I feel I have been wronged...

Parent Cafe
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<p>Okay so I am not a parent but this seemed like the best place to post my question. I was just recently place on academic suspension. I did not find out about this until last week (8/10/08) when I checked to make sure I was still registered for the Fall 08 semester courses that Peoplesoft (newly implemented) let me register for back in May. No email, no phone call, or mail. It wasn't even on Peoplesoft when I checked my grades after the Spring 08 semester. I had a really rough semester in Fall 07 which got me on academic probation (comes before suspension). But, I was not notified that I was on academic probation until 4 weeks before the end of Spring 08. I was informed of this via mail. So now I am out of the University of Houston for a full semester (I have 10 more courses) and I have a 50/50 chance of being readmitted through an appeal. These are just 2 examples of what I consider blunders by my school. My point is that I feel as though I've been got and there is no one to voice my concerns too. I am so frustrated and disheartened by this. Since enrolling in this college I have had nothing but problems with the administration. I acknowledge that the grades are my responsibility and I got what I earned. But I have received no help from the administration. I was dropped from all courses 3 weeks into a semester because my advisor forgot to have me put a signature on the degree plan that we went over in his office. So...</p>

<p>I believe that I have a just reason to ,question, appeal or challenge even the actions of the college administration. I don't know where/how to do this. The only advocate I have is my disabilities advisory and she doesn't know who I can go to either (a medical withdraw would still leave me out a semester). If any of you have information about where/how I can voice my opinions I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you and sorry for the novel.</p>

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<p>I don’t know the specifics at your school, but every school has an appeals process. I’m surprised your disability advisor doesn’t know where to go, so . . . </p>

<p>If you have an academic advisor (you should), contact him or her.</p>

<p>If you don’t have an advisor, look on the UH website under academic appeals.</p>

<p>If that doesn’t help, I suggest several possible places to start (and if none of these are the appropriate place, I would hope someone in those offices would know the proper place):</p>

<ol>
<li> The Office of Undergraduate Students (or Studies)</li>
<li> The Office of the Provost</li>
<li> The Office of the Dean of your College</li>
<li> The Office of the Dean of Students</li>
</ol>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>H114 - Welcome to the real world. Your life is in your hands. Maybe some sympathetic people will offer help and support from time to time, but you’re supposed to be the one pulling your own strings. You’re surprised that you’re on academic suspension? You know what grades you had at the start of the semester. Suspension usually follows periods of probation and warning, so you should have had a piece of paper taped to your desk all semester reminding you of the grades you needed to earn to avoid being suspended. Your advisor forgot to have you sign the degree plan? Your degree plan? The one with the blank that says “Student’s Signature?” When and why did you delegate control of your life to others and not look on your own for all the "i"s to dot and "t"s to cross?</p>

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<p>Each dept, even in a big public, should have some one in the degree area who is available to assist students with issues. Hopefully this is some one who has been around and seen it all and knows exactly when they can and cannot approve.</p>

<p>If you were on academic probation for fall 2007 there should have been a very specific GPA you needed to earn in Spring 2008 perhaps in a minimum number of units. That ought to be stated quite clearly all over the school website.</p>

<p>First step is try to find out WHY you were suspended- do they state a GPA which you did not earn? In most UCs it is 2.0 overall and 2.0 in the major. </p>

<p>FInd out WHY and determine if the info is accurate. Is there an incomplete out there or an F that should have been a W?</p>

<p>10 classes is 2 semesters, maybe with a couple of classes in the summer, if you can only handle 4 per term. I can understand why you want to get down to business and finish, but can you prove to any one that you have changed your habits that led to academic probation. I think they will work with you if they feel something has changed, but what has changed if you (for example only) got below 2.0 in fall and got probation and then got below 2.0 in spring? What have you learned about why the grades are low?</p>

<p>There is some level of help in this serious consequence, they cannot in good conscience allow you to pay for units which likely won’t count, or take loans to pay for schooling you will waste.</p>

