I assume your son is pursuing math and computer science/engineering? I realize that program is very demanding and that the course plan is well-laid out from semester to semester. However, if one F in the beginning computer programming class was enough to put your son on academic probation and put his Presidential Scholarship at risk, and if his current overall GPA is low enough that it would require him to earn a 4.0 this fall to restore his overall GPA to a 3.0, then he might consider taking a semester of at least 15 credits full of liberal arts classes (if he is in the Honors College, then some of those seminar classes) along with some easy (though tedious) computer tech application classes like the CS 102 you mentioned and even a couple of one credit classes (PE and/or service learning classes.)
In addition to this liberal arts heavy semester, perhaps he should think about his choice of major.
I would not presume to say that he is not capable of pursuing the engineering/math majors, but sometimes a student may be successful in an academic area while in high school, and then, once at college, realize that things are quite different. Add in the pressure to keep all of the scholarship money, and the fact that the world keeps telling us that only STEM majors can get good jobs and earn high salaries, it would no doubt be a very difficult decision to change. However, now that there is this pause due to the academic probation, I recommend some soul-searching and some analysis as to what is really going on with grades overall, and, obviously, the failing grade in the computer programming class. By the way, while you mentioned he plans to retake the CS 100 class in the spring, be mindful that his original grade remains a part of his GPA calculation even if he does better the second time.
If your son is still confident that he is on the right path, then that’s great, but I still recommend he use this Fall semester to take mostly non-math, non-engineering classes, even though he has a lot of GE. It has now become a numbers-crunching endeavor, and he must take classes that he knows, without a doubt, that he can get those high grades. Maybe the schedule you described is such a schedule, though I admit that when I see Discrete Mathematics and Theory of Probability described as “easy”, I cannot fathom it (my math obligations in college ended when I completed my year of Calculus, thank goodness.)
Has he considered the possibility of pursuing a liberal arts minor, i.e, communication, English, History, etc)? As an English/Linguistics major myself, I would never describe upper division English courses as easy, and certainly not easy A’s, but a minor in English or communication studies could be very useful to a STEM major. A great weakness among engineers is the ability to communicate with people - a computer engineer who demonstrates interpersonal communication skills and writing skills is a very valued member of any engineering team. Even though you mention your son has many GE classes completed, are there any that might fulfill some of the requirements of a liberal arts minor and, with the addition of two or three more classes, your son would earn that minor as a nice balance to the math/computer/engineering degree? Use the Degreeworks to create a What If plan, to see what courses would be required to complete his current intended major along with some liberal arts minor. That might make it easier this fall, as he takes more liberal arts classes, knowing that he is working towards a minor, rather than a mishmash of courses.
Really what I want to get to is this: do absolutely everything you can to help your son get off of academic probation this fall. If your son does not get the necessary grades to bring his overall GPA up to 3.0, he will receive an email over his winter break informing him that his Presidential Scholarship has been revoked. That email will not offer him any information as to the appeal process (this is a very non-transparent process, much stricter than it has been in the past, and, even when you learn the process, decisions are not made until the spring semester has already begun and so a student returns to classes, to the dorm, and has to wait to find out two or three weeks after the semester has begun whether or not he will be moving out suddenly and returning home. It is extremely stressful for OOS students who depend upon retaining the scholarship to continue at the school. I know of one student who managed to get through this appeal process with an eventual approval, but that student dealt with serious unexpected health issues that led to the deficient grade that led to both probation and revokation, and had at least a hundred pages of medical documentation to prove it. The appeal process was a horrible experience to go through, and there is absolutely no guarantee that it will be approved and that a student will be granted one more semester to make things right.
In addition, at some point later in Spring 2017, if your son participates in the Honors College, and his overall GPA is not 3.3 (even if he restores it to 3.0 this fall), the Honors College will finally get around to sending him an email informing him that he is no longer a member of the Honors College (which requires maintaining a 3.3.) At this point, even if his overall GPA is back up to 3.0, or, should his scholarship be revoked, but he manages to get it reinstated for one more semester as he works, again, to get the grades up, he will lose the benefits of the Honors College, including priority registration for next fall and access to whatever available Honors housing there may be for the following fall semester (if he lives off campus, he will lose priority registration to buy a commuter parking permit, too.) Sure, he can reapply to the Honors College once his overall GPA is back up to 3.3, but that takes time.
Anyway, sorry to be so wordy. I really hope all goes well for your son this fall semester. Encourage him to take advantage of all of the academic help resources on campus, to get a handle on time management, to track his grades all the time, to seek out help from his professors, to be so proactive that he can tell you at any moment just where he stands in every single class. Sure, it’s all his business, his life, and I am no fan of helicopter parenting, but, in this situation, given the financial stakes for all concerned, helping your son as much as he is open to the help is a good thing.
