are minimum grade requirements. Please refer to the University catalog which delineates which courses require a “C” or a “C-” or better in order to satisfactorily complete a course.