Academic Advising

Learn more about our studio policies.

Log into Buff Portal. Click on the "Registration & Advising” drop-down on the left and select “Degree Audit.” Run a degree audit with your current program and you will see both your cumulative and ENVD GPAs under “Environmental Design Overall Credit Hour & GPA Requirement.”

The overall University of Colorado at Boulder GPA is computed as follows: Add up all the "points" for the courses you have taken. You can find these points printed on your transcript in the far-right column. You can print an unofficial copy of your transcript from Buff Portal. Divide the total number of points by the total number of hours to get your GPA. Courses with grade symbols of P, NC, *** , W, and IF are excluded when totaling the hours. 

• Your ENVD GPA is calculated as follows:
  • Add up the “points” for your ENVD coursework (again these are on your transcript).
  • Divide the total number of points by the total number of hours to get your ENVD GPA.
  • Grades of F earned for courses graded on a pass/fail option are included in the GPA. IFs that are not completed within one year are calculated as F’s in the GPA at the end of the one-year grace period.

All students must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 or higher to be in good standing. Students who do not meet this requirement will be subjected to academic standing actions. Please see your academic advisor for more information or refer to the Office of the Registrar. 

The following shall be the official grade appeal policy of the academic units of the Program in Environmental Design. 

Individual faculty members have primary authority and responsibility in all aspects of evaluating student course performance and assigning grades and are charged with carrying out these responsibilities in a professional manner. The Program Director’s office has the authority and responsibility to deal with a change of grades in special and unusual cases such as those that might involve unprofessional faculty conduct in assigning the grade. Students should be aware, however, that the Program Director couldn’t require an instructor to change a properly assigned course grade. The individual instructor in charge decides issues of disagreement about whether a given assignment was worth a B or an A, for example. 

1. When a student believes that a course grade has been improperly assigned, the student must contact the faculty member to verify that the grade was accurately reported, and if so, may request clarification of the reason the grade was awarded.
     
2. If discussions between the instructor and the student do not lead to a resolution, the student will have the option of making a formal written appeal through the ENVD grade appeal form. The appeal must detail the basis for the appeal, and should state the specific remedy desired by the student. Any relevant written documentation and work in question will be required for the appeal. The appeal must be submitted within 60 days of the end of the academic term in which the course was taken. In exceptional circumstances, such as a student or instructor being out of touch for an entire summer, the 60-day deadline may be extended.
    
3. The instructor will be provided the opportunity to respond in writing to the student’s appeal. 
    
4. The Advising Director will provide the Associate Director of Curriculum with the student’s appeal, a written response from the faculty member, and such other materials as may be considered relevant. The Associate Director of Curriculum will convene a small group of faculty who teach at the level appropriate for the grade appeal.
    
5. Within 30 days of receiving the appeal, the Associate Director of Curriculum will submit a report based on the input from the faculty subgroup to the Advising Director. The grade will either (1) stand as the originally assigned grade, or (2) a revised final grade will be assigned. The decision will be final, and the grade appeal process concluded.
    
6. This policy does not speak to campus policies relating to: 
   • Students’ accused of an Honor Code Violation http://honorcode.colorado.edu/
   • Discrimination allegations http://www.colorado.edu/policies/discrimination-and-harassment-policy-and-procedures

All required major courses must have a C- or higher to fulfill degree requirements in the Program in Environmental Design.

Students may only take non-ENVD electives for pass/fail. All required ENVD and general education requirements must be taken for a letter grade. A maximum of 6 hours of pass/fail may be applied toward the B.EnvD degree. Please connect with your academic advisor if you have any questions and/or to determine eligibility. 

If you fail a course that is required for your degree, you will need to retake it and pass it in order to meet your degree requirements. All F’s are calculated into your GPA. You must maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA to avoid probation and possible suspension.

If your cumulative GPA falls below a 2.0, you will be subjected to academic standing and will be placed on either academic alert or warning. You must meet with your ENVD academic coach to discuss your next steps to return to good standing. You may also meet with an academic coach to discuss various academic skills and strategies to assist with your academic progress.   

If you are a first semester student, you will be placed on academic alert if your cumulative GPA falls below a 2.0. If your cumulative GPA does not return to a 2.0 or above, you will be placed on academic warning.   

If placed on academic warning, you will have 2 semesters (summer excluded) to return to good standing. Failure to do so will result in academic suspension.

