Undergraduate Academic Dismissal Policy

The School of Education requires that all undergraduate students achieve a minimum cumulative GPA to remain in good academic standing. The minimum cumulative GPA to remain in good academic standing is 3.0 for all majors, with the exception of Selected Studies in Education and Social Work, which is a 2.8 cumulative GPA. If at any time the student’s cumulative GPA falls below the minimum cumulative GPA, a student may be dismissed from his/her academic program/major. Additional requirements, including academic probation standards, are stated in the School of Education’s Undergraduate Handbook. Failure to meet these requirements also constitutes grounds for dismissal from a program of study. Reasons for dismissal include, but are not limited to, failure to maintain or achieve the minimum cumulative GPA requirement, failure to develop appropriate professional skills and dispositions, failure to meet program and professional standards of practice, academic dishonesty, and other forms of professional misconduct.

When a student is judged not to have met the University, school, or program requirements, the department chair will notify the student in writing of this determination and the recommendation of dismissal from his or her program. A copy of this notice will be sent to the Assistant Dean for Student Success. If no appeal of the dismissal is lodged within one month (30 days), the student will be administratively withdrawn.

Note: Violations of the Syracuse University Student Code of Conduct and Sanctions may also result in program dismissal under certain conditions. “Failure to comply with sanctions that are imposed by the University judicial system, or with specific conditions related to the safety and security of any persons or property while a case is pending, will result in immediate, indefinite suspension or expulsion from the University without benefit of further process.”

Appeal Procedures for Academic Dismissal

Students have the right to appeal a decision to dismiss them from their academic programs. The appeal must be initiated in writing within a month (30 days) after the dismissal decision. The written document should describe the basis for the appeal and the remedies sought.

The written appeal should be directed to the Assistant Dean for Student Success. The Assistant Dean will transmit the appeal to the School of Education’s policies, standards, and scholarships committee. The committee will forward a copy of the appeal to the student’s department. The committee, or a subcommittee of it consisting of at least three tenured faculty members, will constitute the appeal panel. The appeal panel will make every effort to hear the appeal within a month (30 days) of the committee’s receiving the written appeal. However, the timing of the appeal or its circumstances may require a longer period of investigation. The appeal panel will not question the requirements the program has set nor will it substitute its own judgment for the judgment of the program faculty about whether the student has met those requirements. Valid grounds for appeal arise if the program fails to provide or implement uniform and consistent requirements, or bases an assessment on other than the stated criteria. Thus the appeal panel will consider whether the student was provided with “accurate and plainly stated information relating to maintenance of acceptable academic standing,” as required by the University Student Handbook, and whether the program applied those requirements, and only those requirements, in making its decision.

Students have the right to be accompanied by an advisor from SU’s academic community during the hearing. While the student may consult the advisor, the student him- or herself must present the case and respond to the appeal panel’s questions. If a student’s grounds for the appeal concern issues of disability or other forms of diversity, the student may ask a member of any university support unit to review the case file and act as a consultant to the appeal panel. The decision of the appeal panel is final.