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<p>Okay, looking at your school I see this (this is the business school, I do not know which school you are in, but it is probably similar):</p>

<p>Academic Probation occurs when a student’s cumulative GPA at UH falls below a 2.0. Until the cumulative UH GPA is 2.00 or higher a student will remain on probation. It is critical that after going on probation a student realistically asses the obstacles to academic success, utilize the information provided below to get off probation in a timely fashion, and thereby avoid possible suspension from the university.</p>

<p>While on probation students must earn a minimum of a 2.00 UH semester GPA until their cumulative UH GPA is at least a 2.00. Students on probation, who earn less than a 2.00 semester GPA, will be placed on Academic Suspension.</p>

<p>WAS YOUR GPA BELOW 2.0 IN SPRING?</p>

<p>Students on probation are required to get academic advising. Students should come in on a walk-in basis to speak with an advisor.
DID YOU GET ADVISING?</p>

<p>You may use the following link for assistance in determining what grades you will need to make to achieve your target GPA.</p>

<p>efinition - A business student already on Academic Probation who earns less than a 2.0 semester GPA at UH is put on Academic Suspension by the Bauer College of Business and the Univeristy of Houston. While a student is on Academic Suspension the student will not be able to register or take classes at UH.
University Policy</p>

<p>The University mandates a specified minimum time period during which a student is ineligible to apply for readmission to the University. During this period a student should consider the obstacles to his/her performance including: adressing and preventing those obstacles from re-ocurring and strategies to acheive academic excellence in the future. </p>

<pre><code>* The first suspension is for the period of at least one semester.

  • The second suspension is for a period of at least 12 months. (Business students on their second suspension are usually not re-admitted; see Bauer policy below.)
  • A third suspension will result in permanent suspension from the University of Houston.
    </code></pre>

<p>I DO THINK THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN EMAIL, A SNAIL MAIL, AND A NOTICE ON YOUR WEB ACCOUNT, BUT THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOUR GPA ALL ALONG AND WHAT YOU NEEDED TO ACHIEVE IN THE SPRING…DID YOU ACHIEVE THAT? IF THIS IS A MISTAKE, GET IS CLEARED UP QUICKLY!</p>

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<p>@gadad</p>

<p>Thank you for your response. </p>

<p>I am not surprised that I am on suspension. I am surprised that I was not notified until 4 weeks left of the semester in which I was on academic probation. My post is rather…emotional if you will. What it boils down to is this. The university can do a better job, they could have notified me sooner for instance. If they expect me to dot the i’s and cross the t’s then why shouldn’t I expect the same from them?</p>

<p>And sir, I have not delegated my life to anyone. Thank you, I thought that was a nice touch. Oh how bold we are with complete anonymity. I’ve got one for you. Stick with the Harvard parent threads.</p>

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<p>PS: My caps were not shouting at you, but interjecting my comments into the cut & paste I did from the school’s website.</p>

<p>You are correct that a public school can be a big ugly pile of red tape and they can old you to a seemingly higher standard than they seem to hold themselves. But that is not the important part and not worth your time to fix- what is important is how to fix your situation.</p>

<p>Go find an adviser, get some wisdom from some one who knows your school and how to help you make things work. don’t give up, but do consider that you must have something going on- distractions, work, personal issues, something causing your marks to be so far below your potential not one but two terms. Before you go back to class, figure that out so that upon your return you can really prove your potential.</p>

<p>It is easy to be disheartened and give up in the face of the hassle, don’t do it, find a way to fix it.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>You are in denial. Ultimately what happened is 100% your responsibilty. It’s time to grow up and recognize that fact. </p>

<p>If I had even a 1% chance of being on academic suspension I would have been in contact with the school months ago to make sure it did not happen. You buried your head in the sand and then blame the school? Real world does not work that way. Your problem is not the suspension, it is not taking full responsibilities for your actions (or lack of). </p>

