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Academic Standing, Probation, and Dismissal

At the end of each semester the University shall determine whether a student is in Good Academic Standing, on Academic Probation, or subject to Academic Dismissal. Some schools and colleges may have exceptions to the Good Academic Standing, Academic Warning, Academic Probation and Academic Dismissal policies listed below.

Good Academic Standing

To be in Good Academic Standing a student must not be on Academic Probation or subject to Academic Dismissal.

Academic Probation

Students other than first-semester freshmen (non-transfer student) whose UM cumulative grade-point average (CGPA) in University of Miami courses is below the following levels shall be placed on Academic Probation.

Credit Hours Earned CGPA
Fewer than 33 1.7
33-64 1.8
65-96 1.9
More than 96 2.0

First-semester freshmen who have a semester grade-point average below 1.3 shall be placed on Academic Probation. In addition, students who fail to make satisfactory progress toward meeting the degree requirements specified by their School or College may be put on Probation by the Academic Standards Committee of the School/College. Students on Academic Probation must meet with their academic advisor prior to the following semester and shall be restricted to a 13-credit hour load.

Academic Dismissal

A student who remains on probationary status after two consecutive semesters on Academic Probation shall be subject to Academic Dismissal. A student who has been on Academic Probation for one semester and has a CGPA below 1.0 shall also be subject to Academic Dismissal. The decision to dismiss shall be made by the Academic Standards Committee of the School or College in which the student is enrolled. If a decision is made not to dismiss, the student shall remain on Academic Probation.

Appeals and Readmission

Students who wish to appeal their Academic probation or dismissal for academic reasons, must do so in writing to the School or College Academic Standards Committee within thirty days of the notice of dismissal. Those who have been dismissed for academic reasons shall not be considered for readmission to any school or college at the University until at least two regular semesters have elapsed since their dismissal.

Faculty Senate Student Affairs Committee Standard Academic Appeals Process

The Faculty Senate Student Affairs Committee (FSSAC) has responsibility for undergraduate student academic appeals. The FSSAC includes faculty representatives from all undergraduate schools as well as three non-voting ex officio representatives: a graduate and undergraduate student representative and the University ombudsperson. The FSSAC reviews undergraduate student academic appeals that have not been resolved at the department, school, or college levels. As noted in section II below, the FSSAC hears cases only after they have gone through the departmental and college process. The processes are the same for grade and non-grade appeals except as noted below.

FSSAC does not hear appeals for retroactively adding, dropping, modifying, or withdrawing from specific courses after the published academic calendar dates.  

I. Time Constraints

Appeals must be filed within a year of the occurrence of the academic action resulting in the appeal and prior to the completion of all degree requirements or withdrawal from the University. Exceptions to this deadline may be permitted by the FSSAC for good cause.

Each level of appeal should aim to review the appeal and arrive at judgment within a two month period from the date the appeal reaches them. The entire process should be completed within one year.

II. Order of Appeal

A student appeal regarding a faculty or administrative academic action must be addressed to the following entities or persons in this order:

  1. The faculty member or administrator responsible for the course, program, or activity.
  2. The department/program chair/director or administrative superior of the faculty member or administrator.
  3. The Dean or designee of the school or college offering the course, program or activity.
  4. If the school, college or administrative unit has a committee constituted to hear student appeals, that committee must be consulted before proceeding to the next level.
  5. The ombudsperson. The student is to provide the materials listed in Section III below to the ombudsperson who will review the merits of the appeal, and attempt to resolve the matter. The ombudsperson, as part of his/her review should give the student a preliminary assessment as to whether the matter, as presented by the student at that time, is reviewable by the FSSAC.
    If the matter is the appeal of a final grade, and only after all the other steps are taken, the ombudsperson may refer the matter to the Provost who will decide whether or not to refer the appeal to the FSSAC.
    For a non-grade-appeal, the student has the final authority to decide whether to take the appeal to FSSAC. If s/he chooses to do so, the ombudsperson shall forward the appeal and the accompanying documentation to the FSSAC via the Faculty Senate Office.
  6. The Provost may request that the FSSAC review an appeal. If, but only if, s/he does so, the FSSAC shall have jurisdiction to review a grade-related appeal.
    1. As part of the request, the Provost shall forward to the FSSAC, via the Faculty Senate office, the materials submitted by the student as indicated in Section III, below.
    2. The FSSAC will review the student's written appeal (see section III below), confer with the appropriate faculty, administrators, and others as it deems necessary in making its recommendation to the Provost. The FSSAC may request an interview with the student, additional information or access to records, interviews with relevant faculty or administrators, or additional information or access to records kept by faculty or administrators.
    3. The FSSAC will communicate its findings and recommendations to the Provost. Copies shall be provided to the Faculty Senate.
  7. The final decision with respect to the grade-related appeal will be made by the Provost and communicated to the student in writing. Copies shall be provided to the Faculty Senate Office and to the Chair of the FSSAC.
  8. For non-grade-related academic appeals:
    1. The FSSAC shall act upon those appeals and report its findings and recommendation to the Provost. The Committee shall forward to the Chair of the Faculty Senate a copy of its recommendation to the Provost.
    2. The Provost shall communicate his/her decision on each recommendation to the student concerned, to the Chair of the Committee, and the Chair of the Faculty Senate. 

III. Materials for an Appeal

When bringing an appeal, the student must state in writing issues s/he wishes to have considered. The appeal must include:

  1. An appeal letter clearly stating the conditions as seen by the student, and offering reasons for granting the appeal.
  2. The appeal letter must indicate if the student wishes to make a personal appearance and, if so, the reasons why the appearance is necessary.
  3. Documents of support (e.g., examinations, term papers, syllabi, or medical documentation of illness) that the student wishes to have examined.
  4. All written decisions made at earlier levels of the appeal by individual faculty/administrators, departments/programs/administrative units, college or school committees, and deans which are available to the student or in the student’s possession.

IV. Other Notes and Special Conditions

  1. If the appeal is based on or related to a charge made by the student of discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, or handicap, a representative of the appropriate University office will be contacted and, as appropriate, consulted in the appeal process.
  2. If the appeal is based on or related to a disability:
    1. The ADA Coordinating Committee shall serve in an advisory capacity.
    2. The student is to include in the materials provided, the appropriate forms from the Office of Disability Services documenting:
      1. An evaluation of the disability
      2. Recommendations related to the disability
    3. The FSSAC does not consider appeals based upon the grant, denial or modification of an accommodation by the Office of Disability Services. Instead, any such appeal is as prescribed by the Office of Disability Services Grievance Procedure only.

The Grading System

A Excellent attainment
B Good attainment
C Fair attainment
D Poor attainment (earns credit hour but may not fulfill requirement for a major)
F Failure (effective Fall 1995)
XF Failure- Academic Integrity (effective Fall 2020) 6
W Course dropped on or before the last day for withdrawing from classes as published in the official calendar of the University. Credit hour can be earned only by successful repetition of the course.
WL Late Withdrawal--Administrative; Only used for Complete Withdrawal (Effective Summer 2017)
I Incomplete work in passing status with the instructor’s permission to complete the course. An “I” will be assigned only if the instructor is satisfied that there are reasonable non-academic grounds for the student’s incomplete work.1 An “I” is not intended to be assigned in order to permit a student to repeat a course without registration or to permit a student to do additional work in order to improve upon grades earned during the semester. The student who receives an “I” must complete the course with a passing grade within the time frame specified by the professor of the course but not longer than the end of one calendar year, or prior to graduation, whichever occurs first. An Academic Dean may approve an extension initiated by the course instructor. An “I” not completed prior to the student’s graduation shall be changed to an “IE” or “IF” by action of the student’s Academic Dean.2
IP Denotes in progress grade assigned upon satisfactory completion of the first semester of a two-semester sequence, with the final grade for both courses to be submitted at the end of the second semester of the sequence. Please note that all “IP”s must be converted to a letter grade or “IF” at graduation. “IP” will also be converted to “IF” upon any departure from the University for a period in excess of one year.3
IF Symbol indicating that an “I” grade was not appropriately completed.4 The symbol “IF” is equivalent to an “F” when computing a student’s average.
CP Completed
CR Grade signifying that credit only is awarded based on a “C” average or better.
NC Grade signifying that no credit hour is awarded based on a course average below a grade of “C”.
NG Symbol assigned by the Office of the Registrar indicating that the instructor has not reported the student’s grade. For a student to receive credit hour for the course, the instructor must report a passing grade prior to the student’s graduation, or by the end of one regular academic semester, whichever comes first. An Academic Dean may approve an extension initiated by the course instructor. An “NG” not replaced by a passing grade, or by a “W”, prior to the student’s graduation shall be changed to an “F” by action of the student’s Academic Dean.5

