Academic Standards Policy

Standards for the Completion of Remedial and ESOL courses:

The timely completion of English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) courses is essential for student access to and success in the major department and liberal arts and sciences core courses required by their degree program. For this reason, the college and CUNY place limitations on the number of semesters within which students are permitted to complete these preparatory courses. Students are strongly urged to enroll in summer and intersession courses to shorten the time required to complete ESOL coursework.

1. Students are permitted a maximum of two attempts to complete or advance from each ESOL course. USIP, summer and inter-session courses, are not counted in this limitation.

2. The CUNY Board of Trustees resolution phasing out remedial coursework at CUNY Senior Colleges permits college English as a Second Language (ESOL) students who are not otherwise remedial to enter baccalaureate programs. Such students would have:

   1. studied in a high school in which the language of instruction was not English and

   2. achieved exemption from mathematics skill testing by virtue of either a score of 500 on the SAT, or 75 on the New York State Mathematics Regents or a passing score on the CUNY Basic Skills Test in Mathematics, part 1 and 2.

   ESOL students who fulfill these conditions may be admitted into baccalaureate programs. ESOL students who “are otherwise not remedial” in baccalaureate programs must take the CUNY ACT in reading and writing for placement and must pass these tests within two years (including the summer preceding and following two consecutive academic years). ESOL students in baccalaureate programs that fail to pass these tests within two years will not be permitted to progress towards a bachelor’s degree. The student may continue in an associate degree program.

3. Students who do not complete ESOL courses within the limits described in statement 1 above will be placed on academic probation after the first unsuccessful attempt and will be dismissed from the college after the second unsuccessful attempt at the same course. Further information on academic dismissal and the appeal of academic dismissal follows.

Minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average Standard

Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average greater than or equal to the following minimums:

Academic Alert

1. Students will be placed on academic alert at the end of a semester if, for the first time during their first 18 attempted credits/ equated credits of coursework, they fail to meet the college’s minimum cumulative GPA standard. Academic alert is provided only once during a student’s college career.

2. Students who meet the college’s minimum cumulative GPA standard at the end of the academic alert semester will be removed from academic alert.

3. Students who do not meet the college’s minimum cumulative GPA standard at the end of the academic alert semester will be placed on academic probation.

Academic Probation

1. Students not on academic probation will be placed on academic probation at the end of a semester if they fail to meet the college’s minimum cumulative GPA standard and are no longer eligible for academic alert.

2. Students on academic probation who meet the college’s minimum cumulative GPA standard at the end of the academic probation semester will be removed from academic probation.

3. Students on academic probation who fail to meet the college’s minimum cumulative GPA standard at the end of the academic probation semester, yet complete all courses that semester with a semester grade point average of 2.25 or higher, will be allowed to remain on academic probation for an additional semester.

4. Students on academic probation who fail to attain either the minimum cumulative GPA standard or the semester grade point average of 2.25 at the end of the academic probation semester will be dismissed from the college. Also see “Academic Dismissal” and “Appeal of Academic Dismissal” at the end of this section.

Academic Dismissal

Students will be academically dismissed at the end of the fall or spring semester if they have failed to attain the required minimum CUM or semester GPA standards while on probation.

Appeal of Academic Dismissal

Dismissed students may appeal their dismissal. Appeals forms, available at the Office of the Registrar, must be completed and returned as directed by the published deadline. Students who are reinstated on appeal must meet the educational plan mandated by the appeals committee.

Students dismissed for exceeding the limits in an ESOL course and reinstated by the Committee on Course and Standards must satisfactorily complete the ESOL course within one semester. Failure to do so will result in dismissal. However, the student is eligible to appeal to the college's Committee on Course and Standards for reinstatement.

Readmission After Academic Dismissal

Students dismissed from the college for failure to meet the academic standards set forth in this policy and not granted reinstatement on appeal may apply for readmission after a separation from the college of at least one semester. Students who wish to apply for readmission after this separation period must first submit a new appeal to the Committee on Course and Standards. If approved by the committee, students may then apply for readmission.

Students who left the college while on academic alert or probation may be readmitted to a particular program with the written approval of the program chairperson and subject to college policies as they apply to entering students at the time of readmission.