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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