Credit Only Option 

The credit only option for UM courses has been established to encourage students to explore academic areas outside their major and minor fields of concentration. Students who take UM courses under the credit option may only do so with free electives, not to fulfill minor, major, or degree requirements, and receive a CR (Credit Received) or NC (No Credit).

The exception to this is test credits that are accepted with a UM equivalency and a grade of CR from the following programs, which can be used to fulfill minor, major, or degree requirements:

  • Advanced Placement (AP)
  • International Baccalaureate (IB)
  • General Certificate of Education (GCE)   
  • Cambridge Pre-U
  • Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Unit
  • College Level Examination Program (CLEP)

Also, UM courses taken as CR/NC in Spring 2020 as part of the pandemic emergency measures may be used to fulfill minor, major, or degree requirements. 

Courses with CR or NC grades become part of a student’s record, but they do not count in the grade point average as computed by the University of Miami.

Grade Point Average

The grade point average is used to determine:

  • class rank
  • graduation and university honor eligibility
  • good standing, probation, and dismissal status
  • scholarship eligibility

Your official grade point average is based only on the work you have completed at the University of Miami. The only exception to this policy is for determining whether a student qualifies for university honors established by the minimum grade point requirement at the time of graduation. For graduation purposes, cumulative grade point average is defined as either the average of all grades earned at the University of Miami or the combined average of all graded work taken at the University of Miami and elsewhere whether or not the transfer work is accepted toward a degree at the University of Miami, whichever is lower.

Quality points per credit hour are awarded as follows:

A+ 4.00
A 4.00
A- 3.70
B+ 3.30
B 3.00
B- 2.70
C+ 2.30
C 2.00
C- 1.70
D+ 1.30
D 1.00
E (Prior to Fall 1995) 0.00
IE1 0.00
F (Effective Fall 1995) 0.00
XF (effective Fall 2020) 6 0.00
IF 0.00

Courses marked with an “IE” or “IF” count as credit hour attempted but are not counted in credit hours earned and do not carry quality points.5

Courses with an XF grade, which is received due to an academic integrity violation, may not be retaken under the Undergraduate Repeat Rule. 

Credit hours marked CR are counted as credit hours earned but are not counted in credit hours attempted and do not carry quality points. Courses marked with the symbols I, IP, W, NC, and NG do not carry credit hours attempted, credit hours earned, or quality points.

The grade point average is determined by dividing the total quality points earned by the total credit hours attempted.

Military service credit hour, some foreign university credit hour, correspondence course credit hour, credit by examination, etc., are not awarded quality points and do not enter the computation of the grade point average.

1

Faculty Senate legislation #83032(B)

2

Faculty Senate legislation #2000-24(B)

3

Faculty Senate legislation #2001-29(B)

4

Faculty Senate legislation #85005(B) and #97001(B)

5

Faculty Senate legislation #85001(B)

6

Faculty Senate legislation #2018-41(B)

Grade Change Policy

LETTER GRADES

  • Grade changes may only be submitted after final grades have been posted to the official student record by the University Registrar.
  • Only the faculty member of record may initiate the grade change process, except for instances of student grade appeals.1
  • Grade changes may be submitted up to one calendar year from the date on which the course grade was posted.
  • A grade change may be proposed only to correct a clerical or calculation error in the determination of a final grade. 
  • Grade change proposals must be approved by the chair of the department offering the course and by the Dean (or Dean’s designee) of the School/College of the course department.
  • The University Registrar will process the approved grade change and update the student record.