<p>Life is hard.</p>

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<p>I understand that you are upset that you spent the majority of the spring semester on probation, but you had no idea during that time that you actually were on probation. BUT … when you saw your grades from the fall semester, weren’t you concerned? Your gpa was below 2.0. While you may have been unaware that you were on probation, you should have been concerned that your gpa was so low. At that point, you should have gone for tutoring, talked to a prof, discussed it with your academic advisor, or something else that would have been a positive step toward raising your gpa. That is water under the bridge now, though. I just bring it up because you weren’t rushing to take care of yourself, but you think the school should have rushed to let you know what you would have known had you read the catalog. Yes, the info WAS there for you, had your concern led you to investigate.</p>

<p>Again, though, what’s past is past. You need to learn from what happened. It is time to take responsibility for what goes on in your own educational life. PLEASE do not try to go back to UH without getting yourself to the point where you can maintain a 2.0 gpa. It’s a waste of money. You would be better served going to a smaller state school where students have easy access to assistance. My friend is a community college professor, and she is committed to helping her students succeed (as long as they do what they need to do to be successful). I am not familiar with TX publics, but I am sure there are some small state colleges/universities that might be a better match for your academic needs. You will need to meet with an academic advisor, then follow through with whatever steps he/she suggests for you.</p>

<p>May I ask about your disability advisor? Is she a university employee? It doesn’t sound like she has been much help for you. That is a shame. If she truly has not been helpful, please send a letter to the school to let them know this. I don’t know what your disability is, but if you have an advisor, she should certainly be proactive in helping you navigate the system to get the assistance you need to be successful.</p>

<p>Ultimately, though, no one can do this for you. You must be the one who is responsible for your education. If it is too difficult to do this at a large school, please consider transferring to a smaller, more navigable school.</p>

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<p>As the parent of a son with learning disabilities I sympathize with you. Obviously your college does not seem to help students with disabilities as you would hope. In our experience large public colleges are not always the best with students with special needs. My son has had to really be vocal and after transferring once in now in a Ca state college that has a great LD dept. They are extremely helpful in getting him his accomodations. But, you really have to learn to be proactive and stay on top of your grades (atleast knowing what they are).</p>

<p>Hopefully you can find someone in the student services dept that can help you navigate. It won’t be easy but hang in there and keep trying your best!</p>

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<p>Sammy, a little off topic but I was wondering if you could reveal (or PM me) the name of the CA state college that is working for your child. I will be seeking such a school in 3 years for DD.</p>

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<p>H114ml337uRN07jK - In a perfect world, what would you like the school to do RIGHT NOW? (Going forward I mean.) Figure that out and then go see the school authorities mentioned above.</p>

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<p>Calgal, I would check out SDSU. A friend whose nephew had LD issues was impressed with the uni’s services.</p>

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<p>Calgal- sent you a pm</p>

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<p>Is there student advocacy or legal clinic locally who can help you express your dissatisfaction with the late notice and try to craft an appeal based on that? Schools hate the thought of impending litigation, especially from disabled students. There should have been written notice given to allow you enough time to make other plans. Sometimes, people will give up on LD students, just don’t give up on yourself, regardless of what others think.</p>

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<p>OMG Bessie that is such an inappropriate response! Sue the school? For what? The OP flunked out and has taken no responsibility. They are supposed to be an adult. </p>

<p>I reaaly have a problem with the “blame everyone else & entitlement” society these days.</p>

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<p>The OP was not “wronged”. At any point in time HE could have contacted the school for his status relative to his academic probation. HE knew that he was on the edge academically. HE knew that he had the potential to NOT make the grade. What did HE do about it?? Apparently, he waited to hear from the school. What was the point in that? He, himself, was able to monitor his grades, and his potential GPA. I can’t see that the school bears any responsiblilty for this student’s lack of academic success. The reality is that when you are in college, that burden is the student’s.</p>

