Academic Alert

Academic Alert is a system of monitoring student progress in order to:

1. Identify students who are experiencing difficulty in making satisfactory progress toward their college goal; and,
2. Assist students to re-evaluate their goals and commitment to college. Each student is entitled to be notified of their academic standing when placed on academic alert status. The notification will include the meaning of academic alert, the availability of support services to respond to the academic difficulty before the student is placed on academic break. 

There are two types of Academic Alert:

Academic Alert

Students will be notified at the end of the fall or spring semester in which the student has earned a grade point average (GPA) less than a 2.0 in all units attempted. All units attempted is defined as all units of credit for which the student is enrolled in Southwestern Community College District. A student shall be removed from academic alert when the student’s cumulative (all units attempted) grade point average (GPA) is 2.0 or higher.

Progress Academic Alert

Students will be notified at the end of fall or spring semester, after at least 12 units are completed, when the student receives symbols of “W,” “I,” “NC,” or “NP” in 50% or more of all units in which a student has enrolled. A student shall be removed from progress academic alert when the percentage of units in the categories of “W,” “I,” “NC,” “NP” or “F” is less than 50 % of total attempted units.

At the end of the second semester of which a student continues on academic or progress alert, a notice of academic break will be sent to the student.

Academic Break

Academic Break is a policy of interruption in attendance at Southwestern College intended to assist students in reevaluating their educational goals. The two types of Academic Break are:

Academic Break

A student who is on academic alert shall be subject to an academic break if the earned cumulative grade point average is less than 2.0 in all units attempted in each of three consecutive semesters. All units attempted is defined as all units of credit for which the student is enrolled in Southwestern Community College District. A student whose semester Grade Point Average equals or exceeds 2.0, but whose overall Grade Point Average remains below 2.0, shall remain on Academic alert.

Progress Academic Break

A student on progress academic alert shall be subject to an academic break if the percentage of units in which the student has been enrolled for which entries of “W,” “I,” “NC,” and “NP” are recorded in at least three consecutive semesters reaches of exceeds 50 percent.

A student who is on academic alert and earns a semester grade point average of 1.75 or better shall not be placed on academic break as long as this minimum semester grade point average is maintained.

Students will be notified of their academic break status from Southwestern College when progress does not improve while on academic or progress academic alert for two consecutive semesters, beginning with the semester in which they are notified they have been placed on academic alert. The notification in the form of an academic break letter will explain the reason for the academic break, availability of support services, the petition process to appeal the academic break decision, and the procedure for readmission into the college or redirection to a traditional program in the case of a student enrolled in a direct assessment, competency-based program. The academic break process provides students time to reevaluate and reorganize their educational goals and commitment to college.

Academic Break Appeal 

The student has the right to appeal an academic break action. The student must submit the Petition to Appeal Academic Break  form to the Counseling Department Office within established deadlines. If the student fails to submit the petition by the deadline, the student waives all future rights to appeal the academic break action. The petition will include detailed reasons for continued enrollment to be granted.  Upon receipt of academic break petitions students are notified of mandatory workshops. Students must attend one of the workshops in order to have their petition reviewed by the Counseling Department.  The student will be notified of the outcome of their appeal in writing within ten business days after attending the workshop.

If the academic break appeal is granted, the student will be continued on academic alert for an additional semester. At the end of the additional semester, the student’s academic record will again be evaluated to determine whether the student shall be removed from academic alert, be on academic break, or continued on academic alert. 

Readmission

Readmission is the process by which a student who has been been placed on academic break is reinstated into the college. Students may be re-admitted after an academic break for one regular semester by completing each of the following steps:

1. Submit a completed Petition for Readmission after an academic break to the Counseling Department by the sixth (6^th) week of the semester prior to re-enrollment:
   1. The completed petition must include a clear explanation of what led to the academic break and what will be done differently to improve learning, completion of classes, grades, and for removal from the continued action of academic alert.
2. Upon receipt of the petition by the Counseling Department, the student will be notified to schedule an appointment with a counselor.
3. During the counseling appointment, the petition is reviewed, discussed, and approved or not approved.
   1. If approved, the counselor will identify the courses to be taken for the semester of re-enrollment and services that must be used to improve learning.
   2. If not approved, the counselor will make recommendations for the student to complete prior to consideration of re-enrollment for the following semester.

Upon re-enrollment, the student will be placed on academic alert to assist with improving learning.  The student will monitor progress, grades, and schedule a meeting with the instructor and counselor at the first sign of a problem, i.e., difficulty with course material, poor grades on quizzes, tests, assignments, etc.  If the student does not pass all courses, or withdraws from any course, the student will be placed on academic break again for one semester.