Syllabus statements 

The Office of Undergraduate Education will shortly distribute the fall 2021 required syllabus statements to all fall 2021 instructors, including this updated syllabus statement regarding COVID-19: 

As a matter of public health and safety due to the pandemic, all members of the CU Boulder community and all visitors to campus must follow university, department and building requirements and all public health orders in place to reduce the risk of spreading infectious disease. Students who fail to adhere to these requirements will be asked to leave class, and students who do not leave class when asked or who refuse to comply with these requirements will be referred to Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. For more information, see the policy on classroom behavior and the Student Code of Conduct. If you require accommodation because a disability prevents you from fulfilling these safety measures, please follow the steps in the “Accommodation for Disabilities” statement on this syllabus. 

As of Aug. 13, 2021, CU Boulder has returned to requiring masks in classrooms and laboratories regardless of vaccination status. This requirement is a temporary precaution during the delta surge to supplement CU Boulder’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Exemptions include individuals who cannot medically tolerate a face covering, as well as those who are hearing-impaired or otherwise disabled or who are communicating with someone who is hearing-impaired or otherwise disabled and where the ability to see the mouth is essential to communication. If you qualify for a mask-related accommodation, please follow the steps in the “Accommodation for Disabilities” statement on this syllabus. In addition, vaccinated instructional faculty who are engaged in an indoor instructional activity and are separated by at least 6 feet from the nearest person are exempt from wearing masks if they so choose. 

{Faculty: add if applicable:}This class has also obtained a mask exemption from the CU Boulder Public Health Office for times where wearing a face covering would significantly impede students’ ability to effectively perform class activities. In this class, students do not need to wear masks while {add the relevant activity/activities, such as playing a wind instrument, singing, or speaking during foreign language instruction}. 

Students who have tested positive for COVID-19, have symptoms of COVID-19, or have had close contact with someone who has tested positive for or had symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home. In this class, if you are sick or quarantined, {Faculty: insert your procedure here for students to alert you about absence due to illness or quarantine. Because of FERPA student not require "doctor's notes" for classes missed due to illness; campus health services no longer provide "doctor's notes" or appointment verifications.}

Students placed on academic suspension means that their cumulative GPA fell below a 2.0 and did not meet the requirements of academic warning, or an academic agreement made with the Program in Environmental Design. Students are encouraged to meet with their academic advisors to discuss next steps.   

If you have been placed on academic suspension or academic dismissal at CU Boulder and want to return to main campus classes, you will need to request to be reinstated. If you were away from CU Boulder for more than 3 semesters, you will, in addition, need to complete a readmission application.  

If you were taking courses through the Division of Continuing Education, you are not considered "away" from CU Boulder. In this case, you do not need to complete a readmission application.  

Students can explore one of the four reinstatement options from the Office of the Registrar and talk to their academic advisor for next steps.

After academic suspension, there are multiple pathways students may pursue to earn reinstatement. Students on academic suspension may pursue any of the following options to earn academic reinstatement:  

1. Students may enroll in classes through CU Boulder’s Division of Continuing Education (evening or online courses) to raise their cumulative CU GPA and are eligible for reinstatement when they have reached a cumulative CU GPA of 2.000 or higher. Students on academic suspension who enroll in Continuing Education classes must maintain a 2.300 term GPA or above for each fall or spring term enrolled in Continuing Education to avoid being placed on Academic Dismissal (see below).  
2. Students on academic suspension may enroll in Summer Session classes to raise their cumulative CU GPA and are eligible for reinstatement when they have reached a cumulative CU GPA of 2.000 or higher.  
3. Students may enroll in courses at another accredited academic institution. To be reinstated to main campus, the cumulative CU GPA combined with the grades and credit hours resulting from all work done at other institutions after academic suspension from CU must average a cumulative CU GPA of 2.000 or higher. This is referred to as a “virtual GPA”. Note: after reinstatement, transferable coursework will be applied as appropriate to the degree, but grades in transferred courses will not be calculated into the cumulative CU GPA. For that reason, students who are reinstated based on a virtual GPA will have two semesters in which to work on raising their cumulative CU GPA to a 2.000 or above.  
4. Students may take at least one academic year (three consecutive terms including a fall, spring and summer term) off with no enrollment at any institution. After returning, the student will have the same cumulative CU GPA as when they were suspended but will have two terms, in addition to summer, to raise their cumulative CU GPA to a 2.000 and be in good academic standing.