Academic Standards
Academic Policies +
Students in the College of Engineering and Applied Science must abide by all college policies and procedures as outlined at engineering.colorado.edu/students/advising.htm. Students should refer to this website often since policies, advising guides, and forms may be updated throughout the academic year.
Ethics +
As members of the academic community, students have a responsibility to conduct themselves with the highest standards of honesty and integrity. These qualities are also vital to the profession of engineering.
Academic and non-academic sanctions, which may include suspension or expulsion, are imposed for the following acts, or intent to engage in such acts: plagiarism; illegal possession and distribution of examinations or answers to specific questions; the presentation of another student’s work as one’s own; performing work or taking an examination for another student; or the alteration, forging, or falsification of official records. This listing is not complete and includes only some types of academic dishonesty. Any student accused by a course instructor of academic dishonesty will be allowed to remain in the course until such time the student acknowledges an act of academic dishonesty or until a hearing has determined that an act of academic dishonesty has been committed. For additional information, see engineering.colorado.edu/students/advising.htm (Academic Honesty) and the Student Honor Code Policy at www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode. See also Academic Integrity and Student Conduct under Campus Policies in the General Information section.
Academic Standing +
To remain in good standing in the College of Engineering and Applied Science, a student must maintain satisfactory academic performance, as measured by grades reported to and calculated by the Office of the Registrar, and satisfactory academic progress toward completion of a bachelor of science degree in the college. CU cumulative, semester, and major GPAs should all be at or greater than 2.000. Failure to meet these requirements results in the student being placed on academic probation and, if not corrected, on academic suspension. A student may be directly placed on academic suspension if retroactive grade changes lower their cumulative or prior semester GPA, or if their cumulative CU GPA falls below 1.000. For additional information, see engineering.colorado.edu/students/advising.htm (Academic Probation and Suspension).
Academic Probation +
Academic probation is normally the first step taken by the college to express concern that a student is not maintaining satisfactory academic performance. It represents an official warning that the student’s academic performance must improve or the student will be subject to suspension from the college. Once placed on academic probation, a student remains in that status the following two semesters (summer term not included) of enrollment as an undergraduate student in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
If a student’s cumulative University of Colorado at Boulder GPA drops below 2.000, or the student’s semester GPA is less than 2.000 for two consecutive semesters (summer term not included), the student is placed on academic probation. Once placed on academic probation, the student must meet the academic requirements imposed by the probation sanction or will be academically suspended from the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
Students placed on academic probation by cumulative grade point average must raise their cumulative University of Colorado GPA to at least 2.000 for the two following semesters (summer term not included). Students are also subject to probation by the consecutive semester GPA rule; this rule prescribes that a student placed on academic probation by the consecutive University of Colorado semester grade point average rule must maintain a semester GPA of at least 2.000 the two following semesters (summer term not included).
If probation is due to both cumulative and semester GPAs, students are required to maintain both cumulative and semester GPAs of at least 2.000 for the two following semesters (summer term not included).
While on academic probation, a student must enroll for and complete at least 12 credit hours per semester (summer term not included) of courses that meet engineering degree requirements. Course work taken above minimum degree requirements in humanities, social science, and ROTC subjects does not count toward this minimum course load requirement, and students may not elect to take any courses with the pass/fail grade option.
Academic Suspension +
Academic suspension is the involuntary withdrawal of a student from the college. It reflects the college’s position that the student is unable to meet minimum academic requirements for a bachelor of science degree.
If a student does not maintain satisfactory academic performance, that student is placed on academic suspension from the College of Engineering and Applied Science. A student may be placed directly on academic suspension if retroactive grade changes lower the cumulative or prior semester GPAs, or if the cumulative CU GPA falls below 1.000.
The conditions of academic suspension are as follows:
1. The period of the suspension is indefinite, but must be for at least one academic semester (summer term not included) for the first academic suspension and two semesters (summer term not included) for the second academic suspension. A third academic suspension is permanent and the student no longer has the option of returning to this college.
2. This academic suspension applies to the College of Engineering and Applied Science on all campuses of the University of Colorado.
3. Suspended students may not enroll in courses, except those offered during summer session and those offered by Independent Learning through the Division of Continuing Education, University of Colorado at Boulder. Approval of these Independent Learning courses is required and no more than two courses may be taken at the same time.
Under no circumstances are suspended students to enroll for courses through the Division of Extended Studies, University of Colorado Denver, or Maymester courses offered during the summer term at the University of Colorado at Boulder.Under special circumstances, the dean reserves the option of extending the period of academic probation for one semester, rather than placing the student directly on academic suspension. This option is exercised only in cases involving ALL of the following conditions:
4. If a student, while on academic probation or suspension, transfers to another college or school of the University of Colorado, the College of Engineering and Applied Science considers that student to have permanently changed their choice of academic major to one offered by that college or school. Therefore, the suspended student is not permitted to enroll in any courses taught by the College of Engineering and Applied Science that may apply toward engineering degree requirements. If the suspended student attempts to transfer back into the college through intrauniversity transfer (IUT), the college policy governing IUT admissions applies, and the student must petition the Undergraduate Education Council for removal of the dean’s scholastic stop.
5. If an academically suspended engineering student is also a double-degree student with another school or college at CU-Boulder and desires to work on the second degree program while on academic suspension from engineering, this student must drop engineering as a degree program. The student may attempt to return to engineering in the future through the intrauniversity transfer process.
6. The suspended student may elect to attend another accredited institution. However, a student seeking readmission to the college must have raised his or her cumulative CU GPA to at least 2.000; grades earned at other institutions do not transfer to the University of Colorado.
• The student must have a CU cumulative GPA of at least 1.950.This special review is exercised at the option of the dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science. A student can receive this special review only once during his or her period of undergraduate enrollment.
• The most recent semester of academic performance must demonstrate a highly significant improvement over prior semester(s).
• The student must have been enrolled in a curriculum of study related to one of the degree programs offered by this college and demonstrate an intent to complete that degree program.
• The student cannot have elected the option of enrolling in any course during the past two semesters with the pass/fail or no-credit options, or have taken any Incomplete grades.
• The student must have successfully completed at least 15 semester credit hours each of the last two semesters, or a total of 30 hours during the past two semesters on the Boulder campus.
• The student must have abided by all conditions imposed by any prior placement on academic probation.
Readmission of a suspended student must be approved by the college and the Boulder campus Office of Admissions. Readmission is not assured; the student must present convincing evidence of his or her ability to continue successfully and complete an engineering undergraduate degree program.
A student returning to the college from academic suspensions returns on academic probation for two semesters (summer term not included).