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<p>It is definitely his fault he flunked out. He needs to take responsibility for his grades and do whatever is appropriate. However, if the school failed to make a timely notification according to their own policies (thereby allowing him the opportunity to make other plans for school this semester), then he should investigate whether the school would be willing to make any concessions for him attending until other plans can be made. Yes, he needs to adhere to school policy, but so does the administration. I know that at large public universities, people fall through the cracks and sometimes the students lose. IF the university followed their own policy, fine-he’s out with no appeal. IF the university neglected to follow notification deadlines, then they screwed up as well and he should be able to go forward with an appeal. I only suggested an attorney because the OP sounded very confused and emotional and I thought he could use a logical, impartial opinion on what is going on. It also sounds like this kid has medical issues related to disabilities that should be explored. Maybe flunking out will be the biggest gift this kid ever got or maybe the school should have had a better disabled student advocate to ensure he was getting the services they likely promised when he was admitted. Having someone take a look at his problem is not unethical nor does it imply that he has no responsibility. I am simply advising he have an expert take a look at his situation and advise him on what to do. And, this may be cynical, but in today’s world, the threat of litigation is often the only thing that motivates businesses and government to do the right thing at times. Unfortunately, a letter from an attorney on corporate stationary will probably get this kid a better chance to explain his situation in an appeal than one he wrote himself on his personal letterhead. I’m not saying I like it, but that is the world we live in. The OP didn’t ask what we thought of him flunking out; he asked for advice on what he could do to help himself at this point. Without making a moral judgment on his situation, I gave him my advice on how to go forward. If I was advising him as my child, the reply would have been about 10 pages long and would encompass a host of issues beyond the possibility of appealing a decision made by an academic committee at his college.</p>

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<p>It is definitely his fault he flunked out. He needs to take responsibility for his grades and do whatever is appropriate. However, if the school failed to make a timely notification according to their own policies (thereby allowing him the opportunity to make other plans for school this semester), then he should investigate whether the school would be willing to make any concessions for him attending until other plans can be made. Yes, he needs to adhere to school policy, but so does the administration. I know that at large public universities, people fall through the cracks and sometimes students lose, especially those who have special eeds or are not particularly proactive. IF the university followed their own policy, fine-he’s out with no appeal. IF the university neglected to follow notification deadlines, then they screwed up as well and he should be able to go forward with an appeal. I only suggested an attorney because the OP sounded very confused and emotional and I thought he could use a logical, impartial opinion on what is going on. It also sounds like this kid has medical issues related to disabilities that should be explored. If a medical withdrawal is being considered, then there is more to the story than some kid slacking off. Maybe flunking out will be the biggest gift this kid ever got or maybe the school should have had a better disabled student advocate to ensure he was getting the services they likely promised when he was admitted. Having someone take a look at his problem is not unethical nor does it imply that he has no responsibility. I am simply advising he have an expert take a look at his situation and advise him on what to do. And, this may be cynical, but in today’s world, the threat of litigation is often the only thing that motivates businesses and government to do the right thing at times. Unfortunately, a letter from an attorney on corporate stationary will probably get this kid a better chance to explain his situation in an appeal than one he wrote himself on his personal letterhead. I’m not saying I like it, but that is the world we live in. The OP didn’t ask what we thought of him flunking out; he asked for advice on what he could do to help himself at this point. Without making a moral judgment on his situation, I gave him my advice on how to go forward. If I was advising him as my child, the reply would have been about 10 pages long and would encompass a host of issues beyond the possibility of appealing a decision made by an academic committee at his college.</p>

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<p>H11…etc, </p>

<p>with due respect I have a hard time following what your situation is. Give us some background, are you even in college, what is a peoplesoft registration, last I know Peoplesoft sells IT software, so are you taking extension course or what ? Then paint a picture for us tell know why you are in the situation (suspension) you are in.</p>