At its meeting of November 17, 2008, the Academic Senate approved the following Policy Recommendation presented by Senator Sivertsen for the Instruction and Student Affairs (I&SA) Committee.
Amends S04-2
Replaces F78-3, S94-4, and S00-10
Note: Per bylaw 16, University policy F94-5 is also replaced by F08-2 (4/21/2009-Senate Administrator)
Action by University President: Approved and signed by
President Jon Whitmore on November 20, 2008.
Policy Recommendation
Repetition of Courses; Academic Renewal
Whereas Existing University Policies (S94-4, S00-10, F78-3) are inconsistent with CSU Executive Order 1037 (issued 8 September 2008); and
Whereas Existing SJSU terminology “Academic Renewal” (S94-4, S00-10, S04-2) is referred to as “Grade Forgiveness” in EO-1037; and
Whereas Existing SJSU terminology “Disregarding Previous Semesters’ Work” (S00-10) is referred to as “Academic Renewal” in EO-1037; therefore be it
Resolved That University Policy S04-2 be amended to replace the words “Academic Renewal” with the words “Grade Forgiveness”; and be it further
Resolved That existing University Policies S94-4, S00-10, F78-3 be replaced as follows:
I. Repetition of Courses
A. Undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students (regular enrollment and Open University) may repeat courses only if they earned grades lower than a C (including WU, IC, and NC). Graduate students may repeat courses only if they earned grades lower than a B (including WU, IC, and NC). Repeating a course with an Incomplete (“I”) grade is not allowed; a grade must be assigned or the “I” must revert to an “IC” prior to repeating the course.
1. Any student who is repeating a course (except if the grade for that course was “W”) is not permitted to register during Advance Registration and must register on a space available basis no earlier than the first day of classes.
2. Courses designated “Repeatable for Credit” may be repeated even though the original grade was C or better.
3. The policies regarding repetition of courses with Grade Forgiveness or Grade Averaging (as described below) apply only to courses taken and repeated at SJSU.
B. Course Repeats with “Grade Forgiveness.” (Formerly known as “Academic Renewal” at SJSU, Grade Forgiveness is the circumstance in which the new grade replaces the former grade in terms of the calculation of GPA. The original grade remains on the transcript.)
1. Undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students may repeat a maximum of 16 units of total Grade Forgiveness, consisting of a combination of up to 9 units (maximum) of lower division (numbered 0-99) coursework, and up to 9 units (maximum) of upper division (numbered 100-199) coursework.
2. Graduate (numbered 200-299) coursework is not eligible for Grade Forgiveness. Graduate students are not eligible for Grade Forgiveness, but may repeat up to 9 units of upper division or graduate coursework through Grade Averaging, according to Section I.C. (below).
3. Grade Forgiveness will be assigned automatically for all eligible courses as soon as a student registers. Eligible courses include those courses with earned grades lower than a C (including WU, IC; but excluding NC). Once the pool of available units is insufficient for the next repeated course, unused units may be applied to a future course of lower unit value or simply left unused in the pool. If a repeated course is dropped prior to the Drop Deadline or a “W” is recorded for a repeated course, then the Grade Forgiveness units return to the pool of available lower division or upper division units, as appropriate.
4. A student may petition to have a repeated course NOT be granted Grade Forgiveness. Such petitions must be submitted prior to the Census Date for the term in which the course is repeated. Undergraduate Studies and the Registrar’s Office will administer the petition process.
5. Students may repeat an individual course for Grade Forgiveness only once.
6. Grade Forgiveness shall not be applicable to courses for which the original grade was the result of a finding of academic dishonesty.
C. Course Repeats with “Grades Averaged.”
1. Undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students may repeat a maximum of 28 units for graduation credit (including units repeated for Grade Forgiveness; excluding grades of “W”). After the pools of Grade Forgiveness units have been depleted or used to the fullest extent allowable under Section I.B. (above), the repeat grade shall not replace the original grade. Instead grade points and units from all attempts shall be calculated in the student’s SJSU cumulative GPA and overall GPA.
2. Graduate students may repeat a maximum of 9 units of upper division or graduate coursework for graduation credit.
3. Course repeats with Grades Averaged will be assigned automatically for all eligible courses as soon as a student registers. Once the pool of available units is insufficient for the next repeated course, unused units may be applied to a future course of lower unit value or simply left unused in the pool. If a repeated course is dropped prior to the Drop Deadline or a “W” is recorded for a repeated course, then the Grade Averaged units return to the pool of available units.
D. The limits apply only to units completed at SJSU.
E. Students who (1) have repeated the maximum allowable units, (2) are otherwise making appropriate progress to degree, and (3) still need to repeat courses to fulfill specific major or minor requirements necessary for graduation may petition for an exception to the 28-unit limit. Undergraduate Studies and the Registrar's Office will administer the petition process. Any course(s) approved for repeating by this petition process will be Grade Averaged.
II. Academic Renewal
A. Under certain circumstances, the university may disregard up to two semesters of previous undergraduate coursework taken at any institution from all considerations associated with the requirements for a baccalaureate degree. These circumstances are:
1. The student has formally requested such action and presented evidence that substantiates that the work in question is substandard and not representative of her/his current scholastic ability and/or performance level, and
2. The previous level of performance was due to extenuating circumstances, and
3. All degree requirements except the earning of at least a “C” (2.0) grade point average have or will soon have been met. (University policy regarding academic renewal is not intended to permit the improvement of a student’s grade point average beyond what is required for graduation.)
4. Final determination, that one or more terms shall be disregarded, shall be based on careful review of evidence by a committee appointed by the president, which shall include the designee of the chief academic officer and consist of at least three members. At least half the members of the committee shall be faculty.
B. Such final determination shall be made only when:
1. Five years have elapsed since the most recent work to be disregarded was completed, and
2. The student has earned in residence at SJSU since the most recent work being considered was completed:
a. 15 semester units with at least a 3.0 GPA or
b. 30 semester units with at least a 2.5 GPA or
c. 45 semester units with at least a 2.0 GPA
3. When such action is taken, the student’s record shall be annotated so that it is readily evident to users of the record, that NO work taken during the disregarded term(s), even if satisfactory, has been applied towards the meeting of degree requirements. However, all work must remain legible on the record.
4. If another institution has acted to remove coursework from consideration, such action shall be honored in terms of that institution’s policy. But, elimination of any coursework’s consideration shall reduce by one semester the two semester maximum on the application of academic renewal to an individual SJSU student’s record.
Approved: October 6, 2008 (revised by I&SA October 27, 2008 based on questions raised at the first reading at the Academic Senate)
Present: Brown, Castillo, Cavu-Litman, Fee, Gleixner, Han, Hilliard, Kelley, Langdon, Lee, Levy, Linder, Palumbo, Sofish, Stiglitz
Absent: Campsey, David, Sivertsen
Vote: 14-0-0
Financial Impact: Uncertain, but no long-term impact is anticipated
Workload Impact: Short-term impacts primarily on staff (training and implementation); long-term impact on workload should not be significant