1.  Academic standing is calculated at the end of any term that a student is enrolled.  All graduate courses taken at Ramapo College while the student has graduate student status will count in the cumulative GPA.  Only program-required graduate courses taken at Ramapo College will be used in the program GPA calculation. Courses transferred from other colleges count only as credits earned; accompanying grades are NOT calculated toward the grade point average at Ramapo. If the student has a cumulative program GPA of 3.0 or higher, the student is in good standing. If the student has a cumulative program GPA below 3.0, the student is placed on Warning or Probation.
   • If the cumulative number of credits attempted is less than 6, the student is placed on Academic Warning.  The student will receive a Warning notification sent by the Office of the Registrar.
   • If the cumulative number of credits attempted is 6 or more, the student is placed on Academic Probation
2. The student will receive a Warning/Probation notification, sent by the Office of the Registrar, each term in which the student is enrolled and in which the GPA remains below 3.0.  This notification will include the required GPA necessary to obtain a 3.0 with the remaining number of credits required by the program.
3. If at any time the required GPA necessary to obtain a 3.0 with the remaining number of credits required by the program exceeds a 4.0, the student is automatically dismissed from the graduate program with the right to appeal.
   • A student on Academic Warning or Academic Probation who achieves a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above is considered in Good Standing after Probation.

Students placed on Academic Warning or Probation may not appeal their standing.  A student must be in Good Standing in order to enroll in Thesis or final project courses.

Procedures for Determining Academic Standing

At the close of each term, once final grades have been posted, the Office of the Registrar generates Academic Standing and provides the report to the Program Directors. The Program Directors review records of all graduate students enrolled in their respective programs at the College. Any student whose academic performance has fallen below the College’s established standards (above) is advised of the deficiency via the Warning, Probation, or Dismissal notification through their Ramapo College e-mail directly from the Office of the Registrar.  Graduate students are responsible for checking their Ramapo College e-mail accounts frequently.

Procedures for Appealing Dismissal

A student who has been dismissed has the right to appeal and will be so notified of that right and the deadline by which to appeal in the notification letter from the Office of the Registrar. The appeal deadline will be set three calendar days after notification from the Office of the Registrar. A student who wishes to appeal must submit an appeal letter electronically to the Chair of Graduate Council.  Appeal letters must that detail reasons why they fell into academic difficulty and the strategies that they will employ to raise their GPA in the future. The student may request supporting letters from graduate faculty and/or their respective Program Director and/or Dean. Supporting letters on official letterhead should be sent via Ramapo College email to the Chair of Graduate Council by the specified deadline. A student who does not appeal by the deadline is viewed as accepting his/her dismissal.

The Chair of Graduate Council will call a meeting (physical or virtual) of the five school Deans to hear the appeal. The Chair of Graduate Council will also attend the meeting in an ex-officio, non-voting capacity. After considering the student’s appeal and supporting documentation as well as information from the Program Director, the Deans will take one of two actions:

• 1. to uphold the student’s dismissal from the graduate program; or
  2. to reinstate the student on continued Probation. At the end of the term or semester, they must regain at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA or will be dismissed with the right to appeal.

The Chair of Graduate Council will notify the student of the outcome via Ramapo College e-mail, copied to the Program Director, the Dean, and the Registrar.

The decision of the Deans is final.

Program-Specific Policy

Programs subject to accreditation or external certification requirements may establish more rigorous academic standing requirements, ad dictated by those external bodies.