The Collegian

Issue date: 10/3/06 Section: News

College is a time of academic enrichment and flourishing minds; however, one might be surprised to know that about six to eight percent of students at Saint Mary's College are currently on academic probation.

There's a common misconception that the students on academic probation are always the troublemakers, the misfits, the jocks, or the quiet people that sit in the back of the classroom. However, Dean of Academic Development Frank Murray dispels these false assumptions.

"In order to be in good academic standing you have to have a 2.0 GPA or higher," said Murray. "If you declare a major you must also have a major GPA." It seems pretty simple at first, but the two different sets of GPAs are where many students face problems, landing them on that probation list. Murray said, "Here's where it gets tricky. Say you just declared your major and you've only taken one class and you get a C- in the course…that's a 1.7 and that will put you on academic probation."

What many students may not know is that there are two levels of probation. The first level of academic probation constitutes a meeting and a warning. The second level occurs during a student's second consecutive year on probation, showing no improvement. This level may result in a loss of financial aid and possibly being subjected to disqualification. However, every student has the opportunity to appeal and to be reviewed, though that does not mean that students are always given a second chance.

When asked about the rumors concerning the percentage of Saint Mary's students on probation, Murray said, "There are two figures that are used; one is the number of the freshman class that are on probation and that's somewhere in the 10-12 percent range, and that's not a surprise because it's their first semester of college and they're adjusting. The other figure is the overall average and that's between six to eight percent." For some students this average may seem impressively low or perhaps a bit too high, but for Lizzie Gedestad '09 the numbers are right on the dot. "It seems to be a pretty reasonable number," she said. "There's always going to be some people who don't do as well as others."

"There are a couple of things that happen," said Murray. "For the majority of freshmen the courses that they have the most difficulty with are the math and science courses. So if a student comes in thinking they're going to be pre-med and they take their first chemistry course and get a D or an F, that will pull they're average down." However, it's not just the difficult math and science courses that are bringing down new students' grades, but courses that have an unfamiliar structure as well. "[Courses] like seminar where they're not used to it, and struggling with the format…and they don't realize they have to participate on a regular basis," said Murray. "There's no final exam to pull them out and then they kind of get caught by surprise."

Continued...

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