Redirection (for Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Degrees and Certificates)

Redirection is the process by which a student enrolled in a direct assessment competency-based education degree or certificate program disenrolls of their own accord or is disenrolled by the District from the program and resumes their studies in a traditional unitbased degree or certificate program. Two types of redirections are the following: 

Voluntary Redirection

A student who begins a program and then determines, for whatever reason, they wish to change their program is voluntarily redirected to a traditional degree or certificate. The student may transfer their completed competencies as units applicable to the student’s new program when the competencies the student has completed have been determined by discipline faculty to be equivalent to elective units or to a unit-bearing course in the new program.

Students may be voluntarily redirected by completing each of the following steps:

1. Submit a completed Petition for Redirection for a Direct Assessment Competency Based Education Program to the Counseling Department by the sixth (6th) week of the CBE term prior to redirection:
   1. The completed petition must include a clear explanation of what led to the decision to resume their study in a traditional program and what will be done differently to improve learning, complete classes, and raise grades.
2. Upon receipt of the petition by the Counseling Department, the student will be notified to schedule an appointment with a counselor.
3. During the counseling appointment, the petition is reviewed, discussed, and approved or not approved.
   1. If approved, the counselor will identify the courses to be taken for the semester of redirection and services that must be used to improve learning.
   2. If not approved, the counselor will make recommendations for the student to complete prior to consideration of redirection for the following semester.

Involuntary Redirection

A student who is enrolled in a program but does not meet satisfactory academic progress requirements as defined in Title 5 Section 55270.9 may be involuntarily redirected to a traditional degree or certificate.

Students will be involuntarily redirected based on the requirements of Title 5 Section 55270.9. Repetition using the following steps:

1. Students will be notified of their redirection to a traditional degree or certificate program from Southwestern College when satisfactory academic progress does not meet expectations defined in regulations.
2. The notification will explain the reason for redirection, availability of support services, the petition process to appeal the redirection decision, and the procedure for declaring the desired program for enrollment. The redirection process provides students time to reevaluate and reorganize their educational goals and commitment to college.
3. Upon redirection into a traditional unit-based program, the student will be subject to the policies and procedures for all students not enrolled in a direct assessment competency-based education program.

Redirection Appeal for Direct Assessment Competency Based Education

The student has the right to appeal a redirection action. The student must submit the Petition to Appeal Redirection form to the Counseling Department Office within established deadlines. If the student fails to submit the petition by the deadline, the student waives all future rights to appeal the redirection action. The petition will include detailed reasons for continued enrollment in the program to be granted. Upon receipt of appeal petitions students are notified of mandatory workshops. Students must attend one of the workshops in order to have their petition reviewed by the Counseling Department. The student will be notified of the outcome of their appeal in writing within ten business days after attending the workshop. If the redirection appeal is granted, the student will be continued on academic alert for an additional term under the approved Competency-Based Education Academic Calendar. At the end of the additional term, the student’s academic record will again be evaluated to determine whether the student shall be involuntarily or voluntarily redirected to a traditional program. 

Any student who has been voluntarily or involuntarily redirected from a direct assessment competency-based program may be readmitted to the program by following the requirements for readmission in this procedure.

Transcription and Transfer of Units When a Student Is Redirected from a Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education Program to a Traditional Program

When a student is voluntarily or involuntarily redirected, the student may request an evaluation of their competency transcript to determine equivalent credit units that may be applicable to a traditional degree or certificate. Discipline faculty will determine the number of units a student may apply to a traditional degree or certificate program based on a review of the competencies and/or program modules a student has completed in the CBE program. This determination will be based on a review of crosswalks between the instruction and assessments in the competency-based program and traditional credit courses faculty have determined to be equivalent to the competency-based education program.

In the circumstance that a degree-seeking student wishes to receive and apply credit for progress made in a competency module equivalent to less than 50% of one credit unit, the student may have up to .5 units of elective credit waived as part of the 60 units required for the associates degree. Also, at the discretion of the faculty a student can be awarded credit for a traditional credit course lower in the sequence of courses in a program than where they have progressed rather than elective credit. For a certificate program, a student will be unable to receive credit for completing less than 50% of a competency as determined by the faculty. Students who are not awarded unit-based course credit for progress in a competency-based education program will receive an EW (Excused Withdrawal) on their credit-based transcript for the equivalent credit course attempted and a PW (Progress Withdrawal) on their competency transcript for each attempted competency.