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Because Minnesota State colleges and universities are publicly supported institutions, each college has an obligation to implement regulations that provide accountability for taxpayers’ investment in education and that monitor acceptable academic progress of students. All students must meet minimum standards for satisfactory academic progress to continue enrollment at Rochester Community and Technical College. Students bear primary responsibility for monitoring their own academic progress and for seeking assistance when experiencing academic difficulty. Students are encouraged to keep a file of their grades and transcripts.
Requirements:
I. Qualitative Measure.
Students are required to carry a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.0
II. Quantitative Measures.
Required completion percentage. Students must successfully earn 66.67% of cumulative registered credits. Refer to Section VIII for more
information regarding what courses will be included when determining the student’s completion rate percentage.
III. Evaluation Period.
All students will be evaluated at the end of each term of his/her attendance. If multiple Summer Sessions are offered in a calendar year, sessions will be combined, and progress evaluated as one term.
IV. Failure to Meet Standards.
A. Academic Warning.
- Warning Status. If, at the end of the evaluation period, a student has not met either the cumulative GPA standard or the required cumulative completion percentage standard, then RCTC shall allow the student to continue enrollment under a warning status for one evaluation period.
- Reinstatement of students on Warning status. If, at the end of the warning period, a student has met both the cumulative GPA and cumulative completion percentage standards, then RCTC shall end the student’s warning status.
B. Academic Suspension of students on warning status.
- A student on warning who fails to meet the minimum satisfactory academic progress requirements in their next term of enrollment will be placed on suspension, one calendar year in duration, commencing immediately.
V. Appeals and Probation.
- Appeals.
Students who have been placed on Academic Suspension have the right to appeal, based on unusual or extenuating circumstances. Such circumstances include, but are not limited to, death of relative, illness, hospitalization, or injury of the student.
Students shall submit, as part of their appeal, information as requested regarding why the student failed to make satisfactory progress and what has changed in the student’s situation that would allow the student to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress at the end of the next evaluation period.
An appeal may be approved only under the following circumstances:
- RCTC determines the student should be able to meet SAP standards at the end of the next evaluation period.
OR
- RCTC develops an academic plan with the student that, if followed, shall ensure that the student will be able to meet SAP standards by a specific point in time. If the academic plan includes term standards of GPA and percent of completion, they shall be higher than RCTC’s normal standards to allow the student to improve his/her GPA and/or percent of completion.
The initial consideration of appeals shall be undertaken by the RCTC Appeals Committee, who will review the information submitted and make a determination. If the student is dissatisfied with this decision, the student may appeal to the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. Students wishing to appeal must complete the Suspension Appeal form (provided online) and submit supporting documentation. Results of all appeals shall be communicated to students via email to the student’s RCTC e-mail account. Notification of approved appeals shall include the standards the student is expected to meet or the academic plan that the student is expected to achieve at the end of the next evaluation period.
Exception to an Academic Appeal submission: The Registrar may waive the suspension appeal for ACADEMICS if it is determined that, during the last term of attendance, the student achieved Recent Academic Success (RAS) which was above standards and improved their overall standing. The student will be moved to probation and receive a notification regarding the courtesy waiver of the academic appeal and the terms of their probation.
B. Probationary Status.
A student who has successfully appealed shall be placed on probation for one evaluation period. At the end of this evaluation period if a student
- Has met RCTC’s cumulative GPA and cumulative completion percentage standards, then student shall be returned to good standing.
- Has not met RCTC’s cumulative GPA and completion percentage standards but has met the conditions specified in his/her academic plan, then student shall retain his/her probationary status for a subsequent evaluation period.
- Has not met RCTC’s cumulative GPA and completion percentage standards AND has also not met the conditions specified in his/her academic plan, then student shall be re-suspended immediately upon completion of the evaluation.
VI. Notification of Status and Appeal Results.
- Status.
RCTC will notify a student via email any time the student is placed in a warning, suspension, or probation status. For each action, the following information will also be provided to the student:
- Warning Notification: The student will be informed of the conditions of their warning status.
- Suspension Notification: The student will be notified of their right to appeal.
