Probation: not for committing a crime, but for failing to meet University academic standards. It is a frightening term for students.
Academic and scholarship probation are major problems for some students, whether they are on the verge of probation or struggling to put themselves back into good standing with the University.
University statistics show most students first encounter probation problems during their freshmen year, but it can affect any student.
Some students can recover from probation but others find it a lost cause and eventually leave the University.
However, once a student loses a scholarship, such as TOPS, it is harder to gain it back. Many students are forced to work extra jobs or take out extra loans to pay for tuition.
Administrators are finding ways to lessen this problem by increasing admission standards and hiring a consultant firm to research academic and TOPS retention.
Also, the University continually offers programs through the Center for Academic Success and individual colleges, providing extensive assistance in raising a student’s grade point average.
The Freshman Phenomenon
Although no student is immune to losing a scholarship or academic probation, records from the Office of Budget and Planning, Student Aid and Scholarships and University College all reveal the same findings — it commonly occurs with freshmen.
Interim Director of Student Aid and Scholarships Patrick Dietrich said the problem is mainly a “freshman phenomenon.”
Of about 608 students who lost TOPS last spring, more than 95 percent were freshmen, Dietrich said.
Dietrich also said 493 students from that group are registered this semester and 115 are no longer at the University.
Several factors can result in losing TOPS, Dietrich said.
“A trend of students who lost TOPS is that they usually failed to complete the 24 credit hour a year requirement,” Dietrich said.
According to TOPS requirements, a student must complete 24 credit hours total during the fall and spring semester, not counting a summer semester.
Still, Paul Ivey, associate dean of the University College, said academic probation happens to at least 100 first-year freshmen each semester.
In the fall semester, 163 of more than 8,000 students in UCFY were on academic probation, Ivey said.
Once on probation, the student is required to participate in an online workshop that assesses the problem and helps them to figure out ways to improve, he said.
Students also are required to meet with a counselor, he said.
The road to recovery and other solutions
University Registrar Robert Doolos said the University has no program calculating when or if students put on academic probation are taken off the list.
However, the Center for Academic Success has ways to make sure recovery occurs.
CAS offers workshops on time management, test taking and study strategies such as pre-reading before lectures, said Director Saundra McGuire.
“We meet one-on-one with the student to help identify what caused them to be on probation,” McGuire said.
More than 500 students receive assistance from CAS and most of them benefitted greatly, McGuire said.
“Your confidence level rises when you succeed in classes,” she said. “Success is the best motivator.”
Besides getting back into good academic standing, students who lost scholarships are faced with the cost of tuition.
Students who have lost TOPS or another scholarship can apply for loans through the Office of Student Aid and Scholarships.
However, although many students lose TOPS each semester, Assistant Director of Student Aid and Scholarships James LaJaunie said a large influx of students looking for loans does not occur.
Dietrich said this probably is true because students apply for TOPS through federal aid applications and already are considered for other loans.
But one problem with students who have lost TOPS is that they have to cover huge expenses and a loan limit exists.
“Dealing with freshmen, the loan limit is $2,625, so there is not a lot they can borrow without going to their parents for loans,” Dietrich said.
University efforts
Although about 163 UCFY students were on academic probation last fall semester, the number was considerably larger in previous semesters, Ivey said.
In fall 2001, 268 first-semester freshmen were on academic probation — 387 in spring 2001.
Ivey said in the spring and fall semesters of 2000, the number of freshmen on academic probation was in the 500s.
The obvious trend is that the number decreases each semester because of the University’s increased admission standards, he said.
“We’re finding that the higher the admission standards are, the better students we have,” Ivey said.
The University recently hired Noel-Levitz consultant firm to assess students’ academic and TOPS retention, said Sandy Walker, director of Budget and Planning.
“We are concerned not just with getting students here but keeping them here and retaining them,” Walker said.
In 1998, only 24 percent of students graduated in four years. One possible cause could be probation or students dropping out, Walker said.
Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Karen Denby said the firm’s goal is to come up with a plan to address increasing student retention and the graduation rate.
The firm plans to conduct workshops this week using a cross-section of administrators, faculty and some students, Denby said.
“Losing students is not a new problem; we’ve been working to increase our graduation rate to 65 percent in a six year curriculum,” she said.