Low grades may bring LSA dismissal
By PATRICIA IHNSBERG
Students who cultivate their
grade point averages like hot-
house flowers seldom encounter
LSA's Office of Academic Ac-
tion. Others, however, who jug-
gle decimal points with less
- agility face disciplinary action
which ranges from a mild rep-
rimand to dismissal.
According to literary college
Associate Dean and Chairman
of the Administrative Board
Charles Morris, official disci-
plinary action falls into two
categories: dismissal, or NTR
(a stop on registration), and
probation.
"ACTION PENDING," an
unofficial action which mater-
ializes in a notification letter,
is used if a student with incom-
plete work might be on proba-
tion when grades ultimately are
received.
Technically, a student is
placed on probation only in if
his or her overall GPA falls be-
low 2.0. The rules governing is-
suance of NTR's, however, are
not so rigidly defined.
- The official guidelines in the
LSA announcement state that a
student may be dismissed "for
incurring a severe loss of honor
points in one term, for continu-
ed below-standard work, even
though an overall 2.0 is main-
tained."
ONE LSA student in the bach-
elor of general studies (BGS)
program, who claims to have
an overall grade point of 2.4, re-
ceived an NTR notice two
weeks ago. Although he had just
passed the midterm exam in a
spring chemistry class, he was
informed that he was no longer
officially enrolled, and could
not continue.
The student had received, in
the past year, one "D" and one
"incomplete" which had lapsed
to an "E". Although he had
also received two more incom-
pletes during winter term, cur-
rent incompletes are no longer
calculated in the GPA.
"My official GPA for winter
term was a 4.0," he complains.
"Bit along with my transcript
I received a letter informing me
I had been dismissed.
"A REPRESENTATIVE from
the Administrative Board as-
sured me that there was no
mistake - I had been NTRed
for "a severe loss of honor
points."
The student is currently ap-
pealing his dismissal. Although
he is confident he will be re-
instated, he says, his attitude
toward the university has
changed.
"I can't believe they did this
to me," he says. "They sent me
no letters of warning, I was
never placed on probation."
PROSPECTS of reinstate-
ment seem less optiisistic for a
biology major who received an
NTR this spring. A fall term
transfer student, her overall
CPA had fallen in one semester
from a 2.0 to a 1.6.
Like the BGS student, she
received no warning letter and
had not been placed on proba-
tion.
"I can't blame the university
for kicking me out," she says.
"I really did mess up last se-
mester. I am going to appeal
my dismissal, but the Adminis-
trative Board advised me to
wait until the winter term to
file my petition."
If her appeal for readmis-
sion is ultimately turned down
by the Administrative Board,
her educational future looks
bleak. Few, if any schools will
admit a student with a GPA of
1.6 from any university.
THE MAJORITY of dismissed
students are not reinstated, and
Morris asserts that the Admin-
istrative Board is aware of the
potentiality harsh consequences
of the NTR procedure.
"NTR is not a routine mea-
sure," he says. "We may use
an NTR letter as a means of
getting a student with academic
problems to come in for coun-
seling, but those cases are in-
frequent."
According to Morris, every
decision to stop a student from
registering is made by two in-
dependent groups of repre-
sentatives of the Administrative
Board. Although the two groups
of reviewers sometimes disa-
gree on individual cases, they
must arrive at a consensus be-
fore action is taken.
MORRIS AFFIRMS t h a t
there are no written rules con-
cerning NTR decisions other
than those stated in the LSA
announcement. But he contends
that the very nature of the
problem requires that each dis-
missal be the result of a "com-
plex judgment decision, made
in consideration of the facts of
each individual case."
The Administrative Board
looks at all aspects of the stu-
dent's record before the final
decision is made. Concentration
grade point, progress in raising
the GPA, and even SAT scores
may be taken into account.
The latitude of the official
rules often works in the stu-
dent's favor, Morns claims.
"A student with an otherwise
high GPA who does very poor-
ly for one or two semesters
may receive an NTR. The Ad-
ministrative Board considers it
their responsibility to intervene
before the student's GPA falls
even lower.
"FURTHERMORE, many
students in this situation may
be unaware of the possibility of
withdrawing retroactively from
a disastrous term, if circum-
stances so warrant," Morris
continues.
Morris emphasizes that ev-
ery individual case is differ-
ent. "Many of the reasons stu-
dents give for a declining grade
point are indeed pressing prob-
lems. Nevertheless, we cannot
allow them to continue jeopard-
izing their future education.
"We advice many of these
students to petition for re-ad-
mission when their problems are
solved," he says.
MORRIS CITES cases of pa-
rental pressure forcing a stu-
dent to attend the University
when the student would be hap-
pier elsewhere. Often these stu-
dents systematically proceed to
flunk out, he claims.
The Office of Academic Ac-
tion sets no quotas on dismis-
sals. Statistics show that the
percentage of dismissals has
been steadily diminishing over
the past 11 years.
In the winter term of 1%2,
7.2 per cent of the student body
of LSA was dismissed for aca-
demic reasons, compared with
2.4 per cent in 1973.
THE UNIVERSITY'S Liter-
ary college, moreover, has one
of the lowest rates of dismis-
sal in the country. Morris at-
tributes this to the stringent
policies of the Admissions Of-
fice, in contrast to, the "open
admissions" policies of other
schools, which he says assume
that less serious students will
leave the student body of their
own accord.
"We know that virtually every
student admitted to the Univer-
sity is capable of doing the
work," Morris says. "If a GPA
shows that a student is not do-
ing well, we know that the rea-
sons are likely to be other than
lack of ability."
Church enrice4j
LORD OF LIGHT LUTHERAN
CHURCH (ALC-LCA)
(Formerly Lutheran Student
Chapel)
801 S. Forest Ave. at Hill St.
Donald G. Zill, pastor
Sunday Service at 10:30 a.m.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH, 1432 Washtenaw Ave.
Ministers: Robert E. Sanders,
John R. Waser, Brewster H.
Gere, Jr.
"Where Christ, Campus and
Community meet"
9:30 a.m. - Worship Service.
Sermon Title: "What To Do
About Me."
CANTERBURY HOUSE
218 N. Division-665-0606
Holy Eucharist at noon at
Canterbury House.
UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN
CHAPEL (LCMS)
1511 Washtenaw Ave.
Alfred T. Scheips, Pastor
Sunday Service at 9:15 a.m.
ST. ANDREW'S EPSICOPAL
CHURCH, 306 N. Division
10:00 a.m. - Morning Prayer
and Sermon.
7:00 p.m. - Holy Eucharist in
chapel.
BETHLEHEM UNITED
CHURCH OF CHRIST
423 S. Fourth Ave. Ph. 665-6149
Minister: Howard F. Gebhart
10 a.m.-Worship Service and
Church School.
UNIVERSITY REFORMED
CHURCH, 1001 E. Huron
Calvin Malefyt, Alan Rice,
Ministers
10:00 a.m.-Morning Worship.
UNCLE KARL
WANTS YOU
Robbed of his future
Wallace Simpson, 75, a retired elevator operator of Ogden,
Utah, lived conservatively along with his late wife so they
could save enough money for an independent future. But
Simpson has been bilked of $8,500 by con artists. He says
he'd heard of con men, "but you don't think it's going to
happen to you."
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