During late August 1998, The Ohio State University Office of Academic Affairs conducted a thorough investigation of the academic eligibility of Andy Katzenmoyer, including allegations made in two unsigned letters. The investigation found that no university rules or regulations were broken and that nothing was done for the student in question that could not be afforded any other student at the university. The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the university’s own policies protect the privacy of all students’ records. The university cannot and will not make any exceptions.
The university has since redefined its own guidelines for what constitutes “progress” toward a degree for any student. NCAA regulations require only that students be acquiring a year’s worth of hours toward graduation, but do not specify that the credit hours cannot all be electives. The Colleges of the Arts and Sciences has since put in place regulations that now require two-thirds of the course work in any given year be specifically applicable to a degree program (see related documentation below). Other colleges within the university either already have or are now developing similar guidelines.
The Colleges of the Arts and Sciences also has revised rules for retroactive alteration of any grade, now requiring approval from centralized academic authority.
Contact: Malcolm Baroway, University Communications, (614) 292-6895
___________________________________________________________________________Background
It is our responsibility as an institution to assist our students by establishing, defining, and monitoring degree progress for all students independent of the requirements of any external oversight body. Certain subgroups of students in the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences receive scholarships, grants-in-aid, or other financial assistance and are subject to special internal and/or external performance and/or progress standards. These subgroups of students are critical because the way in which we discharge our duties with respect to their performance and progress are related to the real and perceived integrity of the institution.
Additionally, the processes by which we alter grades or enrollments retroactive to prior quarters are an important part of our monitoring role. The integrity of these retroactive processes is essential to the ultimate integrity of the degrees we award, and these processes therefore demand constant attention.
Issues and Assumptions
1. A meaningful retention policy requires that we set performance and progress standards for our students and that we supportively help them measure their work against those standards.
2. Students who receive scholarships, grants, or other aid derived from University funds to pursue fulltime study represent a special claim on our attention. We have invested precious resources in their academic welfare. We therefore should be certain we provide support for their performance and that we exercise vigilance in moving them in a timely way toward completion of the undergraduate degree.
3. Students whose academic status is subject to external standards of progress also represent a special claim on our attention. Because others judge our integrity by the performance and progress of these students, we should hold ourselves to the highest standards in carrying out this delegated monitoring responsibility.
4. The Colleges of the Arts and Sciences should establish and monitor academic standards for their general student population and the subgroups therein. The monitoring of and the decisions about academic standing should take place independently of any other counseling or support services provided to these students through other offices. The supplemental support and counseling services that are provided by these other offices necessarily involve a degree of advocacy. Therefore, these support and counseling processes, on the one hand, and the academic monitoring and decision processes, on the other hand, need, for the good of our students, to have an independent but reciprocal and reinforcing relationship between them.
Recommendations Concerning Establishing Performance and Progress Standards and Monitoring
A. Performance: Any student who enters the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences with less than a 2.0 cumulative point hour ratio is placed on Warning, Probation, or Special Action Probation, depending on the severity and duration of academic difficulty in previous quarters. Subsequent actions depend on student performance, but expectations for improvement are clear and firm. In accord with University Rules, we do not permit a student to remain enrolled if her/his performance results in probationary status for more than two consecutive quarters unless there are extenuating circumstances related to health or unique personal circumstances beyond the student's control.
B. Progress: For students who are required by the terms of their scholarship or grant-in-aid to pursue fulltime study, the minimum measure of progress will be continued progress toward the completion of the undergraduate degree within five years. However, students receiving financial support which offers them the value of tuition or more reasonably should have the goal of completing the degree within four years. The annual standard for progress will be the successful completion of a minimum of 35 hours within the General Education Curriculum (GEC), the major, an approved minor, related ASC-approved coursework, or required remedial or prerequisite major coursework during each academic year. With additional elective coursework, this course of study will enable all students to complete an undergraduate degree within 5 years, and it will allow funded students to adjust their course loads upward in slight ways to complete their undergraduate degree within the four year (12 quarters) duration which defines most scholarships.
C. Monitoring: Prior to the beginning of Autumn Quarter of each year, the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences will review degree audits for all its University-funded students, and will inform them of the state of their progress toward the undergraduate degree. Further, performance will be reviewed on a quarterly basis, and students will receive notification of any change in their status based on performance.
In cases where either University funds or external standards are involved, both performance and progress will be monitored quarterly. Students in such circumstances will receive clear evaluations about their situations following each quarter if a previous quarter's performance indicates their performance or progress places either their funding or certification based on external standards in jeopardy.
D. Retroactive Alteration of Enrollment and Performance: Requests by students enrolled in the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences to retroactively alter course enrollments or grades from previous quarters will be held to the highest standards of documentation. Further, decisions regarding all such requests will require the approval of the Assistant Executive Dean of the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences or her/his designee.
Within the context of the successful completion of a minimum of 35 hours of coursework specified by the academic progress standards for each academic year, the following provisions relate to the timing for particular requirements:
Year One:
1. Successful completion English 110 and any prerequisites to it.
2. Successful completion of Mathematics 104 and any prerequisites to it.
3. Successful completion of the first major or pre-major course, or an appropriate prerequisite required in the major area of study.
4. Should a student transfer into the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences from another program without having completed these courses, that student will be expected to pursue completion of them beginning with the quarter of entry into the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences.
Year Two:
1. Successful completion of the second writing course under the Writing and Related Skills requirement of the GEC.
2. Successful completion of the Mathematical and Logical Analysis portion of the Quantitative and Logical Skills requirement of the GEC for the B.A.
3. Successful completion of at least two GEC categories, or equivalent portions of several GEC categories.
4. Successful completion of at least the second major or pre-major course, or appropriate prerequisites required in the major area of study.
5. Submission of a complete plan that indicates completion of the degree in no longer than five years and preferably four.
6. Should a student transfer into the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences from another program without having completed these courses and requirements, that student will be expected to pursue completion of them beginning with the quarter of entry into the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences.
Year Three:
1. Successful completion of at least two additional GEC categories or equivalent portions of several GEC categories, for a total of four.
2. Successful completion of at least ten hours of work within the major or pre-major area.
3. Successful completion of at least the first course of the foreign language requirement.
4. Submission of an updated, complete plan, including an approved major program, that indicates completion of the degree in no longer than five years and preferably four.
5. Should a student transfer to the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences from another program without having completed these courses and requirements, that student will be expected to pursue completion beginning with the quarter of entry into the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences.
Year Four:
1. Successful completion of at least one additional GEC category or equivalent portions of several GEC categories, for a total of five.
2. Successful completion of at least 10 additional hours within the major, for a total of 20 hours.
3. Submission of an updated, complete plan, including an updated and approved major program that indicates completion of the degree within the fifth year.