A student’s cumulative GPA is at 2.00 or higher.

• Dean’s List distinction is awarded when the term GPA is 3.5 or greater in at least 9 credits with no grades of C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F, NC or NCR.
• Grade changes after “grade roll” do not alter a student’s academic standing.
• Academic standing is not retroactively changed when the GPA is recalculated following a course repeat.

A student’s cumulative grade point average is below a 2.00. Once on probation, the student must maintain a semester GPA of 2.00 or higher to avoid academic suspension. Topics to discuss with the probation student:

• What do they view as the primary reasons for their unsatisfactory performance?
• Are there any campus resources they need to utilize to be successful?
• Are they in the right major (or do they need additional skill development to be successful in that major)?
• What are the repercussions (financial and academic) of continued low performance?

No student is suspended after a single semester of bad grades, nor does one grade ever cause a student to be suspended. If a student has otherwise performed well, that one bad grade won’t have dire consequences. A student is suspended if, after a semester of probation, he or she fails to achieve a semester grade point average of 2.00 or higher. The student will be eligible to apply for reinstatement following one semester away from UM.

• Academic suspension is not synonymous with Financial Aid Suspension, although they sometimes go hand-in-hand.
• Encourage the student to consider how to use the time away from school to succeed when they return.
• Students may not attend another MUS institution while on Suspension.
• Summer, autumn and spring are considered “semesters.” A student suspended after the spring semester can sit out the summer and apply for fall reinstatement.

A student has the option to appeal a suspension and return to the university without sitting out a semester. Appeals are considered where the student has otherwise demonstrated an ability to succeed at the university and the compelling circumstances that led to the poor performance have been resolved. See Appendix Q for the Appeal of Suspension Form, which details eligibility criteria and appropriate procedures.

Students typically apply for reinstatement to the college or school of their last semester of attendance, although in some cases they will apply to the college or school they intend to pursue coursework in after they are reinstated. Students will work with a reinstatement coordinator to develop a reasonable plan for getting back into good academic standing. The student may be subject to course restrictions. See Appendix R for the Academic Reinstatement Plan form, Appendix S for reinstatement contacts and procedures on the Mountain Campus and Appendix T for the reinstatement contact and procedures at Missoula College.

Academic Forgiveness was developed for students who had one or more poor semesters of academic work, left the university for 3 or more years, and demonstrated their ability to be successful upon their return.

• Student must have completed 30 degree credits with a GPA of 2.5 or higher to apply for Academic Forgiveness.
• Whole semesters are affected; students cannot select individual grades within a prior semester to remove from grade point average.
• Grades remain on transcript with an “E” prefix to exclude the grade from the GPA.
• Academic Forgiveness is marked on the transcript as indicated below.
• See Appendix U for the Request for Academic Forgiveness Form, which includes additional information.

GPA = Total Quality Points / Total # of Credits

It is important for the advisor to look for potential red flags, and to discuss them with the advisee. The student may need to access additional campus resources such as Financial Aid, Career Services, or Counseling Services. Red flags include:

• Repeated drops or grade option conversions, especially in foundational courses for a major.
• Consistent pattern of dropping one or two courses each semester.
• Pattern of avoidance of coursework in an area (most frequently either math or writing).
• Low ratio of credits completed relative to attempted credits.
• Change of major after 60 or more attempted credits.