Fall 2009

Office of Academic Affairs Academic Contract

St. John Fisher College recognizes that some students will struggle with their academic progress. Reasons for academic struggle may include family issues, personal health, conflicts with work, or academic goals incongruent with academic interests and abilities. The transition to more advanced coursework or changing from part to full-time status may also impact academics. Students not meeting the Standards of Academic Progress will either be placed on Early Intervention (EI) Contract or be dismissed from the College. A student who successfully appeals the academic dismissal returns on Post-dismissal (PD) Contract. In either case the student must meet with an academic counselor in the Office of Academic Affairs, within the first week of the semester, to prepare and sign an academic contract.

Academic Contract Requirements

In a concerted effort to get students back in good academic standing, an academic contract is created between the student and the College. The contract usually requires the following (at the discretion of the academic counselor):

• Enrollment in no more than 4 courses/14 credit hours for the semester
• Regular meetings (1-2 times/month) with the academic counselor to monitor academic progress
• Submission of a completed Academic Progress Report listing estimated mid-semester grades as reported and signed by faculty
• No Incomplete (I) grades nor Withdrawals (W) from any courses
• No participation in the College's NCAA athletic games
• Use of campus resources including tutoring, the Math/Writing Center, Career Center and attendance at designated academic workshops designed to improve the student's current and future academic success
• Recommendations for the improvement of the cumulative GPA, including course repeats, course scheduling suggestions, review of academic interests/strengths/weaknesses and their relation to academic/career goals, and overall evaluation of degree progress

The academic contract is tailored to the needs of individual students. Unfortunately, students initially placed on academic contract have rarely availed themselves of the resources available to maximize their chances for success. While strict adherence to the academic contract does not guarantee academic success, students who use Fisher's academic resources and abide by their contract usually give themselves their best chance for success at Fisher.

Contract students' academic progress is reevaluated at term's end. Early Intervention Contract Students are removed from contract if their academic standing moves to "Warning" or "Good" according to the Standards of Academic Progress. EI students will either continue on contract if their cumulative GPA is within EI contract range or be dismissed from the College if the student is not making satisfactory progress.

Post-dismissal Contract Students will remain enrolled if they successfully complete all courses in which they were initially enrolled and have a semester GPA of 2.0 or higher. They will be removed from academic contract once their cumulative GPA reaches 2.0 or better.

The academic counselor advises the Committee on Academic Standing on contract students' commitment to their contract requirements. EI and PD contract students who do not keep their contractual obligations may have an academic hold placed on their account which prohibits future academic registration/enrollment at the College.