INCOMPLETE GRADES

To allow a student extra time to complete course work due to unusual circumstances, faculty may submit an Incomplete (I) grade on condition that the student:

  1. Has attended class and completed at least 50% of the course work;
  2. Has a passing grade  or is in good standing in the course;
  3. Has corresponded with the faculty member to determine the work that must be submitted;
  4. Has agreed with the faculty member on a due date (no more than one year from the date the Incomplete grade is submitted).

EXPIRATION OF INCOMPLETE

An undergraduate Incomplete (I) grades will be converted to an “IF” if a grade change is not submitted by the due date. The “IF” is calculated into the student’s GPA as a failing grade.  

1.

 Process for student initiated grade appeals can be found in the Undergraduate Academic Bulletin under the Grading system.

 

Honor Code 

The Honor Code, initiated at the request of the Undergraduate Student Body Government, ratified by student referendum, approved by the Faculty Senate, by the President of the University, and administered by students, protects the academic integrity of the University of Miami by encouraging consistent ethical behavior among its undergraduate students. The Code provides standards that prohibit all forms of scholastic dishonesty, including cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and falsification or misrepresentation of experimental data. The Code covers all written and oral examinations, term papers, creative works, assigned computer related work, and any other academic work done at the University by an undergraduate student.

All undergraduate students are responsible for reading, understanding, and upholding the Honor Code. Signed pledges are required for written work submitted for evaluation, but the absence of a signed pledge does not free a student from the ethical standards required by the Code. Procedures for dealing with infractions of the Code, including provisions for appeals, are printed in the text of the Honor Code. Copies may be obtained from the Office of the Dean of Students or from the office of the Undergraduate Student Body Government, or online.

In keeping with the traditional prerogatives of university faculties, nothing in the Code infringes on the faculty’s assignment of grades undertaken in a class. Instructors are informed when students have been found guilty of infractions involving their classes. Courses in which students have been failed for academic dishonesty may neither be dropped nor repeated under the terms of the Undergraduate Repeat Rule. 

Honor Rolls

The Dean’s List

The Dean’s List is composed of those undergraduate students who are enrolled in a degree-seeking program and have attained high scholastic achievement for the semester. To attain the Dean’s List, a student must, for the semester:

  1. have registered for and have completed 12 or more graded credit hours (excluding the credit hours earned in courses taken for credit only);
  2. have attained a quality point average of 3.50 or higher for the semester;
  3. have no courses with pending grades (I or NG).

The Office of the University Registrar will post this achievement to the student’s permanent record.

The Provost’s Honor Roll 

The Provost’s Honor Roll is composed of those undergraduate students who are enrolled in a degree-seeking program and have attained a high scholastic achievement for the semester. To attain the Provost’s Honor Roll, a student must, for the semester:

  1. have registered for and have completed 12 or more graded credit hours (excluding the credit hours earned in courses taken for credit hour only);
  2. have attained a quality point average of 3.75 or higher for the semester;
  3. have no courses with pending grades (I or NG).

The Office of the University Registrar will post this achievement to the student’s permanent record.

The President’s Honor Roll

The President’s Honor Roll is composed of those undergraduate students who are enrolled in a degree-seeking program and have attained the highest possible scholastic achievement for the semester. To attain the President’s Honor Roll a student must, for the semester:

  1. have registered for and completed 12 or more graded credit hours (excluding credit hours earned in courses taken for credit only);
  2. have attained a quality point average of 4.0 for the semester;
  3. have no courses with pending grades (I or NG).

The Office of the University Registrar will post this achievement to the student’s permanent record.