- Probation Notification: The student will be informed of the expected standards that must be met or the academic plan that he/she is expected to complete in order to retain academic eligibility at the end of the next evaluation period.
B. Appeals.
RCTC will notify a student via an official communication (RCTC email) of the result of all appeals. If approved, the appeal notification shall include a list of standards the student is expected to meet or the academic plan the student is expected to complete. If an appeal is denied, the notification shall describe the reason(s) for the denial and the process for appealing to the Vice President of Student Affairs.
VII. Reinstatement.
Students may be reinstated when they are meeting RCTC’s satisfactory academic progress qualitative and quantitative standards. In the case of unusual or extenuating circumstances, a student may also be reinstated after having successfully appealed or when it is determined that they have met Recent Academic Success standard
If there is no successful appeal, students may return to the college after the period of Academic suspension has passed.
VIII. Treatment of Grades and Credits.
A. Treatment of Grades.
Credit: The unit by which academic work is measured.
Registered Credits: The total number of credits for which a student is officially enrolled at the end of the drop/add period each term. Registered credits include repeat coursework, developmental coursework, and consortium credits. Registered credits do not include transfer credits or audits.
Completed vs. Non-completed Credits: (Used to calculate percent of completion) Completed credits include those with only the grades of A, B, C, D, S and P. Non-completed credits include those with grades of F, FN, FW, I, IP, N, NC, W or Z. Non-completed credits will be treated in the calculation as attempted, but not completed.
Grade Points: Calculated using courses for which a student receives a letter grade of A, B, C, D or F, FN, FW. Grade points are not calculated for grades of I, IP, NC, P, S, W or Z. (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F, FN or FW=0.) Grade point total is the sum of grade points earned as determined by multiplying the grade point value of the grade by the number of course credits. See academic transcript for explanation of historical grading annotations not addressed in this policy.
Grade Point Average (GPA): The quotient of the student’s grade point total divided by the grade point credits. Each grade report shows the student’s GPA for the term and cumulative GPA since admission. “P” does not carry a grade point value, and as such, is not calculated in the GPA. A “P” will not improve the student’s GPA. However, “P” credits count toward total registered credits.
Incompletes: An “I” is assigned only in exceptional circumstances and is a temporary grade. An “I” grade will automatically become an “F” (if course is offered Pass/No Credit, the “I” will automatically become an N/C) at the end of the next term if requirements to complete coursework have not been satisfactorily met.
Non-Reported Grades: If an instructor does not report a letter grade, a “Z” is assigned to the course. “Z” does not carry a grade point value, and as such, is not calculated in the GPA. However, “Z” credits count toward total registered credits.
B. Academic Amnesty (Fresh Start). When reviewing a student’s Academic standing under this policy, credits for which the student has been granted academic amnesty (“fresh start”) will not be included in Satisfactory Academic Progress measurements.
C. Audited Courses. Audited courses are not included in Satisfactory Academic Progress measurements.
D. Consortium Credits. Credits for which Financial Aid is received under a consortium agreement will be recorded on the student’s record. These consortium credits will not be included in the Academic Satisfactory Academic Progress measurements.
E. Remedial Credits. Remedial/Developmental coursework (courses numbered below 1000) will be included in the GPA and excluded from the completion percentage measurement of the Satisfactory Academic Progress measurements.
F. Repeated Courses. Students are allowed to repeat courses for the purpose of passing or improving their grade. The course with the best grade will be included in the Satisfactory Academic Progress measurements.
See RCTC Policy: Course Repetition regarding number of times a course may be repeated and the total number of course repetitions allowed.
G. Transfer Credits. Transfer credits accepted by RCTC and applied toward the student’s program requirements will not be included in the Academic Satisfactory Academic Progress measurements
H. Withdrawals. Credits for which a grade of “W” is received are considered attempted, but not successfully completed credits. The “W” grade does not impact GPA but DOES negatively impact the student’s cumulative completion percentage.
Date of Implementation: Immediate
Date of Adoption: 6/9/97
Revisions: 6/11/98; 6/3/05; 1/23/07; 3/1/2010; 3/28/11 (Revisions made based on system policy changes); 2/28/17; 05/12/2021 (Revisions made based on system policy changes)